I’m taking IED right now. If you know anything about the class, you know that means I don’t have enough time to do things like shower or sleep—let alone write this piece.
If you’ve never heard of IED, you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. I’ll fill you in—quickly though, since I have a lot more work to do. IED stands for Introduction to Engineering Design, a required course for all engineering disciplines—except chemical engineering. I used to be a chemical engineer. Now, I’m trying to remember why I switched majors. What’s wrong with me?
In IED, you’re given a design project to complete with a team that is comprised of your classmates. This semester my group consisted of eight other students, and we were told to build a table tennis robot. I don’t know a thing about table tennis—except that it used to be fun—or robots, so I knew this was sure to be a learning experience.
We were given an entire semester to build the robot. A semester is a long time. Between nine RPI engineering students, having to build something so simple shouldn’t be a daunting task—at least that’s what I thought in January.
It’s now April 30, and our completed design is due this afternoon at an exhibition where all sections will be showing off their projects. Most people at the exhibition probably didn’t sleep the past few days because, like me, they waited until the last minute to get everything done, even though they also had an entire semester to do the project.
There’s always one kid in every group who finishes their work before everyone else. I used to make fun of that kid, but I’ll bet he’s sleeping right now. Unlike him, I’ll have been awake all night doing things that I should have been working on all semester.
Despite what you may hear from upperclassman, the course isn’t that bad. But it can be awful, especially if you save all of your work until the end like most people do.
So, take it from me. If you’re planning on ever taking this dreaded course, don’t procrastinate. But I didn’t listen, and you probably won’t either. Remember that a semester is a long time—an eighth of your time at RPI—and there are only a few due dates to keep you on track. Stick to them and set a few more of your own. Get started on your work ahead of time.
You can apply this advice to any course you take. No matter how much you plan ahead, things will take longer than you think. When the end of the semester approaches, all that working ahead will pay off—you’ll be sleeping while people like me will be up all night.
