A Reflective Journey: Navigating Your Cumulative Experience at Iowa State University

During my time at Iowa State University, I attended a wide variety of lectures, labs,

recitations, and office hours. While this is standard amongst college students, I feel that Iowa

State has done a great job of adequately preparing me and my peers to solve any problem that

comes our way. Labs especially are tailored to teaching us how to solve technical problems and

how to efficiently design a working solution. Labs and projects are also a valuable tool for

learning how to effectively work in a group setting. Group work and lab experience are both key

experiences to thriving in a professional setting, as we are already accustomed to communicating

effectively, resolving ethical dilemmas, and working as a team to provide a quality product by a

deadline.

In my studies, I often found that independently seeking more information about a topic

was the key to truly understanding something. On many occasions, I have utilized outside

resources to gain a better understanding of my coursework and adjacent topics that I find

interesting. Whether this was discussions with peers, internet research, or simply asking

questions to professors or teaching assistants, all these methods were used to further my

knowledge. My desire to continue learning outside of the classroom does not stop once I get my

degree. Working with my peers and talking to potential employers has made me realize that the

additional knowledge I have acquired outside of the classroom can sometimes be just as

important as the core concepts learned in the classroom. Having additional knowledge on a topic,

especially one you are interested in, makes problem solving much easier. Continuing to learn,

even in my professional life, will be the key to being a great engineer and to keeping up with an

industry that is constantly changing.

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 During both of my internship experiences, I had many opportunities to utilize my current

knowledge and build upon it. The skills and knowledge I have learned in my classes have been

very important for items such as data analysis and circuit design, as I was able to prove to myself

that I had enough knowledge to know where to start to solve a problem. At this point in my life,

to solve technical problems, I usually need to do some more learning to come up with the most

optimal solution. One thing that the college experience has taught me is that there is always more

to learn about a topic, and always a better way to do something that is more efficient.

Looking back at my time here at Iowa State, if I had to do it all over again, I would make

sure that I was less stubborn in terms of seeking help in my academics. I always wanted to

believe that I could solve any problem entirely on my own, but my educational journey proved

that that is not the case. Seeking assistance in my studies would have greatly increased the

knowledge I have today and may have even provided me with some of the knowledge further in

advance. Another thing I would have probably done differently was to better prioritize my

studying. Nobody likes studying for exams, and I am no exception. Had I prioritized thoroughly

learning the materials and given myself more study time, I would have likely been in some much

better places in some of my courses with a lot less stress.

In my studies, I have learned a lot of very important concepts that will greatly help me in

my professional life. A recent example of one of these concepts is power flow analysis. This is a

concept originally introduced in my sophomore year and I have since used it in my internships

and some of my other classes. When I go about learning key concepts like this one, I often take

extensive notes when the concept is first introduced. Moving on from the notes, I usually will

study the material, either from my notes, the professor’s lecture, or in applied applications like

homework. Any issues I run into in my application of the concept means that I need to go back

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and learn more about the given topic. Determining what knowledge, I am specifically lacking is

what I have found to be key in best understanding a concept. Back to my example of power flow

analysis, I certainly had to go back and reference my course notes and prior knowledge when

trying to apply these concepts at work. I had to build upon my prior knowledge, identify what I

was missing, and go learn those new parts of the concept from additional resources.

The application of knowledge is probably the single most important tool for my learning.

Transforming a concept from theoretical to practical is a step closer to mastering a concept and

truly understanding how to solve a problem. In the same example I identified earlier with power

flow analysis, we certainly hadn’t truly applied a concept like that in our introduction power

course. When I got to my first internship, having to apply a concept like that truly helped me

understand what was truly going on. My initial application in the coursework was lower quality

than the application in industry, which makes it very apparent that application is the key to

understanding. Creativity, paired with application, is where problem solving becomes an art. An

example I have of creativity meeting the application of my prior knowledge is when I worked at

the Linn County REC. I was able to optimize data entry into an application with my prior

knowledge of Python, and my thought that a tedious process such as this one could be automated

with a little creativity. This was certainly a challenge and required me to use prior as well as

newly learned knowledge to get a final solution.

My thought process behind overall learning and problem solving has certainly evolved

during my time at Iowa State. For me, truly learning the key concepts that are oh so plentiful in

engineering is much more complicated than just taking notes on the topic. As someone who

never really had to study prior to college, reviewing material outside of the standard lecture

material was a must. Finding examples of the concept being applied is another key part of my

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learning that has evolved. Without examples of application, I would never be able to go and

apply something this complicated myself.

Looking forward to my future career in engineering, there are certainly areas of my

knowledge that need more growth than others. My problem-solving ability will be an area that I

will always be looking to improve. While I feel that my communication and collaboration skills

are good, I know that working in a more professional setting and problem-solving as a group will

require some more learning and adaptation. A skill I am interested in developing during my

professional career is the ability to teach. I feel that one day I could make my way into

management, which would certainly require the ability to teach concepts to anyone under me. I

know to get to that point, I will need to greatly refine the knowledge important to my industry,

while also becoming well-acquainted with the new concepts that I did not learn in school.

Overall, I know the path that leads me to being a good engineer is lined with continuous

learning, studying the known concepts, and sharing my knowledge with my peers, and I look

forward to the challenges I may face.