Posted: 12/1/2006 6:37:31 AM EDT
| Im 18 witha GED and am currently working at a mortgage office and will take the exam to get my brokers license before xmas.....I always hated school and particularly math....but for the past week ive been inspired to at least go to my community college and get a degree....and if i did that, i would get one that I could transfer to UNF with for Mechanical engineering...i was wondering who all here has a degree in mechanical engineering and what they do now as a result...are they happy with their choice?? what possibities will it make available to me....my ultimate dream would be to manufacture my own weapons or be involved in disghning for the military or for a big name like bushmaster,colt,ruger, or any other manufacturer with the slightest credibility...just trying to do something with my life, make alittle money....i guess ill always have the mortgage thing to fall back on but since i was in middle school i hated the thought of being in the feild of finances. |
| By the way my job at the office im at right now is to put together loan packets and pick phones up...make some copies and type documents here and there....so im not the one getting checks in the mail everyday, thats my boss....im just at $10 an hourhinking.gif...thats why im looking to advance....the lisence will hopefully allow me to make money with my office instead of just getting paid hourly but i would really rather do somthing more interesting with my life....ive always had a very mechanical mind..taking everything apart as a kid...building catapults from lumber, potatoe guns, did fine carpentry for a few years-bird houses, jewelry boxes,book cases, cabinets and such...i like using shop tools i can weld alittle.i just did a trigger job on my 1000fps air rifle with no instruction and it worked like a dream...i like making things and the idea of designing something mechanical on a CAD program then building it is something i envy. |
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Well, all I can say is best of luck to you...don't forget there is a lot of people fighting fro engineering jobs, so, it would appear to me that it's something you have to really want. But I guess that goes for anything. I have a close friend who went to art school; now 90% of art students are, well...art students. He decided that he ACTUALLY wanted a career in graphic design and didn't expect anyone to just "give him a job". He went to every art show, fair, whatever they school advertised for and offereed. He spent time outside the classroom w/ his proffessors, meeting people, working on his stuff, etc... He would tell me that himself and only 1 or 2 other students from his school would actually show up for these events where they could get face time w/ prospective employeers! The result is he had numerous job offerings and has already been promoted twice at the company he CHOSE, teaches a class 1 night a week, etc... Take the classes, but advance at your current job as well. I have a GED and a diploma. I went to a Community College as well and hated school (especially math!) also. Well, i didn't really like college either. The friends I had growing up either have degrees and crappy jobs w/ enourmous school loans to pay off, have degrees but don't work in anything close to what they ahve a peice of paper for or a FEW, like my one friend, actually went to school, worked OUTSIDE of school towards what they wanted and achieved it. It's not easy. Best of luck to you, Speed |
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I have my degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Florida. It sounds funny that you hate math... there is a LOT of math in engineering. It's entirely possible that you haven't had any good math teachers yet, but if you want to succeed in Engineering, you need to know, or at least be able to learn, Algebra and Calculus. Mechanical Engineering, as one of my professors said, is a pretty good choice in that you can do a lot of different things with it. I went into the oilfield, working as a field engineer right now. I have friends who went into various other fields, including major military contractors (Lockheed, Boeing, Harris, etc), HVAC design, auto design, industrial machinery, etc. Getting some credits at a Community College is a decent path to a full degree at a major University. You should probably check out the various state colleges, what degrees you might want to get there, and what Community College classes would help you with them. I don't have much experience in the firearms industry, but I expect it's not easy to get into, due to the small size. Even the large manufacturers employ very few engineers compared to most other industries. As I said before, the military contractors do hire lots of Engineers, but they tend to be pretty selective, since lots of people want to work there. Getting a job with an actual firearms company would probably take a considerable amount of time and legwork. You may be able to find some success as an independent... get some other job to pay the bills for a while, then get a Class 2 manufacturer's license, and set up a little shop doing custom ARs or 1911s or whatever, and maybe work on your own designs too. |