Hi Guys,

We all go to college with the looming expectation by our parents that we will graduate and find a job in industry that not only pays well, but is everything we hoped and dreamed.  Yet in this day and age with the growth of technology and the emphasis on innovation, not only are traditional companies becoming largely outdated, but our hopes and dreams are still on the drawing board.  The solution?  As engineers we design our future.  We shape our careers around our passions, our interdisciplinary interests that make us so fascinatingly human.  This is the progression of human-kind.  Combining advanced data platforms or experimental apps with forward-thinking individuals to introduce a new way of life.  Is this sustainable?  Ask the Silicon Valley and the growing number of start-ups throughout Los Angeles.  People not much older than you and I are seeing more money now than ever before just by following something they found interesting and wanted to share.  I have had the privilege of working in industry for larger companies and saw the awesome projects in development.  Yet, more and more it seems that tangible impact is done with a completely different business model.  These companies are not looking to minimize risk, but instead allow the freedom of creativity to bet big with high returns.

So where do you go from here?  Rather than trying everything and narrowing it down, take an honest step back.  As cliche as it may seem, see the world around you.  What do you find fascinating?  What makes you lose sleep?  We all have these passions, we all see ideas bigger than ourselves and if we cannot immediately transform these ideas, we know companies or groups that we tend towards.  Make the most of your college experience.  It is a crazy ride.  As a senior I have enjoyed my time, but also learned more about myself in the past few years than in any other place.   And you will too.  In the end, as much as people say do something you love because you won’t work a day in your life and it is not about money, money is a factor..  But find the balance and own it.  Find that happiness and understand that happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Fight On!

Markus

Markus

Markus

Astronautical Engineering, Class of 2015, Learn more on his profile here!