Before I was an engineer

[Guest]

civilsid --

A very inspiring story - thanks for sharing! :thumbs: :bananalama:

I muttled through college on a scholarship, navy active reserve duty, working in a work study-like program (laboratories and libraries), and picking up the occasional odd job here and there. It took me 6 1/2 yrs for a 5-yr degree, but all-in-all it worked out well. I have no complaints or regrets.

JR

 

[civilsid]

thanks guys-

I just couldn't even picture it when someone posted that the engineering company was the first job they worked and so that being after college means they did what for many of the in between years? Wow.

Sapper- my parents divorced when I was young and I also bounced around foster care for a while but I don't remember it real well becasue I was probably 6 to 8 years old. My father remarried and my brother and I picked up another brother and 4 sisters after the merging of the two families. 3rd grade was the first normal year of school where I stayed in the same place all year.

My brother went downhill for a time but somehow I kept my nose clean, never did any drugs, etc. Fortunately my brother is now also doing well for himself but I frequently wonder how I managed.

I hope it keeps getting better- now I just have to get my patent into production and marketed so I can make some crazy money!

 

[ktulu]

Baseball scholarship to a JUCO paid for the first two years of college. It paid for 9 quarters of school, so I packed them full. When I graduated from JUCO, I was classified as a Senior at Auburn. That let me sign up for classes first, which was nice. I also went the Co-Op route, working in town so I didn't have to move. Took out loans to pay for the rest. Did the 5-year Civil program in 4, thanks to JUCO...

 

[bigray76]

Firefighter for Rutgers University

The department was a student run organization from line officers to firefighters - there was a paid chief, deputy chief, and fire inspectors.

We worked every home football game ($8 an hour to be on stand by); got half of our housing back (if you made 50% of your calls and 75% of the drills); reduced rates on parking

We also had a deal with facilities - we would assist (for $10/hr) for standpipe testing ($13.50/hr if you were a supervisor). We would work friday, saturday, and sunday (rotating crews) each year.

I also worked in the civil engineering lab my senior year, spring semester about 25 - 30 hours a week pouring concrete beams for a grad student every day ($10/hour since I was cleared to drive University vehicles).

-Ray

 

[snickerd3]

Other than babysitting, my first job was at ToysRUs. I started there when I turned 15 and worked there throughout high school and summer/winter breaks in college...although I really started working there when I was about 8 or 9, my mom worked nights there and My sister and I had to sit in their breakroom and wait for our dad to pick us up. They would buy us pop and snacks for doing reshop (putting stuff back on the shelf that was left at registers or brought back)...we truely were ToysRUs kids. I interned one summer in the lab for an air sampling company..turbines, stacks, etc. During college I worked at the Krannert Center (the performing arts building) basically as a ticket taker and helping people in wheelchairs to their seats. That bought food and other stuff, but I had to take loans out for eveything else. My first job out of college and I'm still working here is with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

 

[TXengrChickPE]

The summer between high school graduation and 1st semester of college I was trying desparately to make enough money to pay for entire year of school. So, my "main" job was night shift at a pretzel factory. Since I was untrained and they didn't wanna waste their time training someone they knew was leaving for college in 2 months, I was only allowed to bag the broken pretzels. At first, I thought that meant that any pretzels that got broken by accident get bagged and sold as "Brokes" (that's really what they called them). Somewhat to my surprise, it turned out that the "Brokes" sold better than the whole pretzels, so we broke them. Basically, you pick up 3 sourdough pretzels (they were the really hard, break a tooth type, 3/4" thick, palm-sized) put your hand in the bag with the pretzels and squeeze. Did I mention that these pretzels are really hard? We bled, A LOT! We wore gloves but they were cheap versions of doctors gloves, so after the first or second handful, they were torn. I have never bought a bag of broken pretzels again! That job paid ~$8/hr.

My second job that summer was "live-in babysitter/yard-worker/barn painter/pool cleaner/whatever else they wanted me to do" for a family that lived down the street from my parents. I had gotten myself kicked out of my parents house by then, but was only 17 so it was hard to find an apartment to rent. This family said that I could camp out in their barn apartment in exchange for work. The first 12hrs each week covered my room and board. Anything over 12 hours was paid under the table at $4.50/hr. Between the pretzel factory and working for this family, I averaged about 100hrs/week and took home between $400-450/week. I did manage to save enough for tuition and room/board. My loans that year covered books.

After that, I got a job in the computer labs on campus and essentially worked as close to full-time as students were allowed to (39.9 hrs/week) for Sophomore thru 1st Senior year. Also worked at a locat pet shop on the side. My 2nd senior year I worked as a CAD drafter for the campus Office of the Physical Plant. For the first semester of my 3rd (and final) senior year, I worked for a local Civil Engineering firm as a junior engineer/draftsperson. Then I got pregnant, although I'm not sure where I found the time! My (then) fiancee was in Grad School by then and was working full time as an Electrical Engineer. We managed (with a little help from his mom and dad) to pay for my last semester without me having to work, so I could stay home (other than classes) with our daughter.

The nice part about all of that is that I truly feel like I EARNED my degree. The bad part was that a lot of professors assumed that all of us were being supported by our parents and only had jobs to make beer money. Oh well, I made it through and that's what really matters

 

[frazil]

^Wow. Those are all good stories. TX - that's pretty unnerving about the pretzels. Yikes!

 

[TXengrChickPE]

^^ yeah, that's why I don't eat broken pretzels anymore... granted this was 12 years ago, they maaaaay have changed their procedures... but I'm not taking any chances

 

[kevo_55]

Wow TX, I hope that no blood got into the "brokes!!!"

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

bump

Let's hear what the n00bs did before the world of being a PE.

 

[Ble_PE]

My first job was when I was 14 and I worked at a fish camp (seafood restaurant). I started off bussing tables and washing dishes and moved up to working the fryers and the grill (which is illegal for anyone < 18.

After that job I quit working until I was 16. When I turned 16 I started working at Food Lion bagging groceries. I eventually make it to stock boy before I left to college. My last semester of HS I worked 3rd shift on the weekends stocking. Those were some great times!

Worked at Kmart in college for 1 year after I quit playing football. I worked in the garden shop and it paid pretty good, so it wasn't too bad.

The last job before engineering work was at Bass Pro Shops. I was an hourly front-end manager, which means I was in charge of all the cashiers and customer service workers. It was a good job and a lot of fun.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

My first job was working for my Dad at about 14. My Dad and Uncle owned Auto Repair Shop and I swept the floors, helped on repair cleaned up that sort of thing. I worked for my Dad on and off thru High School mostly summers and after school whenever I didn't have a sport ongoing. My cousin and I also did some hay baling for small local farmers during the summers so we could afford dirtbikes.

After High School the NBA wasn't calling and the thought of more school seemed really boring, so in 1993 I joined the US Army as a Infantry Soldier. Mom wasn't too happy. I got stationed at Ft. Bragg, and hated every minute of it. The guys I were with were cool, but there isn't anything about Fayetteville that I liked. So I volunteered to go to Rigger School, they told me I would likely be right back at Ft Bragg, but I figured I would take my chances. The school was like 16 weeks long and while there someone was smiling down upon me because Spec Ops needed 6 Riggers and I was sent to Ft. Lewis and part of 1st Special Forces Grp.

While there I deployed on missions to S. Korea, Alaska, Indonesia, Thailand, and all around the U.S. probably some places I am forgetting, but different S.F. Teams were constantly deploying somewhere and if they were doing any Airborne Ops they typically one or two Riggers were required to pack the parachutes rig the resupply loads. It was a real cool job as deploying with a SF Team isn't like the regular Army, the saying goes "Special Forces, special things" basically it was like being on a business trip as an Engineer. You do your job then can go out on the town, eat drink and be merry so to speak. I know it doesn't sound that great but compared to the 82nd Airborne Division it is like Heaven. After about 3 years, I wanted to be a Green Beret so they offered me SFAS, basically it is the course you go thru to see if they want to select you for training. But they would want me to reenlist for 6 years, quickly doing the math I realized I would be 28. At that time it seemed I would be very old. I decided I would like to see what civilian life would be like. So I got out and moving in with the Girlfriend, collected unemployment for 4 months, drank beer, watched Football, and watched her work. It was great fun for a while.

I eventually got a job working at place that made the aluminum substrates for computer hard drive disks. While working there some of the Engineers befriended me and I started looking into going back to school. I also did a little bar tending part time mostly for fun and some extra cash. Went to a Community College for 2 years and with GI Bill/College Fund plus a job loading UPS Trucks from 3 am to 8 -I was mostly debt free. I got my transfer degree and went to Oregon State.

I didn't work during the school year at OSU, but that first summer I at lumber mill, the work sucked ($8 hour), but I could work Swing Shift which meant I got to sleep in every day and all the overtime you could stand. Luckily being a Veteran you are really eligible for way more Government assistance than average students. They don't count your parents income (no matter your age) and the GI Bill isn't counted as income either. And I always did work for UPS during the X-mas season as a drivers jumper, basically you just rode around with in the truck and ran packages to people's door, easiest job ever, except for the weather in Oregon in December. So in reality I had it really good in college, I still had student loans, but nothing outrageous.

My junior year my parents house burned down, so my last summer of college I basically worked for them helping to re-landscape their yard, re-roof/painted the garage to match (etc). They gave me free room and board plus 7 dollars an hour. I actually made more money that summer than working at the lumber mill. Plus I ate way better.

 

[Chucktown PE]

I don't think I ever posted here.

My dad is a veterinarian so from the time I was about 10 until 15 I spent my summers cleaning kennels at his office. I eventually got promoted to giving dogs baths and flea dips.

After that I got a job at Ace Hardware. It was back when Ace was a real hardware store, i.e. they didn't carry tupperware and appliances and ****. I worked on the floor and loved helping people that came in to the store because nobody at Lowes or HD would give them the time of day. I also assembled lawn mowers, grills, wheelbarrows, etc. I ended up being an assistant manager before I went to college. I also worked there summer after freshman year.

During Freshman and Sophmore years of college I worked at the bookstore. That was the worst job ever. I bagged books because the people working the cash registers were too incompetent to bag books and ring up customers.

I had internships after that during the summers, worked in a lab as a research assistant during grad school, and have been working here since grad school.

 

[MGX]

First job was framing houses. Long hours in the summer with grumpy old alcoholics and dropouts. The only plus was the physical labor meant I could eat as much as I liked and still look like a stud.

Second was Taco Bell. A major step down but a step with air conditioning! The best and worst day was when a pair of ghetto hood rats came in and started heckling some farmer looking guy. Mr. farmer got up and busted both across the face with a single punch! The place was quiet, I think it was everyone admiring mr. farmer for giving us some peace until the hood rats maced 3/4 of the people in the dining room. Police arrived and the manager shut down the dining room, but left the drive thru open. Mace doesn't clear out in any short amount of time so I quit that night before my eyes teared up to the point of my being blind.

Third was a supermarket. Boredom in the extreme. We did build a secret fort on the dairy cooler out of milk crates and cardboard boxes which was fun until the store manager found it and tore it down.

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth was working in several auto repair shops and too many stories to convey here.

Seventh was designer for cable television and telephony. B.o.r.i.n.g.

Eight is fire protection which is quite fun.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

First job was framing houses. Long hours in the summer with grumpy old alcoholics and dropouts. The only plus was the physical labor meant I could eat as much as I liked and still look like a stud.
Second was Taco Bell. A major step down but a step with air conditioning! The best and worst day was when a pair of ghetto hood rats came in and started heckling some farmer looking guy. Mr. farmer got up and busted both across the face with a single punch! The place was quiet, I think it was everyone admiring mr. farmer for giving us some peace until the hood rats maced 3/4 of the people in the dining room. Police arrived and the manager shut down the dining room, but left the drive thru open. Mace doesn't clear out in any short amount of time so I quit that night before my eyes teared up to the point of my being blind.

Third was a supermarket. Boredom in the extreme. We did build a secret fort on the dairy cooler out of milk crates and cardboard boxes which was fun until the store manager found it and tore it down.

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth was working in several auto repair shops and too many stories to convey here.

Seventh was designer for cable television and telephony. B.o.r.i.n.g.

Eight is fire protection which is quite fun.

Ah, everyone loves a nice assault story at a Taco Bell. So here is mine I was at one in El Paso, TX (at about 1 am), and I guy tried to mug me with The Club. That's right, not a club, but the Auto Theft deterrent.

Luckily I was so drunk, I just laughed at him until his two honchos showed up to help, ....but even after a night of drinking in Juarez I still able to outrun these dipshits around the Bell until my buddies inside came to my aid. They made me drop by bean burrito and the employees made us leave after the fight, so I had to go home hungry. :blowup:

 

[csb]

bump
Let's hear what the n00bs did before the world of being a PE.

Hmm...no one has listed "crapping pants" as something they did before being a PE. More refined group nowadays, I guess.

 

[Dexman1349]

Hmm...no one has listed "crapping pants" as something they did before being a PE. More refined group nowadays, I guess.

No, I think it's quiet the opposite. It's become so common that it's no longer a reportable activity... :mf_followthroughfart:

 

[Master slacker]

I've been here long enough to contribute to this thread. So here goes my little life's story.

My first job was summer league swim coach. I think I got paid under the table starting when I was 14 and was actually a "legally" paid employee at 15 (minimum age for work at the time). I had swum at that country club since I was about 4 and I knew everyone there. For the lack of better words, this was an "affordable" CC. Nothing high dollar at all. I was a coach from 14 to 17 working mainly with 9-10 year olds. That's the perfect age where they'll listen, but rarely test the waters of talking back. Granted, this was the early '90's and I'm certain kids have changed since then. The only real perks of that job were having the respect of parents, not being questioned by the parents as far as what's best for their children, and the kids calling me either "Mr. Kevin" or "Coach Kevin". I felt really old when I found out, through facebook, that my favorite kid got married last year. ld-025:

At 18, after graduating, I coached for a different club where all my friends were just so we would win the summer league city meet. Not only did we win, I think we shattered every record that summer. Ah, good times. I also taught swim lessons and lifeguarded at LSU. That was boring, but the views were nice.

My first four years of college I didn't even pursue a job. I had a swimming scholarship and Louisiana's new TOPS scholarship. With the exception of meals, everything was paid. My parents didn't have to worry about paying for school, they lived only 30 minutes away (mom was very happy about that part), and through swimming they got to travel to different areas of the country to watch me swim. Doing the math, though, I got paid much less than minimum wage.

At 22, at the end of my eligibility, I stopped swimming because I wanted to sleep in for once. That summer I worked in the shop of probably the dirtiest and most dangerous chemical plant in the area. I helped manage the tool room, worked with the millwrights, pipefitters, welders, etc..., and sorted the room of bolts. I learned to weld... poorly. I also got to experience my first turnaround. It was scheduled for 2 weeks, but after a tropical storm parked on top of us for 2 weeks, it turned into 2 months. That sucked.

<****, this is getting long>

Graduated a year later (right after 9/11) and could only get a job as a field engineer doing industrial construction. I did/inspected everything from concrete to equipment startup of a coker project in Texas City. Got laid off 18 months later - economy and construction projects dried up.

After 6 months of unemployment, my future bro-in-law got me a job working off shore. This is the first job I ever quit. 2 months of work and I slept in my own bed 2 nights. In total, I probably only had 24 hours off. "After 5 years, you could have an office job." F that.

Back to school for masters work. During that time I was TA for several classes. My favorite was TA for undergrad dynamics. The kids would have class two days per week and see me two days per week for "lab" work. This lab work was just DOING the homework problems so that they would understand the concepts and their applications. There were two lab sections with 30 kids in each. I sucked for a couple of weeks... HARDCORE. Stage fright, "uh" and "um" were commonplace along with "I don't know". Needless to say, my class dwindled to about 10. Finally I got my act together and attendence increased. People came by my lab for questions every day. Felt great. By the end of the semester, and the final lab before the final, I had EVERY STUDENT (all 60) crammed in my classroom. The day after I helped with the exam there was a case of beer on my desk. Sweet. I was also voted most outstanding TA that semester for the engineering dept by the students. Super sweet. If it weren't for the pay difference, I'd love to be a high school math and physics teacher.

Graduated... again... work in chemical industry. Got my P.E. license, but don't need it for current job.

Geez us! That was long winded. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[Dleg]

After 6 months of unemployment, my future bro-in-law got me a job working off shore. This is the first job I ever quit. 2 months of work and I slept in my own bed 2 nights. In total, I probably only had 24 hours off. "After 5 years, you could have an office job." F that.

^ I'm here to verify you're not exaggerating. Been there, done that.

 

[Supe]

^ I'm here to verify you're not exaggerating. Been there, done that.

Yeah, but the pay is good, and they call them roughnecks for a reason!