Senior Remarks - Annie Gassner

Overcoming my Challenges in Engineering

I can talk all day about the amazing opportunities I’ve experienced during my four years at Purdue. To name a few, I visited four different countries on study abroad, worked three summer internships, spent a year as president of a student organization, and most importantly, met Boilermakers from around the world. While each of these opportunities created the person I am today, overcoming the challenges of studying engineering at Purdue has taught me the most about who I am and ultimately, who I want to become.

My journey studying engineering at Purdue has felt a lot like running my first marathon. At the start, my heart was beating out of my chest, chills rushed up my spine, and my legs were shaking. I was nervous, but I was ready to go. I was about to embark on a euphoric, but painful 26.2 mile journey. A confusing storm of nervous excitement formulated in my head as I crossed the starting line. My ten years as a runner had prepared me for this exact moment, just as thirteen years of school had prepared me for my ultimate academic adventure. No matter how much I thought I was ready to study engineering, I had no idea what was yet to come. Here are three ways these journeys are alike:

1.      It’s all about mental strength.

My first exam at Purdue for my Physics 172 class took place in Elliott Hall of Music. If you’ve gone to Purdue, you know that feeling as you sit down in a huge theater filled with 2,000 peers. You can almost feel the nervous sweat lingering in the air. I had confidence in myself and studied as much as I could (or thought I could) leading up to the exam, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount of anxiety I would feel during the exam. All of a sudden, my breathing got heavier, the words and numbers on my exam grew blurry, and all the equations I thought I knew so well were suddenly gone from my memory. At the end of that exam, my confidence was shaken and even more shaken when I got the exam grade back. At that moment I realized, this was going to be a difficult four years.

Even though my self-confidence suffers a bit each time I get a bad exam grade back, I bounce back, just as I did after that first exam and I’ve learned to keep bouncing back. The negative thoughts were all in my head and the only thing holding me back was the little voice saying, “You can’t do it.” It is all about the mental strength of knowing that I can continue running my race and continue getting closer to my finish line. I learned how to transform that negativity into encouragement, believing that I could do better and succeed, instead of being frustrated. I studied smarter (not harder) and reached out for help. This is my race and I’m the only one standing in my way.

2.      Everyone is running their own race; focus on running yours.

Often, it was easy to get distracted with the accomplishments of other students around me. Purdue fosters a collaborative environment, there is no doubt about that. There is never a shortage of team projects to work on and studying with friends is encouraged. However, when it comes down to exam day, it’s all up to you. It seems natural to many students to compare grades, not even knowing how it may affect other students who didn’t do as well as them. I would see some of my friends achieving high test scores while being involved with four different student organizations, volunteering with a local charity, working a job, programming the next greatest phone app, staying fit, and the list goes on and on. I’ll admit it, I was jealous.  I felt as though I studied day and night for that exam, so how could they possibly do all this while getting a better exam score than me?

People learn differently, think differently, and have different academic backgrounds. I realized that it’s foolish of me to compare my successes and failures to others’ successes and failures. One phrase I get a lot when I say I’m studying engineering is, “Wow, you’re so smart!” and what many of those people don’t understand is that the material I’m learning doesn’t come naturally. I don’t see myself as smarter or more successful than anyone else at Purdue by any means; I work so hard to reach my personal goals and so can anyone else. This is your journey – make it your own.

3.      It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

You know how I mentioned my nervous excitement at the beginning of this whole thing? Well, because of that excitement, I was practically sprinting when the race started. There was no way I could sustain that pace for 26 miles. I felt the same way during my first semester at Purdue - it seemed like all I did was study. I was sprinting towards my goals and didn’t realize how burned-out I would feel by the end of that semester. I needed to relax and spend some time enjoying Purdue.

I put more of an effort into making friends and getting involved during that second semester, after learning this important lesson. I volunteered with the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, became a Team Leader for Boiler Gold Rush, and shared many nights of laughter with my friends. I started calling Purdue my home. This was where I belonged.

 

During mile 18 of my marathon, I started hitting the infamous “wall” that runners talk about. It felt as though someone was pulling my hamstrings like a rubber band as tight as possible and my body literally had no more sweat to produce. Similar to that moment, it’s difficult to sustain the level of nervous excitement I had at the start of my time at Purdue, but I know if I push through the hard days, I will be rewarded with days where I confidently stroll through campus with a beaming smile on my face.

This is mile 26 of my journey at Purdue. It’s time for the final sprint to the finish. I have had days where I don’t want to wake up and go to class and I have had days where not even the Indiana weather will stop me from smiling. Through all the wind and weather engineering may throw at me, I focus on enjoying the journey and look forward to the finish line – graduation. This may be the end of this journey, but the next journey awaits and Purdue has prepared me to overcome any roadblock along the way. Until next time, Boiler Up!

-Annie Gassner