Interview with an Engineer: "Everytime you fall, take it as an opportunity to stand up again".

I do believe in such saying that when you fall seven times, stand up eight times. This man I have known during my stay in Negros Oriental lives with this saying.

He stayed in college for more than five years. I know it seemed to be frustrating especially when you hear comments from other people and your batchmates were already engineers. But such thing did not bother him as he kept pursuing his goal. He then gladly passed the board examination in one take.

Although he may seem to be very playful in first glance, he has been in love with his chosen field because as he said it is something that fulfills him. I think aspiring engineers and passionate licensed and practicing engineers could relate to this.

Image from Pixabay which is free for commercial use.

Engineering is not just a field but a craft that will always remain in your heart once the spark of passion of it has been ignited. It is also a complex field that let's you test your analysis and creativity.

Rene Kim Jay C. Belga
@rmebelgs here on steemit
27 years old
Registered Mechanical Engineer
Negros Oriental, Philippines

Engr. Belga together with some basketball players of Silliman University School of Medicine before the Intramurals.

I started my interview by asking him where does he plan to work. He said

I’m planning to practice my profession at Global Power here in the Philippines . In the future, I would like to work as a safety officer of an oil drilling company overseas because it has always fascinated me to work in such company.

I asked him then what does he usually do during break times (in college and trying to earn his degree in Mechanical Engineering).

During break times I usually surf the internet to gain more ideas about my profession and also to update some news that happens local and international. Sometimes I waste my time on facebook and sleep.

Of course, everyone would be glad to sleep. Also surfing the intenet to gain more knowledge and insights about your passion is helpful as well. Right guys? I asked him on how he felt when he took the road less taken in college since a lot of students wanted to graduate right away.

I felt I am not left behind even though I took 7 years in the mechanical engineering and 3 years in diploma of technology major in automotive. I view it possitively. I have an advantage of hands-on work and the best part is I already experienced working with the other people in real workplace.

Interesting to know that beneath the surface, you intend to carefully plan for your future. What then made you decide to take up ME?

I really am fond of stuff connected or related to mechanical works like machines, automotive, and the application of heat and temperature. After I graduated high school I took diploma of technology major in automotive because we have no budget to take up Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at that time. The time when I practiced my automotive course my supervisor is a ME graduate. I think then we had the same knowledge about diagnosing and repairing of cars. I also saw that he has more pay. Haha. I decided I wanted to become one. I talked to my parents to pursue my dream to become a mechanical engineer.

Was it you who chose the course?

Yes it is me who chose this course because it’s my dream and also I’m committed to this.

How has engineering affected your life in both positive and negative way (if and if nay negative):

In positive way it affects my character to become more practical in life, be open minded to other people’s idea. Also it helps me become more professional at work. Lastly, it helps me build my patience.

What was the most challenging thing being an ME student?

For me, the most challenging of being an ME student is the board exam days. I experienced mixed emotions of all the hard work from schooling to review days and the expenses all tied up on that day.

What is the thing that you love most about the course you took?

The thing that I love most is the analysis of the problem about the project proposal.

Cool! How was the ME board exam and how did you prepared for it?

The board exam is a test of who you are as a mechanical engineering student. Its not just a 100 items per subject and three subjects in all but each item determines how committed you are to this course. The exam is quite unpredictable -- different from what came out from my preparation in a review center.

I had 4 months to prepare, at the first two months 1 study 2-3 hours per day just the basic of the three subjects in the board exam. The next montb, I study 3-5 hours per day just the basic of the three subjects too. For the last month before board exam something went wrong, my heart was broken because I fell in love to a beautiful friend of mi e. I said to myself on the mirror “if magpadala kos akong emotion dli ko kapasar, maguba akong kaugmaon and dreams to become a license mechanical engineer” (if I will be swayed with my emotion, I will not pass, my dream of becoming an engineer will be broken). I prayed deeply to God to help me overcome this problem. I studied 12-14 hrs a day even though sometimes she pops on my thoughts. But I never gave up because I have a lot of friends and relatives that pray for my exam to be successful.

You may wonder how I do that 12-14 hours per day? My review class at review center is 8:30am to 11:30am, 11:30 to 12pm. I take my lunch then and head to the City Public Library at 12pm-5pm. I study my lessons there. After 5pm I take my dinner and rest a while . At 6pm I study again at the place where I live until 2am in the morning. By the way im separated with my classmates in the review days, I’m the only one in my room and we are only two in the big house I stayed.

Were you sure of yourself that you are going to pass it after taking the exam?

With a lot of discouragements and trials that I faced during my review days, I never gave up and thought of giving up. Even tough I have no one to help me during my review because I had been away from my classmates, I never said yo myself that I will fail.

What was the most difficult subject or topic for you during the board exam?

In rhe exam days, the most difficult is the math subject. When I received the test paper I prayed first and after taking the exam. I scanned all the 100 item problems to look for the easiest one, but unluckily I can’t find one. I prayex again that “God, please give me just 5 problems that I could easily answer”. I scanne the test papers again and boom then I was able to answer 5problems. The 5 problems gave me a momentum to answer the other problems. After the exam, I knew I have a sure of 70 items correct in math, 80 in power plant and 80 in machine design. I also knew that God is with me all throughout.

What do you wish to do to the your community and to your passion as an engineer?

Oh! I wish that I can come up with an idea that can help the community to their daily work like a machine that can lessen their work and help their business.

The road to success is the road less taken in life. Shortcuts will just teach us to laze off. We might have thought of following the direction or steps of others to succeed in life, but we must know that every story is unique. May a portion of his life shared in this entry inspire you more to do better in life. Happy steeming and thank you a lot!

I hope this will also inspire our dear steemph members who will take the board exam in the future @jassennessaj and @themanualbot.

By the way, here are some bonus photos of him as well together with some volleyball players of DLSU or also known as DLSU Lady Spikers during the University Games at Dumaguete City. Aside from Engineering, he also loves Sports a lot that is why

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Photos are taken from his facebook account with his permission.