Best Academic Practices:
Entry page   Employment portfolios   Coding style suggestions   Making a presentation   Research presentations   Mr. Bruey on F-1 issues   Corliss on Teamwork   Recommended reading   Communication rubrics   Impressive engineering   Research interests		Expectations for scholarship   Intellectual property - School vs. work   We expect good English   English style suggestions   Nick's 20 rules of software engineering   Why take a Corliss class?   Thesis outline   MLA Manual of Style, Purdue University   Academic policies College of Engineering See Table of contents or Index A - Z
Events

Once upon a time, several students expressed frustration about one of my class assignments. If that sometimes fits you, read on.

Class advice: There is a reason why you have had this assignment for a month and had no assignment due this week. Assignment 6 poses several challenges.

Life advice: "Frustrated" is a victim word. When you are frustrated, you disclaim responsibility. You blame someone else (me, in this case) for your circumstances, and you assume it is someone else's responsibility to get you out of your circumstances. True, I made the assignment, I set the due date, and I provided whatever resources I have provided. And maybe I'll help you out, too.

Doug Green, a former Dean of Marquette's College of Engineering, had a motto, "Engineers find a way." Not in the "Ends justify the means" sense, but in a "take responsibility" sense. We want to train you to be the sort of person that when you have a problem, there is no one besides yourself you would rather trust to figure out a way out. There is no point counting on your boss to tell you everything you need to know. If she did that, why does she need to pay you? She will pay you to find a (moral, feasible, and economical) way.

The real lesson of this assignment is the process by which you find a way to complete it.

In short, accept the responsibility for finding a way. Build a reputation of being the engineer who offers no excuses why something is not working. Some employers (a few wise ones) prefer GPAs around 3.3 - 3.5 to GPA >= 3.8+ because the 3.3 engineer is often a better problem-solver. The 3.8 engineer encountered no problems, so did not learn to solve them. The 3.3 engineer struggled, so learned to find ways to solve problems.

Don't be frustrated. Take responsibility for finding a way.