Engineering is hard. I mean, stupid hard. It’s actually ridiculous how much stress my major has caused me. If you’re an engineering major then you know what I’m talking about, and it doesn’t help when people ask what your major is and get the dreaded, “Oh, that sounds really hard, I’m sure you’re drowning in work all the time.”
The answer is yes, we are drowning in work all of the time, however, that isn’t the healthiest way to go through college. It’s easy to lock ourselves in a room and spend 9 hours straight studying for one class only to get our exam scores back to see a whopping 70% or lower. Suppose you’ve ever wondered why you get such a low score on a test even though you studied hours for the exam while the person next to you went out the night before and somehow scored higher than you (which is always the most painful thing in the world, I know). In that case, there is probably one thing that you’re not doing, and they are. They’re actually taking care of their mind and allowing themselves to recharge and have a break from studying.
Especially during the first year of going to college, it’s so easy to drown in the coursework of engineering, but there are countless ways to stop yourself from drowning and actually breathe air.
Join clubs and organizations
Listen, I know this is the most obvious and overused advice out there when it comes to college, but it’s overused for a reason. Joining different organizations can help you break up the day and force you to do something other than studying. Whether that’s a social engineering club like Society of Women Engineers (SWE) or National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), or a more technical, hands-on club such as Design to Build Fly (where they build a remote control airplane and compete at the end of the year) or Bruin Formula (where they design a race car and race at the end of the year as well) these clubs can help make the field fun and remind you why you declared to study engineering in the first place.
Being surrounded by other engineers can help you find a community within the struggle of your classes and learn that you’re not alone when it comes to the field. I know personally, whenever I’m sitting alone in my head debating on switching out of engineering, the hand on clubs will always ground me and motivate me to make it towards graduation.
However, there has to be a balance when it comes to clubs. If you really love engineering, you might not feel fatigue when finishing your classes and immediately going to another engineering club. However, some people might need something a bit more outside of engineering. This is why it’s important to find hobbies and try something new, and pursue it.
Indulge in your Hobbies & Self Care
Continuing off of the last point, it’s important to give yourself time to actually do your hobbies and things you love. I love reading and everything that’s a part of the arts. It’s super easy to fall into the idea that you have no time to do anything you actually want, but the reality is, there is always time to indulge yourself in your hobbies if you allow yourself to have time.
This is why joining organizations outside of engineering is just as important. There’s a reason why I’m a part of so many organizations that are not engineering-related, because I need a separate outlet. The biggest example I can provide is when I applied to be a featured writer for Her Campus. During my first year at UCLA, I never had time to write unless it was for a class, and writing is one of my biggest outlets. The lack of freedom when it came to writing was beginning to get to me, so I joined Her Campus and I’m so glad that I did, as it has allowed me to give my mind a break away from the crazy numbers or more of a lack of numbers you find in engineering.
Her Campus isn’t the only non-engineering organization I’m a part of. I have a deep love for fashion, so I ended up taking up a position in one of the fashion clubs, Forward Magazine, here at UCLA. Just because you’re an engineering major doesn’t mean you have to confine yourself to only engineering organizations and only take up leadership positions in engineering clubs.
Even if you don’t consider yourself to be a creative person, UCLA has thousands of different clubs and student organizations that you’re bound to match well with. It never hurts to show up to a random club meeting, even if it’s outside of your interests, because you never know what will happen; you might unlock something new you enjoy.
Go outside (seriously) & create a better schedule
I know if you’re studying, you’re locking yourself in some random room on campus and probably not talking to anyone (especially if you’re like me and prefer to study solo rather than in a group). Let me be a reminder for you to go outside. It’s cheesy, but your mind needs a break, even if it’s only five minutes long. Get up and leave your material at your desk to go walk around UCLA or Westwood or, even better, get out of Westwood and explore Los Angeles for a bit.
Studying for hours on end is what’s killing your motivation and focus. Try breaking it down into 30-minute to 1-hour studying blocks with a 5 to 10-minute break where you move your body and do something else. Go for a walk, talk to friends and family, get something to eat or run some errands to get yourself back in the groove.
The reason why so many engineering (and college students in general) are drowning and getting burnt out is because of the lack of structure their schedule has and the lack of time to provide for themselves to truly enjoy the social aspects of being in a new city and school. There are so many different ways to lift yourself out of the oceans of work, however, it takes baby steps to truly master the balance between work and relaxing. Take a moment to do things, no matter how painful it might be to force yourself to stop because, in the end, your mind might thank you.