Page:Engineering as a vocation (IA cu31924004245605).pdf/63

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ENGINEERING AS A VOCATION
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ing in many, if not all, of their studies while in school. Their careful, conscientious work at school enabled them to secure satisfactory positions upon graduation. When men were laid off in dull seasons these well-trained workers were retained. They were not all "greasy grinds", in spite of their high standing, for many won enviable records on the athletic field. The engineering student must not forget that his training is for service and if he does not acquire industrious habits in school he will hardly change in character and acquire them later in life. The standards of schools existing merely for culture must not be permitted to dominate the schools intended for utilitarian training.

Many young chaps fail in offices not only because they are poor draftsmen, but because their training in mechanics has not been thorough. The training in mathematics is for the purpose of enabling mechanics to be properly studied and the two are essential. A common complaint against engineering graduates is that they are often able to chase "the elusive x through the mazes of a cubic equation" and yet cannot perform an ordinary problem in arithmetic. The time in school has been spent on the study of principles and laws with insufficient time for an application of the principles. The writer does not wonder at this very much, however, as he is well acquainted with a number of instructors in mathematics. Their