"You can be creative in anything – in math, science, engineering, philosophy – as much as you can in music or in painting or in dance."

Sir Ken Robinson



Everybody knows that most things have some pros and some cons in this life. University degrees are not an exception, but I have only studied Computer Engineering (in fact this is my last year) so let’s focus on this one.

Will Computer Engineering burn your inner circuits, make you wish you didn’t know what a computer is and cause you horrible nightmares? 

Well, the short answer is probably not. Even if you start and then you realize that you don’t like any subject, you think you’re wasting your time and you finally quit, it won’t be the end of your happiness.

I must say that I’ve enjoyed a lot these last years, but I’ve also realized that there are some things that I don’t like that much about my degree. So, what are these pros and cons? 

Let’s see a few of them starting with the counterparts…

Sometimes my life’s as shiny as a Goth’s utfit

Seriously, Computer Engineering may not be the hardest degree if you think about conceptual complexity, it’s not easy but I think Physics for example might be more complicated in this aspect. However, I can assure you that you’ll be working a lot. And when I say a lot, I really mean it. The number of projects you’ll have to implement is seriously big. I think this is common among all engineering degrees, but anyway it’s something to be considered.

Sometimes you might feel a bit frustrated. It’s not unusual to spend many hours (not just 2 or 3) working on something, then testing it and seeing that it doesn’t work. Then obviously you start searching what’s wrong with it, because you don’t want to throw away all the time you’ve spent on it and then you realize that the only thing that’s wrong is you because you made a big mistake and you have to start over again. These situations are pure frustration triggers.

And talking about emotions and feelings, I think that another one I’ve been experiencing a lot is stress. Of course it’s not the amount of stress you would feel if you were trying to save someone’s life, but there’s always a certain quantity that never goes away and grows when project deadlines or exams are close. It’s not the end of the world, but I’ve had to learn to live with that.

 

There’s more than frustration and stress

Of course, if Computer Engineering was only a bunch of bad experiences and too much work, I would’ve quitted a long time ago. But fortunately, there are many things that make me enjoy this degree.

In fact, some of the cons I talked about before can get converted into something positive. For example, having a lot of projects and work to deliver is exhausting, but it’s also challenging. I’m someone who likes challenges, so I even found it pleasing when I finish a project, or when I can build some kind of system that’s really difficult to elaborate but it works perfectly well.

And talking about building stuff, it’s incredible how steep the learning curve is. Back when I started I had 0 knowledge about programming, logic or even welding! And even right after finishing my first year, the amount of new knowledge I had was sincerely impressive. And let me tell you, this feels really good…

Another thing that makes me feel good is being able to create. Not only execute but create. Being able to design something new, to find a problem and figuring your own way to solve it, that’s something I really like. I know it may not be as pleasing to everyone but in my case it’s definitely important.

 

In the end, Computer Engineering is not the perfect degree for everybody, but I don’t think any degree can do that. What I really believe is that if Computer Engineering is not for you, you’ll find your perfect choice!