You thought this would be easy, I'm sorry you are mistaken.

This summer, for the first class session ( first session - 6 weeks, second session - 6 weeks) I took ME 391 which is also known as Mechanical Analysis. Don't let the name scare away the non-engineers, it is only ....maybe . . calculus 4 1/2. In the range of mathematics in engineering it is a very basic and intro level class. Anyways, I did the usual where I asked my other ME friends how difficult they thought the class was and if it would be possible to take while I was working as a Undergraduate Research Assistant over the summer. All of them were like, "o ya, it's just like calc 4 all over again, except the end." (Calc 4 = differential equations) So I was like, alright I can do this....no biggie. Then I realize which professor was teaching my class.

The professor that was assigned to teach the summer session is known for being extremely challenging. The average final grade in his Thermodynamics course was a 1.5. (4.0 = A, 3.5 = B, 3.0 = C, 2.5 = D, 2.0 = passing most of the time). Now understand that I said AVERAGE FINAL GRADE not the average grade on the final exam. Ya, tell me about it. He is also known for having test averages in the 30 and low 40 percents.

Come Monday afternoon, first day of class, in walks Prof. W. After explaining who he was and the mission to be completed by the end of the 6 week semester, he holds up the book used for the course, Advanced Engineering Mathematics (2.5 to 3.5 inches thick)  and says, "While this book my bring you to believe that you are doing advanced mathematics, you are not, in fact nothing about this class is advanced. This course is a very small introduction to the mathematics that you will do in up coming classes but it is nothing close to the challenging mathematics you would do in Grad school or other higher education." He continued with "I don't believe that everyone is above average, therefore if everyone is doing extremely well in the course that reflects poorly on my knowledge and teaching abilities" This is the moment where everyone in the class, all 15 or so of us, gulps down hard and stares straight ahead thinking " what the hell have I gotten myself into?"

All engineers and engineering students know that quite often you ask yourself this question, especially in moments previously mentioned. Engineering is hard and in order to stick with it you have to continue even after asking yourself "what the hell am I doing? I could be a business major and sleep 8 hours a night, or even a week." (true story) (no offense to business majors) So I asked myself this question, and then brushed it aside like I have since I became and engineering major.

As strict and difficult as Prof W. was I did better in his class then all of the engineering classes I have taken so far at MSU. He is very, very, very (x10) smart and really knows the material for this class as well as many others. This class is actually really important in doing well in the rest of my classes that I have left, which is why I am glad I had him as a professor. Preparing myself for more difficult classes I have to take next spring will only add to my success and enjoyment of those classes.

Sometimes the more challenging the situation and the less the teacher b.s's the material the less I slack and am more determined to understand and work to get it right. I get bored very easily, especially when I am not challenged, and this can make learning the easiest things very difficult. I know many other people with this problem, it's most likely another way to describe "over-thinkers". If you look at the classes where I did well in high school and the teachers that taught those classes, the teachers that had a similar demeanor to this professor are the ones where I enjoyed their classes the most and worked the hardest at.

The last week of the course we had our final. I had been going to his office hours 3/3 times a week and started studying a week early (that's not me being nerdy, it really requires that much studying). I turned over my test, looked at the first question in which he asked for a "really simple" transformation before starting the problem. I could not see it and figure it out. I tried everything and the problem itself was easy but I couldn't start it without the Transformation. So then I moved on tried to complete the other 3 questions as much as possible only to run into some problems with them. After taking the final I was so mad that I couldn't figure out the transformation to start the first question, especially since I knew that it was simple. After the exam I wasn't even able to look at him, I was so disappointed in myself. A few days later, as a class, we received an email from Prof W. "The first question was one that I thought was really easy, however, not one person got it. All you had to do was  .blah, blah, etc. and there was your answer." I was like shit, if that's how the first question (the easier one) went, then I don't even know how the rest of the exam went.

I ended up doing well in the class regardless even after feeling like I completely failed every quiz along with the final exam. I also now have a professor with a very logical way of thinking that I am planing to ask some career related questions. Yes, it all ended up working out, but there was quite a bit of stress throughout those 6 weeks in order to get to that point.