Chris Aring - Olin College

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My first semester at Olin College of Engineering has been one of the more life changing experiences in my life. All of my assignments were based on team projects and team building exercises which helped make me a better team player and more aware of how other people work. I think it is important to work on projects with groups and not individually because the real world is not about isolation and solo work; the real world is about working with others, sharing ideas, and making connections. I have already met and worked with students who have worked for various companies like Google, Microsoft, SpaceX, and many more. Many of these students are only sophomores and got their job offers from the career fair here each semester. At the career fair, companies show up and students get to walk around and meet with actual engineers from each company. I met with a few businesses and ended up being asked by the members at the Boston Scientific booth to apply for a Co-Op or internship. I decided to hold off on the offer because I wanted to get my first year under my belt before taking a semester long break. It was a great experience that I don't think I could have gotten anywhere else. Being given the opportunity as a first year student to talk with head engineers from Microsoft, Google and other companies is something I don't think many kids get at other schools and it motivates me to work even harder.