The Burlap Soulmate

Two trains leave the station at exactly 4:00..

So the test is finally done. Many thanks to those well-wishers who stopped by to say Hi. It was really appreciated.

Just to give you some boring exposition, the test is called 'Fundamentals of Engineering' and is given twice a year all over the country. Sort of like passing the bar for an attorney. Its 8 hours long and covers pretty much everything you learn in college, so the younger you are, the better chance you have at passing. If you do pass, you receive whats call an 'EIT' or Engineer in Training. Which is also funny, having 10 years industrial experience, being a 30 year old 'Engineer in Training.' Then you have to take another 8 hour test, which if you pass, qualifies you to be a Professional Engineer. This isn't a requirement for my field, so I'm not under a lot of pressure to make this happen. It doesn't really affect my current job at all. But it would definitely increase my marketability and respect in the industry, and would help impress banks and investors when I lay out my own business plan someday.

So with all that, It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The practice problems I had been doing for the last two months were about 10 times harder than the actual test, which I suppose was intentional. I actually felt really good about it when I left, ironic in that I don't really think I passed. Not that its impossible, just statistically improbable since a good portion of my guesses would have to be right. (no penalties for guessing. Woo Hoo!) In the end it came down to what I had studied and what I hadn't. I rocked the material stresses section and the kinematics section, but Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer kicked my ass, and there were a LOT of those types of questions. But now I know what I need to study for next time. (The next opportunity is in April) And I can FINALLY get cracking on making Halloween really special for us.

Posted by J. at October 26, 2003 11:55 AM