Module 13 - Yingda Li

Assignment for Module 13: Career Goals
1) I did two internships:

Prolium – repair and maintenance of oil tanks. I was in charge of procuring parts to build objects on site and
managing subcontractor operations. I did not enjoy the tasks I did as an intern there, since it was more of a
mechanical engineering position and I could not apply my civil engineering knowledge to anything.
Moreover, my colleagues were all mechanical engineers so I felt I could not relate to them as much. Prolium
was also a small company and some of the employees acted in ways I felt was less professional. From the
day I started there, one of the younger employees treated me as though she didn’t want me working there. I
am a sensitive person and so I felt self-conscious and intimidated around her. Everyone else had been
working there for a long time so it was difficult to join in the tight-knit family. I often felt lonely and under-
valued, as if I was just an employee and not a “friend” like everyone else. Also, because it was a small
company, my supervisors were always very busy with their own tasks and I was not encouraged to ask for
help when needed. I was often stressed since I didn’t know how to do my tasks and I had to meet deadlines.
I learn mostly from others teaching me and so I had to learn how to learn by myself. It was also my first job
and the work wasn’t civil engineering related, so I had zero interest in the work and it was confusing to me.
Honestly, I didn’t like the work and so I was unmotivated to try harder to get to know my coworkers, or even
work harder at the job itself. That is something I regret, as I should have still tried harder regardless. From
Prolium, I learned how important it is to fit into a company culture. I think getting along with my coworkers
is more important to me than the work I am doing, although the latter is important too. Also, I am not
interested in working in the oil & gas industry or project management (still might be a possibility, however
I’d have to be managing projects I’m interested in). I might prefer working at a design firm as I like doing
challenging and not mundane tasks.
Flatiron – although I’ve only been working here for a little over a month, I like the work much more as it
directly applies to civil engineering and the workplace culture is much better than my previous internship. It
is a larger company and the people and company are more professional. I’m encouraged to ask questions or
help with needed, and people are very welcoming to me. They include me in conversations and take the
initiative and/or time to get to know me. I don’t know if I want to be an Estimator or if I want to be doing
quantity take-offs of large-scale civil engineering projects in the future, but the people are so kind that I
enjoy going to work everyday. I still feel as though the work is not challenging enough. I like crunching
numbers and being creative with my job (e.g. design).
1) I remember when I was younger, I loved art and reading books. I’d get compliments from my teachers,
family, and peers for my artwork. I feel like everyone is gifted with something, for me it was art. I think I
have a natural ability to draw. I somehow knew my parents wouldn’t be very happy if I told them I wanted
to be artist or even an author. My dad wanted me to be an engineer, but I wasn’t good at math or science.
In order to make my dad happy, I worked really hard in grade 11 and 12 and university to bring up and
maintain my math and science marks. I’m at that point where I’m good enough at math and science to be
able to do engineering as a career, regardless of how technically challenging it is. Through trial and error
over the years, I’ve learned how to learn and somehow enjoy math and science. In my heart, I know I wasn’t
born to do engineering. I am not a problem-solver and I don’t have an affinity for learning and studying how
things work. I am more of a creative and imaginative type, but I was suppressed and fit into a mold to study
engineering. Perhaps architecture is the career field for me, since it combines art and engineering. Art is
what I’m passionate about by nature, but engineering is what I spent most of my life pursuing as I wanted to
please other people. Therefore, engineering will always be a part of me, whether I like it or not. I’ve grown
to kind of like it. That’s what happens when you spend a long time with something or somebody, you just
have to like them for their good qualities (upon discovering them because you spend so much time with
them) since there’s a ton of perks in everything and everybody.
Honestly, I know I could do engineering and be successful at it. I know how to learn and persevere through
challenges. I know that technical experience can and will be gained as the years roll by. But I think if I were
to be an engineer, there’s another field out there that could miss out on the skills that I have to offer. That is
why I’m considering architecture, but I need to make sure it is the field for me before pursuing it. There are
many reasons engineering would be better than architecture (ie. better pay, work-life balance, “no-life-in-
architecture-masters-program”, etc.) It would probably be too late for me to become anything less technical
than an architect because I spent most of my years pursuing STEM. I feel like I’ve wasted my potential in art
since I never took art classes in high school and barely touched art or books while I was trying to force
myself to be good at STEM. While doing interviews for internships, I always felt guilty since I knew I didn’t
have the passion or skills needed to be an effective engineer (problem-solving skills, passion for STEM, etc.).
I was just a girl whose dad wanted her to be an engineer so she could support her family in the future.
When considering my future career, I hope to interact with my coworkers and clients on a daily basis. I hope
to be able to genuinely use the skills and talents I was born with to bring value to my company. I’ll leave the
talented engineers to do engineering, I admire them for their passion for engineering. For those like me
whose parents “forced” them into engineering, I hope they like engineering enough if they’re staying or I
hope they go out and discover what they truly like. I also hope to have a decent work-life balance (no
weekends, and no working till 11pm at night).The tasks I did that I enjoyed most as an intern would be when
I was using AutoCAD to fix up designs, or design things. I didn’t get to do that much of it, but I enjoyed it
when I did.
I also enjoy teaching and mentoring others. Perhaps I might become an Engineering professor, or even an
Architecture professor. I will see.

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Assignment for Module 13: Career Goals

1) I did two internships:

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