Welcome. My name is Christian Ross, and I am a freshman at New York City College of Technology (City Tech). My choice of major is Computer Engineering. Reason why I know this major is for me is because, ever since I was first introduced to a computer when I was younger in elementary school, I’ve always loved spending time on them and figuring out how they work and function and what really a computer consists of. Computer Engineering is the best career for me because of the work you get to do and the pay you receive is great. Becoming an engineer takes dedication and I have dedication for this major. With the skills that I will acquire such as coding, I will have the ability to go anywhere I want. I will give a descriptive background on the path and future of pursuing this major and where will the skills I acquire lead me to. You’re going to see the wonderful paths that this major will lead me to, why I’m pursuing it, and hopefully crosses your mind.

According to the New York City College of Technology (City Tech) College Course Catalog 2014-2015, the Computer Engineering Technology program, “the courses in the baccalaureate program build upon the knowledge gained at the AAS level, with an emphasis on computers, computer-controlled systems and networking. More emphasis is placed upon independent thinking and analysis. In addition to advanced coverage of computers and electronics the curriculum includes programming and advanced mathematics. (City Tech 220)” By studying in this major, a wide field of technical electives including topics from computer engineering technology, electrical and telecommunications engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology, computer programming and design, gives me the ability and opportunity to further pursue my choice of own area of interest. “Computer engineers embed computers in other machines and systems, build networks to transfer data, and develop ways to make computers, faster, smaller, and more capable (Virginia Tech 2).” Based on this sentence, computer engineers work with their hands which is very fun to do, you feel like you’re creating a whole brand new awesome product just with your own two hands. Their job all around is to make computers and the performance more developed with better specs and performance while still making them more lighter, easier to carry around and transport, which is just great for the consumers that love to travel to place for vacation to other parts of the world and love being on their computers.

In order to further expand the reasoning and field of study of my major in Computer Engineering, I will demonstrate to you the three reasons that I have that best show the evidence of why I chose these options. The first reason why I chose to become a computer engineer is due to the fact that I love computers and what they can offer to you. Computers are the future! Ever since I was younger and was first introduced to computers in elementary school, I’ve completely fell in love and become hooked to them. I personally believe that with using computers from a young age as soon as possible, it will help your skills in the future, for example, using software programs and learning them to develop videos, art, using programs such as Microsoft word that improve your writing and reading skills, the future is in computers. According to an article in the New York Times, “With the right software and the right and the right guidance, personal computers can also be a marvelous tool for regular student, Mr. Colligan noted, especially for writing. A computer and word processing software can allow a student to revise his or her work without the penalty of laboriously retyping every word each time a better thought comes to mind. Despite the abundance of inferior educational software on the market, there are nonetheless some truly outstanding programs that can improve a child’s skills in math, science and other academic areas. We’ll try to identify the best of them in this column from time to time.” As you can see, computers are not only used for entertaining purposes they also improve your skills in many areas working with specific popular used websites and programs that teaches you skills, that you can apply to your future careers.

The second reason I decided to pursue a career in my choice of computer engineering is because, the salary for this career choice is actually really great. Reason being, is because there’s such a high demand for computer engineers and not many people are a part of it. I love working with computers and I love the salary, so the pay for engineers tops it all off. As stated by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the mean annual wage for a computer engineer is approximately $106,930. The hourly wage for computer engineers is $50.12. That’s exactly around the amount of what 50% of computer engineers make hourly, which is quite outstanding if you compare this salary to many other careers and professions, which I’m quite excited about.

The third reason that convinces me to become a computer engineer is due to the fact that, “strong demand appears to exist for entry-level workers as well.” Becoming a computer engineer or related to it as other areas within the field, such as computer programming and design or electrical anything associated with these types of work can be pretty tough. You will be constantly thinking of your work all day and always improving on what ways you can come up with to better your work for the next time through testing and testing nonstop. Many people start but don’t go through it and switch to other things to do, which is why the pay is great and the inventions that you can come up with and collaborate your own ideas to make the next big thing in the world can be a possibility and the best accomplishment ever if you set your mind to it.

Taking these classes at New York City College of Technology help me learn more of the required information and hands on experience that I should experience before I go into my career of choice in the near future. As of now I am in a Technical Drawing class, which is required for engineers it’s the way you communicate and draw like an engineer. I’m also in an Electrical engineer class where you get to use your hands to create things and use special important tools to develop important projects which will serve me good in the future. To top off all my reasoning on why becoming a computer engineer is a great major I did an interview with Jodi Ann Young, a college laboratory technician at City Tech. I then asked her, why she chose this major, she replied that “I was interested in electronics and computer science and how things work together”. The next question I asked was, how somebody can benefit from this, she replied “you can go multiple different routes with this degree, become a programmer, technician do a little bit of both, or go into the engineering route.” The reason why I find this major interesting is because, you can decide what you want to become, with the skills and knowledge you acquire you can go to many different locations and not just stay at one place all the time unless you choose to. You will get to work with many other people that major in the similar type of work you did.

In conclusion, the career path that’s best suitable for me is computer engineering. This field has many types of interesting and awesome career paths associated with and you can eventually end up developing a whole new invention that will be the next big thing and every one will love. What you will need is innovation, creativity, design and be imaginative. I’m interested in working with computers and making the next best ultimate computer just as I am with developing or coding for new popular games or coming up with a whole new product, so if you’re creative love using your imagination and most importantly computers, then this is the correct major for you.

 WORKS CITED:

Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor, “Computer Engineers.” 01 Apr. 2014.Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

Hack, James J. “New Frontiers in Leadership Computing.” Computer Society (2014):10-12. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech). College Catalog 2014-2015. 2014. PDF. 14
Dec. 2014.

N.p. ECE, Virginia Tech, 2012. Web. 21 Dec. 2014

Lewis, Peters H. “PERSONAL COMPUTERS; does a child need a computer at home?” NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 25 Aug 1987. Web. 14. Dec. 2014

Ross, Christian “Voorhees Building” Flickr. 14 December 2014. 14 December 2014

Ross, Christian “Technical Graphics: Drawing” Flickr. 14 December 2014. 14 December 2014

Ross, Christian “EMT Lab Digital Trainer” Flickr. 14 December 2014. 14 December 2014

Young, Jodi A. Personal interview. 11 December 2014. 14 December 2014

INTRODUCTION:

In this project I had the great opportunity that I wouldn’t have had otherwise to reflect on my thoughts and how to in a way manipulate your brain to see how you take things into perspective and your point of views on any subject. In the process of completing this interesting project, I have learned many observations about myself that I would always make that without actually analyzing it and thinking about it. A major observation I’ve encountered is that I need to start being more organized than before. In the process of completing this project I have learned many ways on how I should be organized with my thoughts and ideas and think more effectively in the future.

THINKING IN WRITING:

-woke up at 10 am- damn a new record for waking up early on a Sunday? I usually wake up at 1
I need to get ready ASAP! Going to go see the girlfriend today
I’m hungry! To eat lucky charms or cinnamon toast crunch?
-10 min. later- aghhh f*** it. I guess I’ll have a bowl of each
Need to complete some assignments for college but I guess that can wait a bit
hmmmm what movie to watch with her? Horror? Drama? Romance? Comedy? ahhh so hard
I guess why not all in one? “Odd Thomas” it is!!! babe will love this movie
mhm this movie is actually pretty good , even from the ratings guaranteed quality, well. Most of the time
all depends on personal preference
everyone’s different after all or else it would be the same boring thing every day
I’m hungry I’m going to order some Chinese food … I know I shouldn’t eat this but IDC it’s so good
oh wow its 5 already where the hell does time go? Guess it’s time to go home and finish some assignments
oh dinners ready okay great more food can’t complain about that everyone loves food! I wonder who doesn’t oh crazy people
already 9pm wow I better hurry if I want to have some time to watch some Netflix before bed
wow these assignments can take time I should have done these earlier and got it over with it oh well
finally done ugh I could have finished quicker if I wasn’t on Facebook or texting or Instagram
yeah I can disable that I can’t blame that but who can resist LOL
well its 12 am now I guess I should go to sleep….I got to wake up at 7 I mean I guess I’ll sleep on the train night! This assignment of thoughts in particular was pretty interesting I can’t complain.

 THINKING VISUALLY:

“Game of Life” = This picture say’s a lot about life in my perspective. Life is chess, no matter what it’s gonna’ win in the end. The choice is whether you will be just a pawn or a king when the game ends.

“Reality Within Fiction” = This picture represents a huge passion that I have for movies. Many movies now a days always contain at least a small amount of truth behind all the fiction parts, that always interests me. I watch at least 4 movies every week even more if I have spare time.

“Simple Technical Graphics Homework” = This is a picture of my homework for this class. Simple homework like this, makes me think why I don’t get it over with and finish soon, instead of waiting last minute just like every other homework I do, if it’s so simple.

 Thinking Rhetorically and Reflectively:

My name is Christian Ross. I’m currently a freshman at City Tech. I am currently 18 years old at
the moment and honestly enjoying my stay and time at City Tech College so far. City Tech is an
open environment with many restaurants and cart vendors right nearby, to fulfill your starvation, hunger and craves. Which my friends and I enjoy so much. Every Tuesday and Thursday we would go out as group after class and eat at different restaurants surrounding city tech nearby. I’m an open minded individual, willing to consider new ideas. Ever since the start of this English class, I have been giving my thoughts some serious reflections. In my essay, I will be arguing that my thoughts are all over the place and I need to work on focusing them on the things that matter the most and on my future success. I believe that many people have their thoughts all over the place as well.

Reason being as to why my thoughts are all over the place is because, I usually think about what’s happening at that moment and not the consequences of long terms from those thoughts and decisions I make most of the time. Although I spend a lot of my time thinking of what’s currently happening in my life and activities, I also do spend time doing some deep in depth thinking about life in general and the future. I also think about very unimportant events and trends in my social environment like many others that has nothing to benefit for me but some joy, not for my future goals. I guess I’m a very random person, which explains why my thoughts jump from different topics every so often and are very random and strange. One of my very interesting thoughts is that, why does time “fly” so quickly by when you’re enjoying yourself and having a blast as oppose to it going unusually slow at a turtle walking pace when you find yourself bored with nothing to do, or uninterested in whatever activity you’re doing.

 I believe that people that focus more on long term goals and their futures, are more likely to succeed at a rapid pace and with ease than those that just decide to go with the flow and make poor decisions by waiting. Waiting is never the answer, you either do now or do never. Which is why I need to be more organized, I don’t necessarily spend much time or put enough thought into my future career and how my life will be then, I just think about living life right now. To be truthful at this moment I’m a procrastinator and I hate it. I always think I will get things done later cause I have time, but the truth is you don’t, you never know what kinds of random situations you might encounter and completely forget about what you were going to complete later or you end up waiting until the very last minute, and have to rush and end up with poorly completed assignments, work or tasks being done because you didn’t set enough time and effort into you tasks.

In my day of thoughts, I wrote “oh wow its 5 already where the hell does time go?” (Christian.Ross28 par. 13) I think about time every so often. Why does time pass by so quickly let’s say when you’re having fun with your friends, or playing videos games, and why does it go so slow by when you’re doing something you don’t like or bored out of your mind whether you’re just sitting there, or at a boring lecture in one of your classes, you tend to drift away and start day dreaming about other activities and events aside from what you’re supposed to be focusing at that moment because you simply just can’t handle how boring it is and uninterested you are about that particular topic. This happens to me every so often, where if I’m not in the mood to be in class and the professor starts talking about a certain topic that’s not very interesting, I start dazing off and have outside thoughts that are irrelevant to my class and end up with me being lost and not knowing what I’m supposed to be completing.

Another bad habit of mine is I’m clearly a procrastinator. I get distracted from what I’m doing a lot of time, “finally done ugh I could have quicker if I wasn’t on Facebook or Instagram” (Christian.Ross28 par. 20) Technology now a days distracts us from our daily lives the majority of the time. Walking on the streets, you will encounter people walking blindly with their heads down and eyes glued to their phones, and being in risk of getting hit by a car any moment because they are too heavily distracted and not aware of their surroundings. Social media is a huge problem for many students including myself. Reason being is because we spend so much of our time on the internet and being social that we don’t put much effort in person. I’m always checking my phone every so often to see who wrote to me or what did people post on Instagram or Facebook the two most time consuming applications alive possible. I just need to learn to set my priories straight and save the technology and media for after when I’m done with my works and tasks that I must complete first and not get distracted by my phone and end up never accomplishing my job and saving it for the end and handing it incomplete with many mistakes and not enough effort into it. I should come up with a way to not get distracted easily by my phone, maybe turning it off and not putting it into use until after I’m completely done with whatever my task is at that moment would be a beneficial idea? Because simply just putting your phone on silent isn’t enough, you will still have the urge and need to check it for any notifications or updates easily since you’re so used to it, so having it completely turned off will prevent you from doing so.

I know that if I don’t start changing up my types of thoughts soon and make them more organized, than that will lead to a lot of more work to be done and my mind will be all over the place. I want to be that professional in my career in the future that knows what’s going on, that knows what to do what to operate and how, that only thinks and focuses on the things and tasks that matter which is getting the job done with time, carefulness, preparation and hard work with no mistakes or any dysfunctions. That only thinks about their study and work and how they can improve on and become more skilled and build up their potential quickly. Instead of being that type of person that people always complain about because they aren’t focused and seem lost in whatever they are doing, because they were too busy thinking about other irrelevant thoughts that have absolutely nothing to do and doesn’t involve their hob or work what so ever. That’s the type of person that many people will love to go and seek help from, the professionals that always excel in their works, and know what they are operating with that can do their jobs on time and well done with no mistakes. To have completed their tasks professionally done because they focused on ways to improve themselves and only thought about getting their jobs done and what types of solutions they can make to better their works and always move on and keep going up the ladder and progressing on their effort of work. Instead of those people that don’t use mechanics, and only focus on getting the job done with little to no effort as possible and end up doing poorly in their tasks and assignments, and have to redo them later on a couple times because they couldn’t get it done right the first time.

In conclusion. As of now my thoughts have little to nothing to do with my future career success, that I need to change up. In the future I have to stay dedicated to my field of study and not focus on thoughts outside of my work. As you can clearly see, many of my thoughts are scattered throughout the place and need to be more organized. Focusing only with a lot of time on the things and tasks that matter will lead me to be more successful in my work and improve my future success and provide more opportunities.

                                                                                   WORKS CITED:

Christian.Ross28 [Christian Ross]. “Re: Project 1: Thinking In Writing” OpenLab. ENG1101 D377 English Composition 1, FA2014. 12:36 29, September 2014. Web. 14 Oct, 2014

Ross,Christian “Game of Life” Flickr. 10, Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Oct, 2014

Ross, Christian “Reality Within Fiction” Flickr. 10, Oct. 2014. Web 14 Oct, 2014

Ross, Christian “Simple Technical Graphics Homework” Flickr. 10, Oct. 2014. Web 14 Oct, 2014