Hawk Talk - Guthrie

I moved into Leitch Hall at the end of the summer of 2005. I know this may sound like ancient history to anyone who is just starting their adventure at UML. I immediately loved the atmosphere of east campus. My freshmen year was spent studying calculus, physics and engineering classes, and my grades were awful. I attended every class and did all of my homework assignments, but I did not take time to ensure I was doing the problems correctly. Given a second chance, I would certainly spend more time working on getting good grades in these classes.

My sophomore year was similar to my freshmen year, only I lived on North Campus in Smith hall. I loved how close it was to classes and how convenient the tunnel system was in poor weather. Again my performance was poor in the classroom. My first two years in college made my last two much more difficult, since I needed much better grades to pull up my GPA. Another big regret that I have about my first two years is that I was detached from campus. I did not participate in any extra curricular activities, and spent most of my free time off campus. Luckily for me I was able to connect much more my junior year.

Junior year I got a job as a residential advisor (RA) in Eames hall on north campus. Eames is the sister building of Smith, so it was all very familiar to me. I was able to make many friends and get more involved in school. It felt really good to be able to give back to the school.  I also met my current girlfriend in the building. We have now been together for 2 years and share an apartment a few miles away from campus. My grades improved dramatically this year.

I took my second semester junior year off to get some working experience. I was offered a co-op position at Husky IMS in Milton, VT. I worked there for six months, lived in Burlington, VT, and made a couple of good friends from Penn State. My friends from Penn State were also co-ops at Husky. I worked a summer internship at a medical devices company in Salem, NH called Advanced Polymers after returning from VT.

When I returned to school the next fall, my grades skyrocketed. I think my work experience encouraged me to work harder to increase my GPA. This was the first time in my college career that I made Dean’s List. I also got the chance to rent out an apartment near campus with a couple of friends I had made in Eames hall. We had a lot of fun living there and all enjoyed having our own rooms. We did have a falling out with one of our roommates, which became a major issue towards the end of our stay. So I would advise anyone who wants to rent an apartment to be careful choosing roommates. After this year I got a summer internship working at Teleflex Medical in Jaffrey, NH. I still work there part time now, it is kind of a hike, but the pay is pretty good.

Now I am in my last semester of college. I am really starting to feel like I am at the end of my rope. It is kind of a depressing feeling, but I am excited to move forward and explore some new opportunities. I am happy to say that I will be graduating with a 3.0GPA. I had to work really hard to dig myself out of the ditch I made my first two years. I do miss the dorm rooms, as you do not need to worry about bills and upkeep. I would suggest that every college student should live on campus at least one year to get the full college experience.

Overall, I am happy with the choices I made in college. I am very glad to have experienced a wonderful four years at UML. Thanks for reading.

I have decided that I am going to sign up for 1 or 2 night classes next semester towards my master’s degree at UMass Lowell. I have been actively applying for both full time and internship positions. I have also narrowed down my search field to the medical devices industry. Two of my previous internships worked with medical devices, and I find this field to be the most interesting and the most meaningful to me.

I had originally hoped that I would find a full time employer that would reimburse any classes I took. However, I am finding that the job market is a lot tougher than I had hoped. I am going to stay optimistic, and hope to find an opening somewhere in the next couple of months. But I have accepted the fact that I may not have a job lined up for me right when I get out of school.

I think that patience and determination are going to be the keys to my success. With time, I am sure things will work out for me. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes and ears open, and to keep my head up.

For any of you out there who are actively job searching, know that you are not alone, stay positive, and don’t give up. For any of you going into school now, keep in mind that it’s a tough world. You need to make yourself a valuable candidate while you are in school. Do whatever you can to build your resume, because in the end it will pay off. A friend of mine who graduated recently told me to “Always plan things out two steps in advance,”

Hopefully the economy will get better, and many new jobs open up, but we cannot rely on it. We need to take control of our own futures.

Thanks for reading, good luck out there!

 After four years of hard work and determination, I finally get a chance to prove myself to a potential employer. This will be the moment I have been waiting for. That’s right; tomorrow I have an interview for a full time job. I will be interviewing at a medical devices company in Waltham, MA, for a position in research and development.

The fact that this is a local R&D position in medical devices makes this job a great fit for me. So I want to do my best at this interview. Here are a couple of tips for job interviewing:

Prepare: Researching the company is important. You want to know what you are getting yourself into. If they have given you a job description, make sure you take time to read it thoroughly. You may also want to watch interview videos online and do practice interviews. Anything you can do to make yourself more confident will definitely help.

Be presentable and be on time: Make sure you dress appropriately for the position you are applying for. I typically wear a suit, since I am applying for full time engineering positions. I believe it is better to over-dress than under-dress. Make sure you get directions and give yourself extra time. The last thing you want to do is arrive late or miss an interview.

Show your knowledge: Try to relate the employer’s questions to what the company is looking for. This is why it helps to know the job description; you can tie past experiences into the companies focus. Stay calm, try not to over answer questions, and make sure to make eye contact.

Follow up: Make sure to send a follow up email and reassure the employer you are still interested in the position.

I have some preparation to do since tomorrow is the big day. I will be sure to post the results as soon as I find out. Thanks for reading!

Psychology has about half the core classes that plastics engineering, or any engineering, requires for a bachelor’s degree. You will still need at least 120 credits to graduate, so the rest of the space is filled in with free electives. If you are an engineering major like I am, you may be a little unsure what a free elective is, do not be alarmed. A free elective is exactly what it sounds like; it is any class you want to take. So in Nicole’s case, she can use the classes she had taken in engineering as free electives towards psychology. This fills in approximately ½ the courses in the junior and senior year of psych.

Another helpful step is that her math and science courses can also transfer over. Since she has taken calculus, physics, and chemistry courses, she can use these credits toward a degree in psychology. Psychology, like many other majors, requires that students take math courses, and science with lab courses. Most students in these majors would take college algebra or quantitative reasoning since higher level math courses are not required. They would also probably take life science or exploring the universe for their science requirements. However, these courses leaves the options open to the students, if they wanted to take physics or calculus instead.

This is a one-way street however, if Nicole had wanted to switch from psychology to plastics, and it would probably take an extra 3-4 semesters to graduate. So the point is, if you are undecided about your major, or you are drawn between two choices, look at the program of study. The program of study lays out exactly what courses you need to take to graduate, and when you should take them. Start with the major that is more demanding, and more precise about what courses are needed. Then move to the major that is less demanding.

The bottom line is this; study something that you are interested in. If you do not like the major you are in, it may not be too late to switch. Good luck, and thanks for reading.

Now that I am back, I found that I have much more free time. All of the hours I have put into my project every week are now open. This gives me the potential of focusing on my future.

As you may know, I am quickly approaching my graduation in December. As of now my plans for the future are unclear, but my aim is to either be working full time as an engineer in a field related to plastics, or to be studying full time for my master’s degree. I have been trying to work out teaching assistant and research assistant funding, which would waive my tuition and also give me a bi-weekly income that I could live off of. I have also been actively searching for jobs. Two big dates are coming up this week for my job searching: The UMass Lowell Career Fair on Wednesday, the 21^st, and the 2009 MassPlastics show on Thursday, the 22^nd.

The career fair looks a little bit more promising this semester as compared to last semester. There are about 6 companies looking for plastics engineers, of which 2 are actually hiring full time positions. The rest are either hiring interns or just accepting resumes. Since I am graduating in December, and positions will be opening in January, this gives me a good advantage over the students graduating in May 2010.

The MassPlastics show is a trade show similar to the ACS Rubber Expo that I attended last week in Pittsburg. However, I am not very familiar with rubber processing and technology, so the show in Pittsburg felt a bit foreign to me. On the other hand, I have been studying plastics processing and technology for the past 4 ½ years, so this show should help me to see where the plastics industry stands today, and also give me a better idea of the local companies that I could send my resume to.

Hopefully with a little bit of luck, I will get some positive leads that will land me a few interviews in the next few weeks. Good luck with your job searching if you are attending the career fair this week. Thanks for reading.

So if you have been following my blogs at all, you probably know that I am working on an undergraduate research project. I am going to be presenting my work next week at the 2009 ACS Rubber Expo in Pitsburg, PA. Right now I am working really hard to get things done. Click on the link below to read the description of my project.

The First Part of My Research Project...

The show that I am going to be presenting my project at gives awards for the best research paper, and the best poster presentation. I am making a poster, but I do not think I have a very good chance of winning. Last year, they gave out four $1500 awards. They were given to the best : undergraduate poster, graduate poster, undergraduate paper and graduate paper. This year they are only giving out two $1000 awards, to the best poster and the best paper, grads and undergrads mixed. I think it is very unlikely for an undergraduate to be able to compete against a graduate. Graduate students have more time, funding, resources as well as experience.

I am still very excited about going to this show. I think it will be a great experience for me, and I will be able to meet some potential employers at the show’s career fair. I still have a decent amount of work to do, so I am going to make this a short entry.

 I’ll keep you posted on how the presentation goes, and I will try to post up some pictures from Pitsburg. Thanks for reading.

My first instinct is to take my degree and use it. I would like to get a steady income so I could afford things that always seemed out of reach in college. Like a new car that I could make payments on, or a nice TV for my apartment. I realize that these are material things that I don’t really need, but I think it would be nice to not feel poor for once. I am concerned that I would quickly become dependent on my higher salary, and I would not be able to go back to school full time.

So naturally the second choice is to stay in school. But I am unsure if I want to stay in Umass Lowell plastics. I am curious how much more I could learn. I feel like I would be more challenged in a new school with different professors and a new atmosphere. I know that it would be easier for me to get my masters in plastics engineering at UML, but that is not entirely a good thing. I think employers may see this as a disadvantage. Also, I feel I would be passing up a chance to experience something new. I am also unsure whether I would be able to get teaching assistant or research assistant funding to study for my masters at a different university.

I am pretty sure whichever path I choose to follow, I will have some joy from my choice, but also some regret of not choosing a different way. I know that I am quickly approaching a great accomplishment that I should be very proud of. I also know that I am blessed to be able to finish school debt free. However, it is very difficult to appreciate these things when I am stressed about my future.

I am going to look at a few schools in October, and also a couple of career fairs. Hopefully something inspires me to take my next step. I am going to talk to some of my advisors at school to get their opinion. Please leave any comments that you think may help my choice.

Thanks for reading.

Over the summer I have been working on a non-funded undergraduate research project. You can read about it in my previous entry:

The First Part of My Research Project I have been getting a lot of work done on testing my samples. I hope to have all of my testing done by the end of the month, so that I can work on my poster up until the presentation. Another great thing about my trip to Pittsburg is that I will be attending a career fair. I think that a lot of the companies attending are automotive suppliers and manufacturers. This would be good since I have a background in automotive.

The next big date is the UML engineering and technology career fair on October 21^st. Last semester, the career fair was a bust. There were only 5 companies that were interested in my major, and only 3 of them showed up. I know that the economy has taken a beating, but I am keeping my hopes up that this career fair will have a better outcome than last semester.

I have a lot of work to do over the next few weeks. I need to get my work done and get my resume revised. I’m doing everything I can to prepare myself for the real world!

I am sure you are starting to feel it; the cold air in the morning, the leaves starting to turn yellow and orange, adjusting to a new semester of classes and work. What does it all point out? Fall is upon us. I am sure that some of you are upset that summer has come and past as quickly as ever, but I am glad, because fall is my favorite season.

Three things happened this past weekend that reminded me of fall:

1. I spent this past weekend at my place in Vermont with a few friends. This was my fourth weekend there this summer. Only this time, we needed to use the woodstove to keep warm; feeling cold reminds me of the change of season. On the way home we stopped to get breakfast, leading to the second reminder.
2. The breakfast restaurant we stopped at had pumpkin spice coffee! One of my favorite things about fall is that everything is pumpkin flavored.
3. The New England Patriots made an amazing comeback victory Monday night. The pats went from a 24-13 deficit to a 25-24 lead within the last two minutes of the game. Tom Brady is back!

Check out my blog from last fall Ten Favorite Things about Fall... to see more of my reasons for loving the season. Have a great week everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed they’re first week of classes.  The first couple of weeks of school are typically the most laid back and exciting, but they are also the most deceiving. One common mistake I have made in past semesters is to arrange my schedule according to the first couple weeks of school. This includes setting hours for work, signing up for extra curricular activities and any other way of committing time. This becomes an issue when the professors start assigning homework assignments, group projects, term papers, lab reports, and announce tests and quizzes that you will need to study for.

If you need to submit a schedule to a part time job or other organization, I highly recommend underestimating the hours you will be available, at least for the first couple of weeks. If you are not working part time, but you are managing your time, try to work in a few hours of studying/homework time. It will be nice the first few weeks when you can use this as leisure time. You will be glad you have this spare time once things get rolling. Once things get rolling, it’s similar to an avalanche; where you can either ski to the bottom or get buried.

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and short week. Have a great semester. Any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment.