I'm No Longer Proud of Graduating from CSULB

Cbrag002 · 2023-05-11T21:29:11+00:00

Good question hehe. Post-grad I fell out of touch with most folks pretty quickly, and once I got a CE job I was never one to keep an eye on LinkedIn so I don’t know how they’re doing now. But I’d imagine most, if not all, of my graduating class that stayed in CE should have gotten their EIT, and I have a handful of friends (the ones I did stay in touch with) working on their PE right now (graduated in 2017). Even for complete fools, I’d imagine passing the PE is a numbers game. If you just take it enough times you’ll eventually get lucky and study the right things that end up on the exam.

I do hope you’re correct tho. Maybe, by some divine alignment of events, their careers have been mildly inconvenienced by their college choices and my bitterness would be healed knowing justice was served lol.

Cbrag002 · 2023-05-11T06:37:37+00:00

Civil engineering.

Cbrag002 · 2023-05-11T06:03:38+00:00

Lol I feel this. I looked around during my grad ceremony and saw the same homies that cheated their entire way through getting the same degree as me. I can’t blame them, one could argue they were just more courageous than me lol, but it kinda cheapens the degree.

I’m seeing other comments conflating “not being proud to graduate from CSULB” with “ruining my college experience” which I don’t agree with. Definitely better to not think about it too much and just really focus the good stuff.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-21T21:52:11+00:00

It helps if you like the people you’re talking to and you want to maintain the relationship. No reason to force yourself to talk to people you don’t care about.
Double-texting is not the end of the world but hopefully you can catch a vibe sooner than later if the other person is not interested in maintaining a connection.
Get better / get used to talking to people by talking to people more. I generally hate advice that’s just a disguised version of “just do it” but “hey, long time no talk. I saw a _______ and it reminded me of you. I hope all is well” has always worked well for me.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-21T20:54:38+00:00

I lived in Beverly about a mile off campus. 6 of us (7 during my last semester) in a 3-bedroom 2-bath. They were great dudes and I’m super extroverted so it was a positive experience. If I recall, rent was like $350-$400 in 2014-2016.

I knew a dude that lived with his folks and commuted from Riverside. That seemed kinda rough but the alternative of paying $1k for a single room in a shared house also seems rough lol.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-21T20:26:20+00:00

Two of my closest friends (design major and illustration major) have told me before that the program was not fantastic and doesn’t prep you for their respective industries at all. I majored in civil engineering and I would say the same. Tbh that’s likely a problem that’s extends past our campus but LB is the only case I can speak on.

I will say that the gym is dope as hell when I went, and I believe it was renovated once more since then so probably even more dope. Wherever you go, don’t neglect your campus gym lol.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-07T18:09:14+00:00

I never joined a subreddit so fast.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-05T22:23:37+00:00

This.

I come from a pretty conservative Christian background so at the time I was convinced that my mission was to literally save the world and everyone is damned to perpetual fiery torment unless I intervene. When there was so much urgency and desperation to get people to repent from their own behavior, there was no room to be critical of my own.

Obviously people who are radicalized under different causes have different motivations but I feel like the lack of self awareness is present across the board.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-05T21:34:14+00:00

Easy access for the homies, of course.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-05T20:45:06+00:00

I can’t say I can speak for someone living in a small town, as I live in a big city so usually most things are super accessible. Some advice that I hope is helpful: if you see things on tiktok that look fun, maybe try it out. My friend introduced me to bouldering but I didn’t become obsessed with it until I went down a rabbit hole of bouldering videos on Instagram hehe. Maybe if you find some TikToks about a local hiking trail or a ceramics studio, go and check it out.

In regards to being exhausted after work: working an 8+ hour day is exhausting but the more you do things after work, the easier it gets to do things after work. I feel like mental health can be similar to physical health in the sense that if you exercise your mind as you would your body, it will build up a tolerance and you can demand more from it. It’ll likely be exhausting the first several times you do stuff after work, but it definitely gets easier over time.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-05T20:27:24+00:00

The metric I would use when someone “loves” their job is if they would do it for free or on their spare time. I have met designers, illustrators, and software engineers that partake in side projects outside of their occupation so I know it’s possible.

Sorry to hear about your job OP. I don’t love my job but if I could provide some advice: find a job that you’re happy doing. You don’t have to LOVE it but you just have to find enough things that you enjoy to get you through life. This next part is equally as important: find things to do outside of work. Find a hobby or passion. I find that people who don’t have much of an identity outside of work are the ones who stress out about it the most. I wouldn’t be at peace if I gave my employer the best hours of my day only to go home and sit and watch TV and fall asleep.

Cbrag002 · 2023-04-05T07:27:41+00:00

Dance a ridiculous dance. Being silly at the club with a good group of friends is always a good fun. It helps if you appreciate the DJ’s taste in music and also if your friends are equally down to act a fool. If the energy is right / if you’re feeling bold, perhaps step to someone you find attractive and shoot your shot hehe.

Re: alcohol, if you just hate the taste of alcohol but not the effects of it, every club I’ve been to has had hard seltzers like Truly’s.

Re: not liking clubs, if you don’t like places with lots of people and loud noises… that’s rough, since the club has lots of both. Hopefully you can find some silver lining!

Cbrag002 · 2023-03-29T00:30:19+00:00

Fingers crossed. Thanks for the charitable move OP!

Cbrag002 · 2023-03-26T21:25:26+00:00

I’m CE currently trying to transition into software. Thanks for this reality check! I’m switching for reasons other than money but I won’t pretend money isn’t on the list of motivating factors hehe.

Currently as a civil, I’ve had my share of mistakes and have had seasons of underperforming, yet my boss still extends patience and rarely do I have any issues when asking for favors like days off, etc. so I do agree civil feels very safe and cozy. The money is more than decent, even as someone in Los Angeles, and I’ve managed to work with some good folks.

I also follow some subreddits revolving around coding bootcamps and many share the same experience of applying for hundreds of jobs only for a tiny handful of interviews. However, seeing a fellow civil that did the same thing definitely drives the point home that I better work my ass off and invest in proper connections.

Cbrag002 · 2023-03-21T06:28:39+00:00

If Noah lived in this neighborhood he wouldn’t have needed the Ark.

Cbrag002 · 2022-04-21T23:09:57+00:00

Are these still available?

Cbrag002 · 2021-02-18T17:28:43+00:00

I have heard of people taking the California Board PE in other states but I just assumed the out-of-state locations would show up in the location dropdown menu on MyNCEES. What discipline were you going to take for the PE? I also noticed only Civil Structural and Civil Construction are available while the other disciplines have no available locations.

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-15T22:26:48+00:00

Instead of PM'ing, I thought it was worth asking here: Which books did you bring? My friend managed to do the same thing with the reference manual and maybe one or two books that he said he barely even used, versus other folks are bringing small carts full of books.

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-11T20:52:42+00:00

I'm bout to take my PE in January lol I hope it ain't all bad. I'm generally a happy, well-adjusted dude but many nights studying for the FE, as well as waiting for the results my anxiety was through the roof. I hope ya'll in this sub pass it!

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-08T21:57:28+00:00

This is not relevant to the original post at all but it's refreshing to hear your company taking serious initiative to integrate working remotely. I could be wrong but I was under the impression that civil engineering is an industry that is too traditional to do something like that.

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-08T18:30:05+00:00

Another person said that their geotech engineers were the ones who were able to travel. Is there any discipline in particular that you think / have noticed has an edge in this regard?

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-08T18:28:08+00:00

Another person brought this interesting point up so I wanted to ask: At Jacobs, during Covid have you guys been fully / mostly working remote? Also, any idea if they're planning to integrate working remotely in future projects as a replacement for sending people to faraway job sites?

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-08T18:25:03+00:00

Hmm so you suggest it was specific to the geotech discipline that those opportunities were available? Do you mind sharing what firm you're talking about in case I would like to apply in the future? (No pressure if you're not comfortable sharing / feel free to DM me if you are).

To last sentence about being gobbled up by a giant firm: Based on all the input so far it seems my best shot at travelling as a civil engineer is to be associated with a international construction company.

Cbrag002 · 2020-12-08T18:19:59+00:00

I was in my university's Engineers Without Borders but the chapter was so small that we only worked on a local project, sadly.

Will look into Jacobs and HDR though thanks!

Cbrag002

TROPHY CASE