Most people would argue that during work terms we actually learn the skills that would be relevant to the full-time work that we all hope to obtain after we finish school. These people would be forgetting that not all of life is about that nine-to-five job. Our terms at school teach us far more than our work terms.
If you think back to your very first term at school, you will agree with me. This was the first time you probably stepped away from your parents’ nest. You had to figure out the consequences of not getting out of bed in the morning. You probably learned that healthy food is recommended for a reason and that food poisoning sucks. Although, there was no one to stare you down when you came home late at night, you probably learned a couple of lessons about the importance of not staying out all night (and not drinking excessively either). Despite the fact that a first work term would teach you all these skills too, it is unlikely you would have taken that first step towards independence if your first school term had not taught you these valuable first lessons. Taking the first steps on school terms probably taught you independence.
School terms also teach you to make mistakes and fix them. This is an opportunity available only on campus. The consequence of messing up an assignment or even a whole term may seem grave but usually you’re given a second chance and a fresh start. At work, you wouldn’t be given a second chance at an important meeting with the super-important-CEO-type character. Not to mention that whenever students are on campus they can take chances and try crazy things. During a school term, there will be someone with the time, energy and creativity to help you on your venture no matter how crazy it is. After all, would it be possible to found a club that promotes eating cheese if you were on a work term?
The clubs and activities available during a school term also teach you important skills such as leadership, organisation and even just how to get along with other people. Although you may learn these skills during work terms, school terms provide an environment where you can choose the rate at which you will learn these. Depending on your comfort level, you may choose not to become the EngSoc president but you will still find plenty of smaller leadership opportunities which will help you develop these skills.
During a school term, students can also learn about their interests. The breadth of opportunities available on campus during school terms is much greater than that found within the company you might be working for during a work term. It is by exploring these other options that students can find interests beyond engineering such as ballroom dancing. Developing these other skills and establishing creative hobbies is just as important as the skills that we learn for professional purposes. School terms give us the opportunity to discover these other interests.
During school terms, students are all grouped together by interest. Whether these interests are because of common classes or due to clubs and student teams, being grouped together means students can learn from each other. Grouping together people with similar interests and expertise inevitably leads to more learning. These are topics that you are actually interested in and therefore strive to learn more about. By grouping together students with similar interests, school terms provide the optimal condition for students to share knowledge with their peers. Work terms don’t usually provide an equivalent to this. It is during school terms that you can develop a profound understanding of the things that interest you.
On the most basic level, no one can deny that engineering students learn important concepts and theory in their classes each day while they’re at school. Whether it’s triple integrals in calculus or the back-side attack in organic chemistry, these are concepts taught at school that one would not learn during a work term. We only learn this theory during school terms.
School terms also teach you to learn things. It is true that most of the concepts we learn in class may never have to be applied in “real life”; however, it is learning how to learn which is the most important skill to learn. According to the Engineering Code of Ethics, engineering practitioners must have knowledge of developments in their area and must be competent. These requirements mean that those who wish to be professional engineers must undergo continuous learning to ensure their competence in their fields. School terms teach one how to develop this skill of continuous learning.
Engineering students learn everything from independence, to group work, and to how to learn during a school term. Although these skills and lessons can also be learned during work terms, they are more likely to be developed during school terms. Overall, far more learning happens on campus than once you leave.
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