Hi Dew

It is normal to have feelings of uncertainty as you approach university.
It is a big step to take. You will be wondering about all your options
going forward.

I suggest you look at the first-year program at the university that
interests you. You will likely see that you need to take some math and
some physics and probably some chemistry as well, maybe some programming
or problem solving and even a course in the humanities. Life in
engineering is more than math and physics although we do use a lot of math
and physics in engineering.

I suspect you are doing just fine if your classmates are in the same boat.
AP Calculus and Physics are "crunchy" courses. Perhaps you will find that
it all comes together as you go forward. Perhaps talk to your teacher to
see how you are doing in comparison to other students who may have gone on
to science, math or engineering. You may be pleasantly surprised by your
teacher's answers.

Some universities offer a kind of math brush-up camp towards the end of
the summer. This could be useful to you if you still feel, at that time,
that you are not quite ready.

Finally, there are some schools that offer a first degree that is in your
area; e.g., Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering. You may find that is a
better option for you than Mechanical and then Aeronautical.

I'd be happy to email some more if you think it would be helpful. Good
luck!

M McDill

Dear Julie from Texas Nursing is a wonderful profession and shares many of the characteristics of engineering through the background in science and the desire and need to work with people and technology to improve our world. You might think about one of the types of engineering that sits close to your existing training - something like biomedical engineering or clinical engineering. There are many ways to find one's way through a career especially when the children are young and in that time, there are ways to keep the hours sane by careful choice of employer and looking for things like flex time and actually seeing that other parents working there use that flex time. A good partner or a good support system and family, friends and loving grandparents etc. can be a huge help when a little person needs a little extra TLC. With that said, the short answer is yes, I work 40 hours plus per week but I will share with you my situation, which is perhaps an important part of this answer. I'm a widow and mother of three and without my career we would have been in serious trouble when my husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The medical and leave benefits provided by my employer made all the difference. I love what I do at work but I also love being a mum and as expensive as it is, I do things like take my children along with me to things like conferences because I want the time with them and it gives them a bit of a view of the world. Schoolwork comes with us. Other times, I have to ask family to stay with the children if I need to travel. I kept travel to a minimum when they were small and now that they are teens, I do the same. My three children are older now (14 to 20) and that makes a big difference but I have used over the years: a live out nanny; infant daycare at work (unsubsidized but it meant I could go over to breastfeed at lunch, and for years all my children knew I would visit for lunch several days a week); extended day Montessori school; and before and after school care at the neighborhood school (after school until age 12). Even though my children are older now, I still try, not always successfully, to limit office time to the standard kind of a day. I do work at home, nights and weekends as required, but I also try to make sure I drive them to their activities and things like that. All of this would be much easier with a partner, but you can see that I can do it and have been doing it on my own. Even better, I love my work and I think that must show as my older daughter is also now studying engineering. I wish you all the best, Moyra from Canada