Engineering Physics Yap

I'll be completely honest with you. In almost every class I ask myself "why am I in fizz... Why am I learning quantum mechanics... Why do I need to learn thermodynamics and understand how centripetal forces work...". And after a year, I can finally see what fizz has brought to my life.

The conflict about fizz for me lies in the multidisciplinary factor. Sure, I want to do robotics, so it's ideal to learn how it works across the entire stack, thus fizz is the most suitable program. However, fizz is a little bit too broad. Robotics is one facet of it, but there's also stuff like relativity, quantum mechanics, fluid dynamics etc, which I'll probably never apply in my career. I sort them into three tiers:

1. Directly applicable: These are classes like ENPH253 (robot summer), software construction, circuit design
2. Semi applicable: Mechanics, thermodynamics, Lagrangian mechanics
3. Basically not applicable: Classical physics, quantum mechanics, fluid dynamics

The realization hit when I realized how surprisingly applicable the "semi applicable" tier actually is, and what the "basically not applicable" tier has brought me.

First, I realized that in fact, the "semi applicable" tier is very useful. At first glance I was thinking why do I need to learn relative velocity, but the other day, I was able to spot that our linear acceleration calculation code was missing a Coriolis term. Another day, I used the second law of thermodynamics to understand life. Yet another day, Lagrangian mechanics just showed up in the matrix algebra I used to control a robot.

Physics is too applicable to anything, especially mechanics and thermodynamics. After that, I started taking my classes seriously. Now I'm taking this E&M class, which I don't find that useful YET. I can see how one day I'll use Gauss's law or smth in robotics, even if rn I can't think of a way yet.

Now the "basically not applicable" tier. These classes made me learn how to deal with stuff that I don't find that much interesting. Take robotics, for instance: not every part is enjoyable. Do I like collecting 20 hours of data by hand? Probably not. But classes like classical physics taught me how to endure boring moments to get a desired final result (my grade for example). Also, isn't it fun to just complain with your best friends in fizz about how the prof marked our midterm after our final? Or yap about how relativity could be why I feel like time goes faster when I'm happy?

I'm very grateful to be in fizz. Not tryna hop on the fizz propaganda, but it really built me as a person entirely. Truly a one-of-a-kind program.