Just hoping to get a little advice. (Currently in the military, considering a degree in Engineering when I get out.)

Story time! I dropped out of high school, spent a few years in the Army, spent nearly ten more fucking around in various places, and decided to go back to school at around 30. When I went back, I bombed the math portion of the entrance exam, so I had to start with remedial math, like draw the line of mx+b=0 stuff. After that, precalc. Then calc. Then calc 2, calc 3, diff eq, linear algebra, physics 1 and 2, etc; man, my life for the last 3.5 years has been basically math and problem solving. It's been tough at times, yeah. There were many, many, many days spent doing nothing but studying, and there still are, but even if it were impossible for me to get that piece of paper at the end, I still wouldn't regret doing this. You know how fucking awesome it is to go to virtually any wikipedia page, no matter how technical, and to actually be able to understand it? I find myself wanting to read the Feynman Lectures on Physics for fun. WTF?

Just a couple of days ago, I derived the function to represent the profile of a barrel and set up a triple integral to solve for it's moment of inertia. What the fuck does that mean, you ask? It means that I actually understand calculus. I don't mean that I can pull levers and punch keys like a monkey performing a routine, but I can take a problem, think about it, apply calculus, and get an answer. Fuck. Yes. Yeah, the math's been hard, but shit man, if you've been in the military, you know how to do what you need to do to get the job done, and that's all you really fucking need. Learning advanced math and physics are more about dedication and perseverance than innate intelligence. If I can do it, so can you.

Khan Academy, PatrickJMT, IntegralCalc, mathispower4u, hyperphysics, MIT OpenCourseWare, etc - there are tons of resources out there. If one explanation doesn't make sense, you can just find another one. It's easier to learn difficult things today than it has ever been. It doesn't matter that you're not good at math. There were many times I had to read a page ten times and watch a dozen videos for the concept to sink in, so that's what I did.

So yeah, I graduate in three semesters from a top ten engineering program. Last summer, I worked for NASA. Fucking NASA! I was looking at the median starting pay for ME's a couple of days ago, and I'm thinking the first 20 grand will go into a bomb-ass ride; maybe a very nice used 350Z or something. I've always been into cars, but I've never had anything nicer than a decent grandmamobile, so it's time.

I guess I have two points: don't worry about your lack of math skills. Just put in the work and dedicate yourself to understanding, and the comprehension will come. Point two is that it's going to be difficult, but it is so fucking worth it.

/r/EngineeringStudents Thread