Well it has been a while since I posted an update on here, however that doesn’t mean I haven’t been meaning to post one, but as one can imagine the process of leaving the military, moving halfway across the country and starting a new career along with graduate school can be pretty time intensive!

I was originally planning on going to graduate school full-time, however after the idea of securing a paid assistant-ship seemed to be quickly fading away, I saw the writing on the wall and began to seek out some form of employment before my terminal leave from the military was used up. I was very fortunate to quickly be offered a flexible remote position after job searching for only several weeks. The position I am currently working can be classified more so as Software Engineering as opposed to traditional Electrical and Computer Engineering, so not quite what I went to school for initially, but close enough for now. I am definitely learning a lot through this position and while having a Computer Science background would have been helpful, I am managing to figure out most things on the job. This has definitely been made possible with the team I am working with and a solid team that you can collaborate with and depend on in the work place is not something that should ever be taken for granted.

Back to my grad school escapades, I have just recently finished my first two courses in my ECE MS program and now I can remember why I was so ready to be finished with my undergrad education. Coming back to academia, especially in a technical field, after being away for about four years definitely hit my brain like a firetruck. There were several nights were I was struggling through homework and projects that I felt a fair amount of regret for starting down this higher education rabbit hole and how I would have probably been better off just focusing on my professional career alone. However despite the truthfulness these moments of doubt may hold, as my first semester comes to a close, I am still glad I embarked on this journey.

I am satisfied with how things have turned out in my transition from the military for there are important things that I can take away from both my current professional position and my academic experience as well. While my software engineering, more specifically web development, job doesn’t quite line up with my academic credentials, it is still giving me valuable technical work experience that I seriously lacked upon my exit from the army. It is also nice to be able to round out my skills with concepts and tools not normally used in the traditional electrical/computer engineering space and learning a lot about the professional working environment that is not really covered in an academic environment. My masters program is also giving the opportunity to brush up on the many theoretical skills that I have long since forgotten since undergrad and should greatly assist me in pivoting back into the more traditional engineering fields if I so desire, but either way I don’t think having an MS in electrical engineering on a resume ever hurt anyone either.

All in all, It has definitely been a crazy half a year since leaving the military, but a great start nonetheless. I look forward to continuing my personal growth as a technical professional and maybe writing some more blog posts in a more consistent manner in the future. Until next time!