Designing a New Car
I have wanted to design my own car ever since I was very little. At
the age of eight, I raced my first soapbox derby car. It was pretty
awesome. Of course, designing a derby car racer is a little bit
different than going to a car design school, but nevertheless I felt
ready for it even at that tender age. My car would have been the fastest
on the track if I had not ran over a stick and got it jammed in my
wheels soon after starting. I just knew that, given another chance, my
car design would be king.
In high school, I began to become obsessed with designing my own car. I
actually downloaded some illegally pirated car design software and
played with it for hours. It was some serious professional grade stuff –
it would barely run on my computer at the time. I didn't know what half
of the functions were for, but I knew that I loved computer-aided
design. Getting to play with that design software added yet another
dimension to my fascination with cars. Not only was I an avid reader of
car magazines, but now I felt that I had an inside track. I actually had
the software used to make the cars that I drooled over so much. Even the
mechanics who worked on my mom's car didn't have that much.
Of course, there is a lot between dreaming about becoming a car
designer, and actually learning how to design cars. It takes a
tremendous amount of work to get to that level. For while, I wasn't
really sure that I was up to it. My parents were pretty skeptical about
the idea. They wanted me to go to a normal college instead of one that
specialized in car designs. They figured that, if in a few years I
wanted to go into automotive design, I could always switch programs. I
actually started off doing things their way, but immediately I realized
that it was the wrong decision. I did not want to be behind books, I
wanted to be behind engines.
As soon as I transferred to the car design program, things looked up for
me. The program I went to was one of the top ones in the country, and I
knew that I had career prospects once I got out of it. It was a pretty
high stress, high intensity situation, but also of the most rewarding
and challenging times in my life. Just getting through that program made
me a better man. |
