What can I do in High School, if I want to be a civil engineer, other then studies.?

Question

I am a grade 11 student in Hamilton, ON, Canada. I need some information that what are some activities other then studies I can participate in school or daily life. I set my future courses that are needed for admission, and I need best wishes from all of you.
Thank you

Answer 1

Get to know the Civil engineers in your area, see if you can get a job assisting them (carrying clinometers and the like). Also, you might look into joining your local society of civil engineers.

Answer 2

The world is changing and what used to work may not any more. Computer technology has made the term "analysis" important. Taking an "analytical" approach to problems is not easy and must be learned in practice now. Text books, for example, in engineering must be approached by learning how to be able to go into the depth necessary to actually write them better than the author(s) did. It is no longer satisfactory to take everything at face value from the books. For example, for many years the Physics books have provided misleading information about how airplane wings create "lift" and this is only now being corrected after many students have accepted the wrong information. To gain a "feeling" about what is right and wrong in the engineering literature is a good start to being able to handle professional tasks that involve competition with others in the field. I think that is what others mean by avoiding some of the intricacies of (unimportant) mathematics while applying a deep understanding of what is what in the real world - that is, accepting nothing without a critical eye. Correcting others, you know, is a sure way of getting noticed.

Answer 3

The most important thing you can do in high school is take science courses and math courses. If you can take, chemistry, physics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus, you should be well prepared for civil engineering studies at the university level.

The other answers have pretty good suggestions that might help you figure out if you want to go into civil engineering, but if you are sure you like civil eng go with those classes in high school. Actually, even if you change your mind and decide to go some other direction in the math/science/engineering area you will be well-prepared academically.

Answer 4

Let me give you a backgrounder before I became a civil engineer.
When I was in the Grade School, I had a flat B in math, but with other subjects, I got all As. In High School, we had advanced subjects such as college algebra, solid, analytic geometry, trigonometry, calculus, chemistry, biology, zoology, world history, oriental history, US history, journalism and a lot of extra curricular activities such as being an Explorer Scout, member of clubs, etc. I was accepted In the Pilot School eventhough I had only a B in math. Sciences play a big part in the course. It is not all math, rather, the rationale of things around us, like, why it has to be safe from falling, why it has to be treated, why it has to pass the compaction test, etc. Procedures like these have reasons. I persisted, because I can reason out the relationships of things based on natural phenomena, such as gravity, forces that affect us, etc.
Civil Engineering has the most math subjects in engineering. Be glad, because, today's CE education allows you to have a calculator, where, in my days, I had to extract the root of a number manually, without the use of a calculator.
I was terrible in numbers in the Grade School, that I had to excuse myselef going to the washroom so I could not answer the multiplications in flash cards?
I believe that practice makes perfect.
With a lot of formulas in physics, you may probably remember those by chance, but in the long run, you may not. So, just practice solving problems everyday and do them in advance.
If there are math and sciences clubs, join them! Also, being good in English is a plus. It will be very easy for you to make conclusions and prepare dissertations if you are good in written and of course, oral English.
I want to share you this: I appreciated civil engineering not when I was in college, but when I was practicing it. In addition, CE has two areas: vertical, for works concerning buildings/ structures and horizontal, for works concerning road conctructions, dams, irrigations, etc.

Answer 5

There are many outreach progams for those who are interested in engineering. Contact the school you are interested in attending or the closest university that offer engineering. They should have engineering open houses or active student groups. Call or email the student group adviser and officers that you are interested in engineering and ask if you can be their shadow for the day. If they have group projects, such as building bridges or design competition, join in and volunteer your time. You can add these to your resume of experience which will help you with scholarships or get in to more competitive schools.

Or you can enjoy your last bits of free time. Once you go to school for engineering, you may not have time to yourself.

Answer 6

make sure you study hard and keep your grades up. And just be high school kid, those other activities u will find them on the way, once u r civil engineer u might be too busy and wish u had enjoyed more when u were in high school.
All the best

Answer 7

Try to get a summer job working with a surveying crew or road construction. You can get good technical knowledge from school, but seeing how things are actually done in th field is very important

Answer 8

Try getting a part time job as a mason/bricklayer. Getting dirty always helps to understand theory. Plus, you might discover you want to be a contratist and not an engineer.

I give the "get dirty first" advice to all the freshmen in my university and the ones that follow it don't regret.

Answer 9

Do volunteer work.