I need advice please. Inventive & intelligent. Interested in physics, robotics & more. What to do?

Question

School irritated the cr*p out of me. But I was always told I was quite intellligent, and had excellent spatial abilities. I'm 27 now. I have done many odd jobs over the years. I work on cars and build stuff a lot and do carpentry and sculpting. I'm also a musician and juggle. -but science nags at my brain. when my coworkers are gabbing about some utter drivel they watched on TV last night, I'm thinking about DARPA's next competition or how beautiful water looks in microgravity... and I have a little book of inventions I write ideas down in a lot.

I just wish there was some way I could get into something that's more on my level and stop working these crap jobs... my friends joke about me being like that damned "Good Will Hunting" movie -that's another thing. - I'm not even that good at math. I almost stopped going to high school. dropped out of college.

Anyone know what would be a good start for someone with low math skills who is creative with very high mechanical ability?

thanks for the answers so far. networking is good. I just didn't know any organizations.

Also, sorry, I wasn't trying to sound like I'm a freakin' genius or something. I'm not cocky. I just work some sh*tty jobs... I don't think they'd suck so much if I was working on projects in my spare time, but I don't have the real know-how or equipment.

I like to build things and take things apart. I have since I was 5. I'm also a chick. I don't hang around a lot of people who are into this stuff. My male friends always call me to put their furniture together.

I'm not a genius. I just have some ability I think I should be at least exploring the possibility of using. I live in the Washington DC area. ...oh, lord I ramble sometimes...
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I'M GOING TO REPHRASE MY QUESTION (and hopefully make it simpler):

How can I find out more about engineering-related fields and/or meet people who can help me decide what I might be able to do in such fields?
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I apologize for being so verbose.

Answer 1

When you look back in history, you will find that people who share your disposition were generally on their own to pave their own road. I, personally, think that is one thing that has not changed at all. Not until there's a different foundation under our feet.

I would recommend to you that you formulate long-term goals for yourself and then shorter ones to get you there.

Really focus in on a couple of your ideas, keep the journal alive, but really set out to bring a few of them to life.

Since you dropped out of college, it may not make sense for you to go back in and get your degree just to climb the ladder and all that nonsense to try to get to where you want to be. It sounds like you create your own education for yourself, which is all you could really aspire to Learn in college or high school anyway.

Sorry, I'm thinking outloud, but I think you should go Further Into whatever it is you're doing; don't worry about jobs and careers that much, because if you get focused and devote yourself, your job will follow and you'll be well into your career.

Remember your Conscience and good luck making the World the best place you can.

Answer 2

You need to build relationships, particularly w/ people in industry and/or academia.

Where are you? (That's rhetorical). You need to be around a center of high tech: Boston, Silicon Valley, Research Triangle, Wash DC, in order to meet the right people. (Those are the best, other places like Denver, Seattle, Dallas, etc are ok too.)

Seek out opportunities to network. There are a myriad of organizations that want people to participate: AIAA for example is very proactive toward their members. I sometimes go to MITEF meetings (www.mitef.org) , while a little different from what you're talking about, it's still an example of an organization that few people know about, but can provide connections to a wide variety of industry leaders and innovators.

Look for a job w/ a company that has connections in the advanced fields you're interested in. You may not get *the* job on your first try, but you can get in the door, make connections, and prove yourself to the right people. Advancement will follow.

Finally, consider going back to college, even if only part time. You're older now, more mature. Maybe a class or two will be fun and you won't hate it. You can network there obviously, if you go to a research university they always have opportunities for undergrads to participate in research. If you're as good as you say, you'd be in high demand. And a degree may open doors as well.

Answer 3

I remember this guy who I had a couple classes with (in college), and he was in his 30-40's. He would always sit in the back of the class. Then he would always ask these really smart, technical questions that the instructor would have a hard time answering sometimes. The instructor would be in the middle of this huge derivation of something (gauss' law or something), and if he missed one minus sign, eric would be all over him.

It was like he was some kind of annoyingly smart genius. So we asked him how he got so smart, and he said he didn't ever do that well in high school, and he worked at plant nursery for like 15 years. Then all of a sudden he just decided he wanted to come back to school to be a math teacher.

???

Answer 4

It seems that you are stronger with your mechanical skills than electrical - probably much happier with working with mechanical components.

Unfortunately, companies that hire people to tinker have degrees within the same field. If you do not want to go to school for 4 years, why not take mechanical technicians courses or mechanichal engineeirng technology programs. It may only be 2 years of sacrifice, but it is two years that will pay off in the future. If money is a problem, professional groups and women's programs, such as SWE (society of women engineers) offer generous scholarships to women that want to go back for engineering or engineering technology (ABET accredited schools required).

These programs are not as hard as you might think. It just takes a lot of dedication and asking for help. When I went to school for engineering, I joined study groups and did many of the work myself as well. A lot of independent and capable people have a lot of hard time asking for help, or feel defeated when they don't know how to solve a problem that is beyond them. Just think about your goals and try your best to meet them.

A lot of technicians in my company took similar programs at known colleges, they get paid well and the benefits are great.

Also check out professional groups like ASET, ASME, IEEE and SWE. Many local sections have meetings that is open to the public.

ASET - American Society of Engineering Technology
ASME - American Society of Mechanical Engineers
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
SWE - Society of Women Engineers

Answer 5

Consider retaking your last math classes. It's possible they would make a whole lot more sense now than they did 10 years ago. The fact is, there are a lot of really shitty teachers in high school and college. They seem to take joy in squashing your love of learning.
I see this all the time. Students in their late 20's or early 30's who get straight A's in their classes, probably because they are more disciplined and motivated.

Answer 6

look what i feel is just stick to the task u have started once n u will find out many options in that thing itself if u keep on working up on it