Wrapping Up

Laxmi, Matt, & Savannah

Throughout the course of writing these blog posts, we have realized that although our majors vary vastly they still relate to one another. Our majors are comprised of engineering, music, and history. Each major is difficult, whether that means that graduating is challenging, or that getting a job after graduation is a struggle in itself.

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Engineering has one of the highest dropout rates in the United States, and even around the world. There are many reasons that contribute to this such as the rigorous math and science classes that prospective engineers need to take. You need to be at least moderately proficient in maths to have any meaningful insights in engineering mechanics. In my post titled “What is Computer Engineering #1”, we talked about all the math and science classes that an engineer needs to take to fulfill their graduation requirement. For most engineers, they need to take all the math classes up to Differential Calculus, which is one of the most abstract math class one will take in his career. It is widely regarded as one of the hardest classes in an engineer's career. Engineering is a field that requires high level of analytical mind, and creative thinking, for some individuals this is hard to find. Along with taking abstract classes, a prospective engineer needs to be creative to solve problems to come up with applicable solutions. There are many abstract concepts at play in real machinery. An engineer has to be imaginative to apply those concepts to solve problems. To be a good engineer in this era you must be good with software manipulation or programming. Ask anyone who is a programmer, they will tell you that it is difficult to learn. Engineering is not limited to production lines anymore, ergo, engineers need to be good at manipulating software. Engineering is a field that helps society directly. Unlike other fields, in engineering, the equations do really come to life and move around you. Most students going into engineering change their mind within the first year of engineering school due to the rigorous course and creative thinking

Likewise, most freshmen entering college with a History major in mind, either do not graduate with a degree in that field or at least double major with something more tangible like language arts. But don’t be discouraged! You don’t see homeless former History majors out on the corner do you? History degrees usually do not get employed by academic institutions right out of school, but are surely employed because of how marketable the skills developed during that period are. Skills such as critical thinking, analysis of documents, and communication all make the History major extremely competitive in the non-quantifiable job market. The most important idea to learn

Photo Courtesy of factsanddetails.com

while studying History is the ability to analyze a document and write for a specific audience. Many former students end up in magazines or newspapers relating to history which has a much different style in its format than that of the academic paper. This difference is called Popular vs Academic History, which I expand upon in the article “Popular v. Academic History”! Historians also find jobs working at large companies in positions such as Project Managers and Research Associates because of their focus on critical thinking and analysis. So, if you are thinking about going into History, don’t be too worried, there’s a future out there for you too! You just have to willing to expand your horizons!

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Not surprisingly, the graduation rate for musicians isn’t staggeringly high. According to Berkeley College of Music, 45.4% of 2 year students graduate, 59% of 4 year students graduate. This is coming from a school with above average graduation rates. Just like engineering and history, majoring in music is rigorous and challenging. While in school, music majors are swamped with difficult classes like Music Theory, a class about the more technical and complicated points of musical notation, and Ear Training & Sight Singing, a class where students learn to identify specific pitches, intervals, and more just by ear or simply with a starting pitch. On top of classes like these, music majors have lessons with a professor in which they sharpen their skills in their instrument, different ensembles that take hours of rehearsal, and an hour or more daily in a practice room to work on their instrument. Being a music major requires hours of time outside of classes for additional rehearsals, performances, and not to mention homework. Even after graduating, musicians—specifically performers—are thrown into the world of nonstop auditions and callbacks. Performers never have stable jobs, seeing as they work from performance to performance. Plus, they are constantly up against other musicians at every single audition. Rest assured, there will always be some kind of work for a musician. When it comes down to it musicians don’t major in music for money or fame. I explain this in my post, “Majoring in Music… Why?” to let others know that music majors do what they do for a genuine love of the art and a passion to share music with others. While it may be tough and stability isn’t guaranteed, if it’s what you want to do then all of the hard work is worth it.

Even though it seems like music, engineering, and history have nothing in common, if you look closer you’ll find the similarities. Each one of us is working towards a career in something we love despite the difficulty. We may not share majors, or even a common field, but we share a dedication to our field and a drive to work our hardest and do our best no matter how tough it gets.

Can You Really Make a Living in Music? (Prompt 6)

Savannah

Can you really make a living in music? The second edition of Angela Myles Beeching's "Beyond Talent: Creating A Successful Career in Music" explores the different ways in which a musician can succeed in music.

Beeching very clearly states at the beginning of the book, "...careers are developed over years, not hatched overnight." In fact, she even say s there is "substantial data [showing] that it takes 10,000 hours, or roughly ten years of study, work, and experience, to become an expert in any field." This is something that doesn't necessarily surprise musicians.

Even further, she claims that being a musician "involve far more than performing." There are many dimensions to the careers of musicians, typically doing multiple different jobs or projects rather than just one thing at a time. As Beeching wrote, "Only a fraction of the total number of musicians actually makes their living strictly as performers." Of the over 1,800 orchestras in the US, mst are volunteer or educational. 52 of professional American orchestras with the largest budget only have about 4,200 positions—in 2003 there were only 159 openings in these specific orchestras. Competitive performing jobs like these are actually only a small amount of available jobs for musicians. For proof, Beeching provides several ideas of different music related jobs.

Beeching page 340

Lady Gaga in the studio during filming of
her documentary, "Gaga: Five Foot Two"

While, according to Beeching's book, there are around 295,000 people that are in the "core music industries, which include performers, ensembles, those working for publishers and record labels, and those doing studio and radio work, music instrument manufacturing, and retail." However, an additional 899,000 people are in "peripheral music industries: those at music schools and recording companies, and those working as agents, promoters, and venue managers."

Essentially, the argument that Beeching sets up is that to be a successful musician you need to be able to be more than a musician. This is an entirely valid argument. There is only a certain amount of paying performance positions allotted in a season and the amount of those going into music far outnumbers the amount of opportunities available. 

Realistically, any musician would much prefer getting a non-performance job in a so-called "peripheral music industry" than in something else entirely. Non-performance jobs that are still in the music industry still utilize the skills of a musician and allows them to find creative fulfillment in their lives.

To answer the question, yes, you can make a living in music. It takes hard work, dedication, and traveling off the beaten path to make it possible. If you have the drive then go for it, work wherever you find creative fulfillment and strive to be the best that you can be at your craft.

From writing this post I realized the vastness of availability of jobs in the music industry. The book did a great job at illustrating just how many jobs are there in not only the "core" music industry but in the "peripheral" music industry as well. It really helps to reassure me that making a living in music is possible.

History Does not Repeat Itself (Prompt 7)

Matthew Zang

   The phrase "Those who do no learn history are doomed to repeat it" is ironically repeated by history teachers and enthusiasts alike. The original saying, attributed to George Santayana is so widespread that anyone that had either a basic history class in high school or a 100 level course in college is familiar with the phrase. However, this phrase does not sit well with many professional historians. The saying that is a more accurate depiction of this phenomenon comes from Mark Twain, musing that "history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes."

Photo Courtesy of oracleofhistory.com

   How does the statement by Mark Twain differ from Santayana's though? The simple fact is that history never truly repeats itself! The Roman Empire has not existed twice, Napoleon has not risen from the dead, and there is always different context to any given situation. The latter's phrase tends to embody this nuance much more than the former, which makes it more historically appropriate!

   

What Can You Do With a Degree in Computer Engineering

Laxmi Baral 

Now, that you've graduated college with your degree in engineering, what are you going to do with it? Here are a few jobs that you might want to take a look at.

Depending on your focus and concentration the jobs will look different for every computer engineer, but here is a list of common field that one can go into with a degree in CpE.

Artificial Intelligence - Design a computer system that simulates human thinking.
Median Salary: $108,000

Computer Architecture - The field that developed better and powerful computer systems
Median Salary: $108,000

Computer Design - Research, design, and development of electronic computer components, such as microchips, microprocessors, circuit boards.
Median Salary: $108,000

Operating Systems and Networks - The design of complex network and network topology
Median Salary: $95,000 - $102,000

Robotics - Developing robots to aid industry work
Median Salary: $108,000

Software Application - Using your software and hardware skills to design an application or software to aid companies to make a task more efficient.
Median Salary: $95,000 - $102,000

The growth rate for CpE is slower at 3 % from 2014-2024, however, a job in engineering pays well, and it comes with opportunities for advanced in your career beyond just a job.




Work Sited
https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/computer-engineer/
https://www.computerscienceonline.org/computer-engineering/

Synesthesia and Music

Savannah

Bach, "Cello Suite No. 1," by Melissa McCracken

About four percent of the population has synesthesia, a rare neurological condition that affects the senses. There are many different types of synesthesia, with the one we will be focusing on particularly being chromesthesia. This is also known as sound-to-color synesthesia. As the name suggests, this means that people affected by chromesthesia involuntarily see colors when they hear music.

Pink Floyd, "Time," by Melissa McCracken

One artist, Melissa McCracken, has this type of synesthesia and paints what she hears. In an article for Vice, McCracken explains, "Synesthesia doesn't interfere with my sight in any way and it's not hallucinogenic. It just floats there in a similar way to how you would imagine something or visualize a memory. I don't need to close my eyes but it helps me visualize it better
if I do."

McCracken paints songs she hears, but she will never paint one if she doesn't like it. For example, she says that country songs are "boring, muted browns." Meanwhile, funk is much more lively and colorful.

Evidently there are plenty of other artists who have synesthesia as well. Famous musician Billy Joel has not only chromesthesia, but grapheme-color synesthesia as well, meaning he associates or sees certain letters or numbers in a specific color. Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy has these same types of synesthesia as well. Even famous composer Franz Liszt and renowned artist Vincent Van Gogh had chromesthesia.

This is an incredible condition that doesn't affect most of the population. Fortunately, these synesthetes with chromesthesia share their art with us and give us a glimpse into what they see.

Through writing this article I realized that there are different ways of perceiving music. Sure, I will never have synesthesia, but it makes me think that I can dig deeper into the music that I learn and perform. I know now that there is even more layers to compositions than I originally thought and I am inspired to discover deeper and deeper meanings to songs.

Archaeology and How it is Useful in Historical Analysis

Matthew Zang

      Archaeology is defined as the scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other such remains, especially those that have been excavated. The archaeologist's job is not to just dig up cultural sites and to preserve the artifacts they find there, but rather to analyze the remains in relation to their place of discovery, the cultural value of the artifact, and the cultural symbols, if any, on the object. In fact, if archaeologists can NOT dig up a site and analyze it through new technological advances such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), they would much rather do that. The reason is simple; if you dig something up, you must dedicate resources to preserve it!

Photo Courtesy of  https://www.pwnhc.ca

    Archaeology as a tool for historians is useful when studying cultures that do not possess written records of their existence, such as many Native American civilizations of the pre-colonial era. Some of these civilizations did have forms of hieroglyphs and number systems, but all of those that we have found are carved into stone. This is unlike civilizations like the Roman Empire, which left thousands of written documents and official papers that can be analyzed to decipher what was happening during a certain era. If a historian was attempting to write a complete history of Native American civilizations before and after European arrival, they would have to rely mostly on archaeology for the before section and then could start to "read against the grain" with surviving European documents from the time.

Photo Courtesy of http://westerndigs.org

    

    Works Cited:

http://www.lparchaeology.com/prescot/learning/what-tools-do-archaeologists-use

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/archaeology?s=t

   

Define Ethics (Prompt 2)

Laxmi Baral 

Engineers as a whole must maintain the highest moral and ethical standards. Wether this maybe in their professional career, or their personal worries. 

This link will take you to the "Code of Ethics" page for engineers, defined by the National Society of Professional Engineers. 

I want to focus of on section two number five of this document. Section two number five is as follows: 

5. Engineers shall avoid deceptive acts.

a. Engineers shall not falsify their qualifications or permit misrepresentation of their or their associates' qualifications. They shall not misrepresent or exaggerate their responsibility in or for the subject matter of prior assignments. Brochures or other presentations incident to the solicitation of employment shall not misrepresent pertinent facts concerning employers, employees, associates, joint venturers, or past accomplishments.

b. Engineers shall not offer, give, solicit, or receive, either directly or indirectly, any contribution to influence the award of a contract by public authority, or which may be reasonably construed by the public as having the effect or intent of influencing the awarding of a contract. They shall not offer any gift or other valuable consideration in order to secure work. They shall not pay a commission, percentage, or brokerage fee in order to secure work, except to a bona fide employee or bona fide established commercial or marketing agencies retained by them.

This is one of the most important trait you need as an engineer. To make sure your work is authentic is very important, it is also important to make sure that you don't falsify any information. 

This also carries personal meaning to me. This moral standard is something I carry with me every where I go. I make sure that if I have my name on something, it's completely mine. If I fail to do so, it will hurt my reputation. This goes same for an engineer. If they falsify information, then their reputation will be ruined, which is never good. 

This applies beyond just the field of engineering. Lets take for example our writing class. If someone was to plagiarism, not only will their grades be jeopardy, their reputation for their MSU career will be in question. 

Professionals in not just engineering, but everyone other field believe in this. It is curtail to make your work authentic. 

This will make such an impact on me as an individual. I want to be the best engineer that I can be, and uphold the highest moral and ethical standards.