In addition to making toys, I've been going around the state of Louisiana talking to doctors, rehab engineers, prosthetics and orthotics technicians, and other health care professionals about problems that we might could solve with senior design projects. This traveling involves 4-5 hours of riding in a car with Dr. O'Neal and, sometimes, one of his grad students, Austin. During this time, there is endless conversation about the people we're going to be talking to, future projects, Netflix, my classmates, career goals, Coolio, space travel, and pretty much anything else you can think of. However, my favorite segment of the car ride conversation is "Life Lessons". I really can't explain the conversation behind these life lessons because, frankly, I never know how we wind up talking about this stuff. But I just want to share with you the 8 Life Lessons I've learned this summer.
These are direct quotes.
1. "Get married and stay married; it's emotionally and fiscally beneficial."
2. "In a male dominated workplace, wear an engagement ring to keep from being harassed."
3. "Find something you like to do and find a job that matches those skills."
4. "Don't date a man who lives in a 32' trailer in a state park."
5. "If you don't know what to do by age 22, it's okay."
6. "Pick a career that you won't despise getting up and going to every day for 30 years."
7. "If you don't know what to do, find somebody who does something cool and do that."
8. "You don't have to wear shirts in Australia...because it's hot!"
Okay, so, the last one needs explaining...
He was sending me an e-mail with stuff to add to the senior design webpage. He says, "Okay. I need to send this to Madison McLeod--oh, wait! You need to watch this show on Netflix called 'McLeod's Daughters.' It's an Australian show, and my in-laws are crazy about it." So he stops sending the e-mail, opens up Wikipedia, and starts reading the plot of the show. From wiki, he goes to IMDB where he finds a picture of the cast, and all of the men are shirtless. That's when he spit out life lesson # 8.
I hope that this short post is just a teaser of the adventure that I've had this summer. It's been a blast.
