Seth Godin, in a recent series on his podcasts, discusses our education system and how – in many ways – it is not meeting the needs of today’s world. Rather than our education system helping people “connect the dots”, our system is focused on having people “memorize the dots.” Today, school is often about teaching obedience, conformity, and “academic success”. Seth challenges us to think, fundamentally, what school is for?

I recently went back to University after seven years in the workforce. I had left my mechanical engineering job in Edmonton so that I could be with my wife in Kingston. After a month or so of relaxation, I began considering my options – find a job or maybe, just maybe, go back to school?

In my undergrad I regularly took courses that I did not care for (like chemistry). But why did I take them? The main reason was that I was told to – it was a requirement. To be honest, most of my courses felt like a “box to check.” There was no passion in taking them. One professor even confessed to us – an engineering degree is primarily a “ticket to the dance.” Then why, now seven years later, would I go back to school if it was not that satisfying the first time around?

In my previous role I had been responsible for monitoring the health of industrial equipment – turbines, compressors, or big pressure vessels – in a large industrial complex. However, I was often frustrated by my inability to detect problems with the equipment. There was amazing instrumentation on much of the equipment and large amount of data was being collected about them. Unfortunately, I did not have the tools, or knowledge, to make use of all the information we had.

Out of my frustration came my interest in using machine learning in a manufacturing environment. I began learning python and implementing simple machine learning models. I reached out to companies to see what solutions they could provide. I was engrossed, and excited, to be working on potential solutions to many of the problems I had. As such, when I had the opportunity, I decided to attend Queen’s University to work on a research-based masters focused on machinery health monitoring and machine learning.

My schooling, this time around, feels different. First, I do not feel the same pressure around grades. Having worked in industry, I know “good grades” aren’t as important. Second, I feel that I have already proven my value in the working world. Worst case, I can go back and get a similar job to what I had before. But the main reason why it feels different is that I’m working on “connecting the dots.” I am working on a problem, and project, that I am passionate about. Passion is not something that can be taught in an undergraduate degree or learned on a job – it has to be discovered. I think I’m fortunate to have discovered it.

Update: I graduated from my masters during the summer of 2020. It was an amazing experience, and I still have the passion! I’m currently hired as a researcher at Queen’s University, exploring the intersection of manufacturing and machine learning.