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Hello everyone. I'm a university student in South Korea majoring in mechanical engineering, currently writing from my laptop in the dormitory

Revolutionary

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I read the Fastline book during my service in the military, and decided to join the forum because I did want to become an entrepreneur someday.
But after I got discharged and went back to school, I forgot all about it.
Then, just a few days ago, I got an Email from the forum saying 'You haven't visited in a while', and decided to come by.

I was having a lot of trouble with how I wanted to live my life and how I was actually going to live my life, wracking my brain over it and getting stressed out for the last several months. I choose mechanical engineering as a major because I didn't know what I wanted to do, and at the time, mechanical engineering seemed like the subject that would offer me the widest range of choice latter on. Two years into studying it however, I figured working with it for the next twenty-thirty years would be a boring life. The subject is hard, but that I can manage. But it's just seriously boring. And I don't see any other choice than working either in a factory or a laboratory for the rest of my life after graduating, and that doesn't seem like a life I want to have.

The dream of wanting to start my own business hasn't died yet, it's just that I haven't got the faintest clue how.
I haven't got an ideas on what to start my business on, and I don't even have an idea on how to get an idea on what to start my business on.
So.... I'm pretty much stuck at the starting line right now.
Hoping to find some answers here.
 
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Michael Burgess

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Welcome back to the forum!

I don't have any practical or immediate advice to give you, but want to at least praise you for having the seed of an entrepreneurial spirit. Acknowledging you're not happy with the path you're on, and admitting you want something better or different is an important starting point. From there, you can gather more inspiration and information to make things better.

Do you have any skills you can currently offer the market (whether mechanical engineering or something else entirely) that would let you be self-employed on the side? Are there any products or services you can offer your fellow students to make their lives better?
 

Revolutionary

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Welcome back to the forum!

I don't have any practical or immediate advice to give you, but want to at least praise you for having the seed of an entrepreneurial spirit. Acknowledging you're not happy with the path you're on, and admitting you want something better or different is an important starting point. From there, you can gather more inspiration and information to make things better.

Do you have any skills you can currently offer the market (whether mechanical engineering or something else entirely) that would let you be self-employed on the side? Are there any products or services you can offer your fellow students to make their lives better?
My major is the only thing I can offer the market right now, and I'm trying to figure out what other skills i should develop.(Let me know if you have any suggestions!)

I've got a talent at storytelling on whatever matter I know or can make up, I'm good at speaking up in public and giving other people counseling on issues like relationships and emotions. Haven't found a way of how I should present those aspects of myself to the market, though.
 

Revolutionary

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Could you act as a consultant in mechanical engineering, or tutor other students?
...You've got me thinking.
I don't have the expertise to consult or tutor others about my major right now, but I feel like using my major as a tool and material to do the communication I'm good at is something I can live by. It seems like a better option than working in a factory/laboratory with nothing but my major to work with.
 

ygtrhos

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Hey @Revolutionary , welcome to the forum!

I am a PhD mechanical engineer. Unlike you, I chose engineering out of passion and I really like engineering.

You might not like it as me, and that is completely legitimate. You do not have to become an R&D engineer like me, or work in labs or factories the whole time. I love it, but you do not have to.

My ultimate advice is: get your goddamn degree. Do not leave the school. Get your bachelor's at least. (unless you get in substantial debt, but I guess you do not in South Korea)

This has multiple benefits for you:

1- Unlike what most people think, an engineering degree helps a lot. It trains your mind to solve problems and think analytically, especially in our profession.

2- When you study a MINT degree, you have to be some sort of expert. This brings you prestige and opens doors. People put you on a pedestal. You improve your own brand. The degree is something you get for a whole lifetime.

3- As an engineering graduate (especially in mechanical), you can practically choose every career you want. I have friends that majored in contract law and now consulting construction companies about engineering law. Or some of them just did an MBA on top of it and did marketing in Coca-Cola. You can even study psychology on top of it and go some other way.

4- You can get well-paying entry level jobs and can save a lot of money for side hustles. This is exactly what I am doing. I also have the opportunity to observe the industry from inside, I am engaging with problems every day. On the side, I am saving money and making experiments in side hustles. I can take risks more than just a secretary, because she does not have any money to risk.

My advice is not sexy, but getting rich is also usually not very sexy as well.

About the business side, I do not feel competent enough to give you advice because I have never achieved business success.

Good luck to you!
 

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