Keys to a Successful Engineering Career LESSON 2: What High School Students Should Know

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

• Engineering success is mostly effort, not “raw intelligence.”

  • The speaker argues that you can’t control how smart you are, but you can control how hard you work.
  • Willingness to work harder than everyone else is framed as the #1 determinant of making it through engineering.

• High school math is a critical “make-or-break” skill.

  • The speaker claims engineering programs use difficult math courses to weed students out.
  • Therefore, students must build exceptional math skills in high school, not just pass assignments.

• To succeed, students should make specific high school choices and build disciplined habits.

  • Take the hardest available math classes and learn from the hardest math teachers (not the easiest ones).
  • Develop “good math habits”: neat work, careful steps, full work shown, and pride in completion.

• Avoid using calculators as a crutch.

  • Calculators can do many high-school problems, which may prevent learning the underlying methods.
  • In college, where problems may exceed calculator ability, this leads to failure.
  • Recommended use is limited: multiplication/division or looking up trig values—not solving full problems for you.

• Use supplemental learning tools (e.g., Khan Academy) if your school’s math program is weak.

  • Encourages daily practice with short lessons and problems for reinforcement.

• Start programming before college.

  • Recommends learning languages such as Python, Java, and some C++ while still in high school.
  • Begin with free online coding classes and practice consistently.

• Build a website to practice engineering mindset and coding basics.

  • Example workflow:
    • Reserve a domain (about $10/year on GoDaddy)
    • Host for a few dollars per month
    • Learn how to build and publish a website as part of “getting into the guts” of engineering work

• Gain hands-on engineering experience before college—especially for lab/sophomore-year work.

  • If you only complete coursework/assignments but don’t build things, you’ll struggle in engineering labs.
  • Suggested learning sources:
    • Arduino series
    • Raspberry Pi series
    • Arduino with Python series
  • Key aim: practice making mistakes, debugging, and fixing problems through real projects.

• Pursue independent projects (go beyond class/robotics contests).

  • Emphasizes thinking up and building your own ideas.
  • Example project:
    • An Arduino-based GPS “warmer/colder” game where players search for a hidden prize and the device shows “warmer/colder” and signals “bingo” when close.

• Avoid “failure patterns” in time use and priorities.

  • Video games: criticizes the belief that loving games automatically leads to game development.
    • Claims game development requires significant math and coding; playing games all night is “worth zero.”
    • Recommended ratio: ≤10% time gaming; ≥90% time coding/math and building your own games.
  • Social media: described as having “zero” engineering value; encourages building/creating instead of consuming/posting.
  • Technology consumption vs technology development:
    • Better to develop with hardware (e.g., Raspberry Pi) than simply use the newest phone.

• Make “wise life choices” (especially avoiding substances and partying).

  • Argues party-scene behaviors and intoxicants/drugs will likely derail success in college engineering.
  • Defines wise choices as: no drinking, no intoxicants, no drugs (also discouraging other harmful behaviors mentioned, such as promiscuity).

• Core takeaway: success comes from deliberate choices you make repeatedly in middle and high school.

  • The video repeatedly links success to:
    • hard work
    • strong math
    • coding
    • hands-on building
    • independent projects
    • healthy decision-making

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Methodology / instructions presented (detailed bullet list)

A) “How to succeed in engineering” (steps/choices)

• Choose to be the hardest-working person in the room.
• Choose the hardest math classes available:
  • Identify the hardest math teachers/classes at your school.
  • Avoid choosing “easy” teachers because you can just copy answers.
• Develop strong math habits:
  • Work neatly and carefully.
  • Show all steps and “show your work.”
  • Organize solutions so they are readable and precise.
  • Take pride in presentation and correctness “the right way.”
• Use calculators only appropriately:
  • Okay for quick arithmetic (e.g., simple multiply/divide) and looking up trig values.
  • Not okay to complete full problems for you.
  • Replace “calculator solutions” with learned methods.
• If your school’s math program is weak, supplement it:
  • Use Khan Academy.
  • Do 2–3 lessons per day (short videos + practice problems).

B) Start coding early (before college)

• Begin programming in high school (not in college).
• Learn at least one of:
  • Python
  • Java
  • Some C++
• Where to learn:
  • Search for free online coding classes (examples mentioned: Codeacademy).
• Continue practicing consistently.

C) Build digital projects (example: website)

• Make a website:
  • Go to GoDaddy to reserve a domain (example cost given: ~$10/year).
  • Host the website for a few dollars per month.
  • Learn how to build/publish rather than only consume tech.

D) Build physical/technical projects (hands-on learning)

• Do real building and debugging:
  • Use Arduino/Raspberry Pi projects.
  • Follow recommended online series from the channel:
    • Arduino series
    • Raspberry Pi series
    • Arduino with Python series
• Learn by iterating:
  • Build things → make mistakes → find errors → debug → fix.

E) Pursue independent projects

• Don’t limit yourself to class requirements (or only contests).
• Develop your own idea and build it using available tools (Arduino/Raspberry Pi/etc.).
• Example project type given:
  • GPS-enabled “warmer/colder” game with an Arduino, LCD, GPS unit, and student-written logic.

F) Avoid “high school habits” that don’t translate to college engineering

• Limit video game time:
  • “No more than 10%” gaming time.
  • Spend “90%” on coding/math/building.
• Reduce or stop social media consumption:
  • Replace with creating/building your own projects or platforms.
• Shift from using tech to building tech:
  • Prefer hardware tinkering/learning (e.g., Raspberry Pi) over only upgrading consumer devices.
• Make wise life choices:
  • No drinking, intoxicants, or drugs (as emphasized).

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Speakers / sources featured

• Paul McCarter (host; “Paul McCarter from toptechboy.com”)
• Khan Academy / “Khan” (referenced as a supplemental learning source)
• GoDaddy (referenced as a domain/hosting service)
• toptechboy.com / TopTechBoy YouTube channel (referenced for Arduino/Raspberry Pi learning series)
• Arduino (mentioned as a hardware platform for projects)
• Raspberry Pi (mentioned as a hardware platform for projects)
• Mr. Calculator / calculator (referenced as a tool to avoid using as a crutch)
• University of Texas (referenced as the speaker’s example context for engineering cohorts)