I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn't even offer a major in electrical engineering. 1 , this was not a practical option; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a 2 education that would provide me with flexibility (灵活性) and a value system to 3 me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my 4 by interacting with people who weren't studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible 5 . They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years, and I 6 them.
I headed off to college sure I was going to have a(n) 7 over those students who went to big engineering "factories" 8 they didn't care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a(n) 9 engineer: technical genius (天才) and sensitive humanist (人文学者) all in one.
But now I'm not so sure. 10 along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to 11 math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students 12 efforts to reconcile (协调) engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.
The reality that has 13 my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal- arts 14 don't mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they 15 a person in very different ways. However, I'm still trying.
