Erin Kronell

Honors 1000
Reflective Essay

From tinkering with wires and lights at a young age to my growing interest in the automotive
field and electrical subsystems, I look forward to my near future as an electrical engineer. Being a
member of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College, being enrolled in college courses pertaining to my
degree, and my recent involvement on the Formula SAE team at Wayne State, I am preparing
myself to succeed in my future career. In Honors 1000, I have learned a lot about the city of Detroit,
where I am pursuing my degree in electrical engineering and more importantly where I am gaining
experience in the automotive field. The course has impacted my ability to research effectively and
report my findings in the form of well composed essays. This course compares to other courses in
my degree route in the way that it is not a course geared towards engineering, but a course that
more so revolves around the real world and how my degree fits in with the larger picture, therefore
allowing me to understand my role in the city and in the world.
To further elaborate on the course and how it has impacted and will continue to impact my
learning, I would like to explain how the work in the course has altered my work ethic. For example,
the class was very research based, meaning essays required more than an opinion or standpoint on
a subject; they required facts and data in every claim that was made. My work was graded on these
standards, meaning there were no exceptions for unsubstantiated claims or vague statements
whatsoever. This impacted my learning by showing me how to make an argument and support it
without any uncertainty or doubt in my writing tone. In terms of my other courses, which revolve
around mathematics and science, this class will help me report about the things I learn in those
classes in a well-researched manner.
Besides from learning how to become a better researcher, I have learned from this class all
about Detroit, the city where I now live, from its beginning to present. To me, the part of Detroit I am
most concerned with is the automotive industry. I intend to work in the automotive industry as an
electrical engineer and learning about the history of the Motor City gives me a larger perspective of
where I stand with respect to the past, present, and future. By past I mean Fords assembly line and
the Model T, by present I mean automotive engineering advances such as hybrid fuel cell
technology, and by future I mean where my work will lead the industry.