My oldest son who is a freshman in high school had a shadowing day today. He was supposed to pick an occupation he was interested in, contact that person, and coordinate spending the day with him or her. Tuesday night I was asked by my wife if Charlie had mentioned this to me (he had not)… He was assuming he could just sit in my office for the day. Not because he wants to be an accountant or CFO, but because he was too lazy to do the above steps (only slightly exaggerated).
So rather than let him off the hook, I had him read up on EWI (about 10 pages worth plus a 24 slide powerpoint) as well as watch a few videos on our technology. I asked a couple of our engineers and technicians to let him watch a few of the ongoing projects and I told him I wanted him to write a paragraph about what he did today… not for the teacher but for me (I’m kind of a punk-dad like that).
Here is what he wrote…
Today I spent the day at EWI and I saw a lot of different things I’ve never seen and heard a lot of words I didn’t understand. One of which was the Silicon Carbide tube which is supposed to help prevent a nuclear meltdown. Another is the paint remover which could help remove sludge from a piece of metal. Diffusible Hydrogen testing was definitely the most confusing, but I think it was about certifying wire so that the buyers will know it is high quality. I also saw the advance trainer which was pretty cool. It’s supposed to be a new way to train welders. I also met a guy who dotted the “i” in Script Ohio who really doesn’t like the Ohio University marching band. Last, I saw my dad hard at work in his messy office. But after all, a messy office is the sign of a fertile mind.
