Whole Life Concepts Paper Part 2

Matthew Piercy

ENGR 1201-002 Chris McDaniel 10/15/12

I have neither given nor received any unauthorized help on this assignment, nor witnessed any violation of the UNC Charlotte Code of Academic Integrity.

Piercy | Whole Life Paper 2

Matthew Piercy

October 15, 2012

Whole Life Concepts Paper Passion Summary As discussed in part one, my passion is driving NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars and the motorsports industry. My passion comes from my racing experience as well as my job working in the family business. In March through October, I drive Late Model Stock Cars at Hickory Motor Speedway on the weekends and I work on my car throughout the week. I also work with my crew to develop new ideas and make the car handle better and run faster. When I was younger, I also watched my father drive Late Model Stock cars and this began to develop my desire to race and my passion for motorsports at an early age. My father and I are best friends, and he has taught me most of what I know in relation to my motorsports passion. Both of my parents have also taught me how to be a person of integrity and what it means to do things the right way. I began racing quarter midgets when I was eleven, and I started driving full-bodied stock cars when I was fifteen. Now, at age eighteen, I have had many up and down experiences in motorsports, but each one of them has made me stronger as a person. I have been involved in several controversial situations, but I continue to push forth and let the criticism roll off my back. Motorsports has developed my mental toughness and made me the competitive, strong-willed person that I am today. I have good Christian values and I try to honor God in my actions both on and off of the track. I have also been blessed to work with a handful of people who have enhanced my driving ability as well as my knowledge of racecars and the motorsports industry. These people have taught me about the details that you must pay attention to in order to be successful. Also, these mentors have taught me a wealth of practical knowledge about racecars and how to work on them. I have also learned how to work with people and communicate effectively with others such as my crew chief and my other team members. I believe in doing things the right way and playing within the rules set forth. I believe that my determination and my work ethic are just two things that will help me to make the most of my passion and eventually turn my passion into a career as well. My passion for racing and motorsports is part of what makes me who I am as a strong-willed, competitive person who goes out and gets what I want. I do not wait around for others, and I have the ability to be independent and achieve my own goals. My passion is part of what drives me in everyday life to be the person that I am. Passion and Impact Summary As stated in the rubric, I must combine my knowledge with my passion and take action in order to make an impact on the world around me. In my opinion, the possibilities are unlimited as to how I can make an impact if I make the most of the opportunities that present themselves in front of me. As I continue in my life, I plan to graduate from UNC Charlotte with a Mechanical Engineering degree and pursue a career as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief. I want to be an innovator in the industry that I am passionate about and I want to be an innovator in the technology that makes the industry move and progress. I believe that with my education and my practical knowledge both working and driving racecars, I will have the experience necessary to be successful in the motorsports industry. I want to have a lasting impact on the motorsports industry and be a person who contributes to the sport for years to come. I want to be that impact player who always has a positive and lasting influence on the motorsports industry that I revere. I know that there are many economic woes that could possibly influence the impact I can make in my profession, but I must continue forth and prepare myself in the best manner that I can.1 I believe that my experience driving racecars will directly contribute to a successful career in my passion and the way in which I make a positive impact on the industry and the people who surround me. Technology will continue to increase in the motorsports industry and influence the way that the industry works in the future.2 Not only do I want to make an impact for personal reasons, I want to make an impact and use my platform to share my personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
1

Cornish, Audie, NASCAR Feels Economic Woes National Public Radio, last modified July 25, 2010,Accessed on September 17,2012. http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2012/03/20/nascarseeks-agency-to-attract.html

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Job Opportunities Three jobs that I researched in order to turn my passion into a career were a job as a car chief/team engineer on a Sprint Cup team, a job as an HVAC Applications engineer, and a job as a Mechanical Engineer with a large corporation.3 In all of these jobs, you must be able to effectively communicate with others orally as well as through writing. I must also be able to lead a team and communicate my thoughts so that others can understand them. I will also need technical knowledge that will come from my education that will help me to learn about engineering and its processes. I will also need the practical skills that go along with working in the motorsports industry. For the job in Sprint Cup, I will need the practical knowledge and experience I have gained from working on and driving racecars in the last few years. I plan to continue to drive and work on racecars throughout college so that I can build my practical and applied knowledge with my college education.4 I will also need abilities and knowledge that is above and beyond others who are trying to get a job in the same field in order to set myself apart and get a job such as the ones listed above. I will also need to be a thinker and a person who can stay ahead of the curve as well as the latest technology. I must continue to build upon the skills I have in order to be prepared in the best way that I can. Knowledge and Skills In terms of turning my passion into a career, the Bachelor of Science Mechanical Engineering degree with a Motorsports Concentration is the best fit. At this point, I do not plan to pursue graduate study, but it is something that I would consider later on my career if I felt that needed to further my education to make the most of my opportunities and be successful. There are several courses that I will take during my college career that will provide me with the fundamental academic knowledge that I need. Some of these courses include Intro to Engineering I and II, Physics I and II with labs, as well as Calculus I, II, and III. These courses will be taken during my freshman and sophomore years, and will provide me with the basic Engineering, Physics, and Mathematical principles that I will need to take more advanced courses during my final two years of college. In general, my Freshman year courses will consist of Intro to Engineering I, Chemistry I and a lab, Calculus I, English I and II, Intro to Engineering II, Physics I and a lab, Calculus II, and two liberal arts electives such as visual arts. My sophomore year courses will consist of Physics II and a lab, Engineering Mechanics I, Calculus III, Manufacturing Systems, Design Project Lab I, Solid Mechanics, Differential Equations, Basic Electrical Engineering, and Motorsports Clinic I. These courses require prerequisites in Physics and Calculus, and will equip me with knowledge from the basic higher-level courses that will introduce me to my major. A couple of these courses will help me to learn about manufacturing systems and help me to get a basic understanding of electrical engineering. I know from my past experience from dealing with electrical items, that I need more knowledge and understanding in this area if I want to be successful as a Mechanical Engineer. I must also complete an approved automotive project that will relate to my first class in motorsports. During my junior year, I will immerse myself in classes that are directly working toward my major. My courses for my junior year include Thermodynamics I and II, Dynamic Systems I and II, Engineering Materials, Macro Economics, Measurement & Instrumentation, an Instrumentation Lab, Heat Transfer, Design Project Lab II, Fluid Mechanics, and a Mechanics and Materials lab. Some of the major courses during my third year include Thermodynamics, Dynamic Systems, Heat Transfer, and Fluid Mechanics. These courses are an integral part of what I will learn in order to make an impact in the world around me when I graduate. Without the knowledge from these courses, I would not be able to apply my knowledge and be an innovator in relationship to passion and my career. Lastly, during my Senior Year I will take a Motorsports Clinic II, a Motorsports, Math, and Science elective, Machine Analysis & Design, a Thermal/Fluids lab, a course in
2

Maloof, Denise N., The new frontier: Engineers bring high-tech to the sport of high-octane, CNN, Sports Illustrated, last modified on July 29, 2002, Accessed on September 17, 2012. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/nascar_plus/news/2002/07/28/maloof_engineering/ 3 Career Builder, Engineering Jobs in Charlotte, NC. Last modified September 19, 2012. Accessed September 19, 2012. http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx? APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J3H1QQ699TVXYZVDC3J 4 Matthew Piercy, Whole Life Concepts Paper Part 1, 2012.

Piercy | Whole Life Paper 4 Professional Development, Motorsports Clinic III, two additional Motorsports electives, a Liberal Studies elective, and another course related to Thermal and Fluids. These courses will allow me to finish up my Motorsports Concentration and provide the final courses that will prepare me to become an effective professional in the workplace. This academic program is taught by some of the best instructors in Engineering education and will adequately equip me with the knowledge necessary to get a quality degree with the knowledge required in my career field. This education will allow me to get a job and work in the industry that I love, which will give me the tools necessary to make the impact that I desire. I believe that the Motorsports Clinic will very useful in educating myself in motorsports and helping me with my goals in the future. I also plan to take courses in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics that will increase my knowledge of systems dealing with HVAC and other applications. If available, I would like to take courses that directly relate to HVAC applications, as HVAC Engineering and the technology that is available to achieve innovation in this field fascinate me. I also plan to take courses in Professional Development that will allow me to sharpen my professional skills and prepare me for the workplace. I believe that this Professional Development course is one of the most useful courses that I can take in order to prepare myself to be a professional in the workplace. I believe that there are many sources I can use in order to develop the specific non-technical, non-academic knowledge, skills, and abilities that I will need to achieve the impact that I desire. As stated earlier, one of these sources will be continuation of driving and working on Late Model Stock Cars. By doing this and working with experienced people in the motorsports industry I will continue to receive the instruction that I need outside of educational walls. In my opinion, this is just like on-the-job experience, and this is a huge part of the hands on training that I need to eventually have a career in the motorsports industry. As a professional in my chosen career, I will also need classes that relate to public speaking. I would like to participate in classes or programs that will allow me to enhance my public speaking experience. I talk well in front of people, but I need to sound more professional and use words that do not reflect my southern background as much. If I work as a crew chief in the motorsports industry, I will have to talk on camera and in front of large groups, so I will need the public speaking skills necessary to communicate with a large audience. Right now, the only experience I get on public speaking is when I do presentations in my classes or when I do interviews for racing in front the fans, on the phone, on the radio for a live remote. As a young adult, these are all great experiences, but I feel that my speaking skills need more development in order for me to take my skills and abilities to the next level. Lastly, I would also like to participate in team building student organizations and programs that will allow me to enhance my ability to lead a team and work in teams. Groups and organizations such as these would benefit me and prepare me to be a leader the not only the Engineering field, but the business world as well. Leaders and team players can do a variety of things well, and they are not just focused and specialized in one area. This is why some companies such as Bank of America hire engineers to lead their projects. Reflection and Conclusion The Whole Life Concept and Discipline model is important to me in this stage of my academic/professional career because I serves as a guide make the most out of my knowledge and my opportunities. As it states in the rubric, if you do not take action with your knowledge, your opportunities will be limited. This model has helped me to realize my knowledge level/ability at this point during my career, and where it needs to be in the future at the end of four years when I complete my academic career. This model is also important because it has helped me to identify my passion for motorsports in detail and begin to make some decisions about what I want to do in the future as a professional. In many cases, students are stuck at the end of their high school careers and may change their majors several times during college because they are unsure of what they want to do. This model has helped me to identify what I truly love and what I want to do with my future. Although I do not know exactly what my future holds, I have identified a basic plan for myself and how I want to pursue my goals in the future. Also, this model is important because now I have a detailed plan of how I want to impact the industry around me. In Coveys book, he states that we have both public and private victories.5 This said, I must achieve these victories before I can go out and have an impact in my career field/industry.

Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, (New York: Free Press, 1989).

Piercy | Whole Life Paper 5 Over the last few weeks, I have put a lot of time and effort into this assignment. This assignment has given me a clear understanding of my goals and what I want to do with my career. This assignment has influenced my perceptions of the amount of work that will be required for my major. This was a major assignment and is the first of many that I will complete in this class as well as in my chosen major. However, this assignment has reaffirmed my choice of major and made me even more determined than ever to work hard in my educational endeavors/pursuits. My plans for the future are more stable and concise than they were before I began to write this paper. In my opinion this assignment has enabled me to put my thoughts on paper about my major and the opportunities that I will have in the near future. I will continue to pursue my education in my chosen major that will allow me to accomplish my goals in the days ahead. This said, my plans for the future could still change, but they will stay within my chosen educational path. For example, if something changed, it would be a change from me having a job working for someone to me working for myself in the engineering field. I am very independent, and there is a small chance that I would want to work for myself in the motorsports industry and have control over my own destiny/career. In motorsports especially, there are many different factors that could influence my ability to work such as the economy. As far as my commitment to engineering and my college education, I am more committed than ever due to the completion of this assignment and the realization of what it takes to be an engineering major. I am committed to UNC Charlotte, as well as the William States Lee College of Engineering for the future. I want to work hard and receive the best education that I can in order to achieve my own goals and represent these entities in a positive light. I believe that my college experience and my choice of major will lead to great things in the future that will allow me to become a successful professional. I plan to do the best that I can and make the most out of my education, as well as the opportunities that present themselves in the near future.

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References Cornish, Audie, NASCAR Feels Economic Woes National Public Radio, last modified July 25, 2010,Accessed on September 17,2012. http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2012/03/20/nascarseeks-agency-to-attract.html Maloof, Denise N., The new frontier: Engineers bring high-tech to the sport of high-octane, CNN, Sports Illustrated, last modified on July 29, 2002, Accessed on September 17, 2012. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/nascar_plus/news/2002/07/28/maloof_engineering/ Career Builder, Engineering Jobs in Charlotte, NC. Last modified September 19, 2012. Accessed September 19, 2012. http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx? APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J3H1QQ699TVXYZVDC3J Piercy, Matthew. Whole Life Concepts Paper Part 1. 2012. Covey, Stephen. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Free Press, 1989.

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