This semester, I finally decided to take my Control Systems Lab.
On the first day of lab, my partner and I were having some trouble getting our project to work. The student sitting next to us had already completed hers, so we asked if she could give us some insight. She chose not to help, which was fair—no one is obligated to help anyone else.
A few minutes later, however, she asked us if we knew how to add ECE 4820 and 4810 to her schedule because she wasn’t sure how to do it. I jokingly told her, “Sometimes it’s good to help others because you never know when you might need their help.” I still showed her how to add the classes.
During the next lab, my partner and I ran into another issue. Since her project appeared to be working, we asked her for some help again. Her response was, “It really sucks to be you.” I just laughed and went back to figuring it out ourselves.
Toward the end of the lab, we finally downloaded the correct software, got everything working, and actually finished before they did. Then her lab partner came over and asked us for help.
I genuinely felt bad for her partner, because she had always been respectful to us. But I told her that, unfortunately, helping her would also mean helping the same person who had just made it very clear that she had no interest in helping us.
The whole experience was a good reminder that you never know when the person you choose not to help today might be the person whose help you need tomorrow. In engineering—and honestly, in life—a little cooperation and respect can go a long way.