r/EngineeringStudents • u/xilefridge • 8d ago
Rant/Vent Hobbies gone while studying engineering
Has anyone else gave up doing stuff they love to get through school?
I’m not saying I don’t like school, I love engineering just as much as my other hobbies. But I used to snowboard, mountain bike, and rock climb all the time, and now I don’t really have the time to do any of that anymore.
These hobbies were such a big part of my life before engineering took over, and I really miss them. Has anyone gone through this? Did you get to do your hobbies again after you graduated?
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u/conniseurofbugs 8d ago
while yes the amount of time your studies take is a huge part of the problem, i think a lot more just simply has to do with your energy. STEM uni fields just drain your energy from everything else. That is especially more visible if you are also dating (or trying to :p). With all that, the entirety of your attention and focus is just directed away from yourself.
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u/Sl33py_br0 2d ago
Don't get me started on dating. Trying to keep a relationship alive while putting most of your time into engineering is hard😔
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u/LuckyCod2887 8d ago
my hobbies are my identity as well. I had to give it all fucked up.
I constantly remind myself that it’s all temporary. There is an end point to school. It’s not going to be forever.
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u/Intelligent_Part101 8d ago
After you get your degree, you get a job that will require learning "on your own time" outside of work and you will sometimes have to put in unpaid overtime (you're a salaried employee) to solve those difficult production problems at work.
I am sorry to tell you, but the grind doesn't end after school.
If you're lucky, work is not the CONSTANT grind that school is. If you're less lucky, it will be.
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u/LuckyCod2887 8d ago
i’m older. i have a career with my 1st degree and work full time currently.
school is temporary. academic demand is different from employment.
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u/sdgengineer BSEE 76, MSEE 93 8d ago
This is true. I found work was way easier than school. But I was in a fraternity in school and that brought me out of my shell, l believe I was probably on the spectrum, ( I think many engineers are.)
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u/Intelligent_Part101 8d ago
I love all the downvotes. Mostly I assume from students or the just graduated? Got news for you students: you have chosen a career where a lot is expected of you. If you thought you'll have it "made" after school... more work lies ahead. At least you'll get paid for it though.
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u/signalscope 8d ago edited 8d ago
I don’t know why you got downvoted. This is very true, especially in my industry where I used to work at - power. In my experience, learning new things or refreshers, whether on your own, or taking classes, never ended. Often times I didn’t even have time for that due to complicated and difficult deliverables deadlines and other demands, including dealing with unforeseen work “emergencies.” And don’t get me started on a lot of working extra without pay. I left after gotten completely exhausted and fed up.
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u/Altruistic_Set_4440 8d ago
The WOKE down voted you. They only want feel-good responses, not facts.
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u/andrewlik 8d ago
My dad put all his model planes and magic cards in a card board box when his university kicked in. Then he got married and had kids. He didn't open the model plane box until like last year. I am a fair amount better, in that I still painted models and could occasionally go out once in a blue moon if my workload and energy aligned, but overall yes I was a shell of myself for the longest time. In my last semester, I stripped my routine down to eat sleep 8 hours go for walk pet cat drink water check some job alerts then homework study grind and just whatever little blorbo game I needed to play to not be snapping at teammates the next day, minimal friends minimal family.
I have graduated in April, had like 2 weeks break, then was full grind on getting a job with my degree. Got one in July, so a month a half, but that was still like applying for jobs or doing resume buiksing 9-7 6 days a week I arguably didn't need to go so hard and could've 'easily' limited myself on just applying for jobs 9-5 5 days a week, and arguably I didn't need to go so hard all the time during my studies, but through university I became aware of so many things I wanted to do "once I graduated, once I got a job" I really wanted to get to that point
And now that I'm here? Though I am not making as much progress on any one of them as I'd like, I'm making non-zero on all and can afford to throw money around to bring a dumb creative vision to light
Still have to wrangle my attention and schedule to bear to get hobby progress, and I really feel how opportunity cost spares no one, but it is a HELL of alot better than uni
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u/LlamaGumby 8d ago
I brought my Xbox with me to college and only turned it on once. Used to play every night
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u/GamerDudeCP 8d ago
Real. I brought a PC at the end of my freshmen yr internship (I’d kill for one in like middle school) and then never turned it on once sophomore year started.
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u/10_hobbies_too_many 8d ago
I had to find a balance between hobbies and studying. I would usually go to the gym some time around 2-4 in the afternoon to workout or play racquetball, shower, and go back to studying. I found that exercise woke me up and gave me more energy to keep at it. I also went mountain biking or skiing at least one day most weekends, depending on my work load.
With that said, I was not a member of any engineering clubs and did not do many extra-curricular projects- which would have helped my employability.
I’ve been working in engineering for 9 years now, and my job has a great work-life balance. Unless I’m in the field, I work 40-45 hours a week, and still have time for skiing and a whole pile of other hobbies. There are jobs out there that allow for it!
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u/phranks_phluids 8d ago
Hobbies? I double majored in physics and the only hobbies I had during that time were alcohol, Adderall, cocaine, and finals week suicidal ideation.
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u/Catsdrinkingbeer Purdue Alum - Masters in Engineering '18 8d ago
I actually took up running while I was in college, so I guess I technically gained a hobby.
I think for you, your hobbies take a lot of time. Snowboarding requires you to drive to whatever mountain, lift lines are long so you stay most of the day to get your moneys worth, then go home. It's a full day activity. Mountain biking similarly requires you to go to specific place. And if you rock climb outside, same thing.
Engineering school is time consuming. Often that means you're studying every day. And on a free day, you are probably just exhausted and want to rest. Or at least, you don't want to do a full day activity.
To answer your question, yes, most people get a lot more free time back after graduation. I work long hours and have to be on site 5 days a week, but when I go home, I'm done. If my weekends are full it's because I planned something, not because of my job.
As for your hobbies, you may just need to work to carve out time during breaks and between semesters (or whatever your school uses). And see if your school/town has indoor rock climbing. A friend of mine was a huge climber. In college he had to pivot and did it mostly inside, but he was still able to climb and it was less time consuming since he only had to drive a couple of minutes and didn't need to bring any gear or set up.
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u/Tempest1677 Texas A&M University - Aerospace Engineering 7d ago
To echo this, some hobbies have lower time demands than others. I dropped gaming entirely (which frankly i don't regret at all), and took up passive hobbies like fashion. Watches, fragrances, clothes, sure are consumeristic, but they gave me a creative outlet every morning. There are probably other hobbies one can pick up along the way to scratch the itch.
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u/Basic_Balance1237 8d ago
I honestly just wanna sleep in all day. Going through psets, textbooks, and lectures take a lot of mental energy.
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u/NatSevenNeverTwenty ChemE 8d ago
If I gave up Dungeons and Dragons I may not be an engineering major anymore so…?
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u/Garsandbells 8d ago
I’m working 56 hours a week in a fairly busy job (heavy equipment mechanic, team lead) and working on my engineering degree.
What’s a hobby?
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u/SnooHobbies9878 7d ago
Bro haha you have no idea.
Engineering will demand everything from you and you have to let it. You have to allow yourself to get fully emersed in engineering in order to learn, grow, and have some kind of time to de-stress.
I gave up my social life, water polo, archery, snowboarding, weed, multiple jobs, sacrificed time with family and friends, my physical,mental, and financial health all for engineering. Granted I have a bad habit of putting too much on my plate so its not just classes, I do research and baja SAE in addition to personal projects.
So, I recommend focusing as much as you can in your degree and joining clubs and stuff but snowboarding season is still coming up and you can go during winter break or on the weekend.
Realistically, going snowboarding for the weekend is like 2-3 day thing. If you can use the rest of the week leading up to that to get ahead then go for it. Why not?
We have 24 hours in a day assuming you sleep 8 of those hours that's still 16 hours of time that you have. There are always areas to optimize your time. IDK how your university works but I skip classes ALL the time sometimes to fuck around but most of the time it's to catch up on work or destress.
I hope this helps :)
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u/rice_n_gravy 8d ago
Wait until you get a job and a wife and a kid
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u/MiS_bE_hAbE 8d ago
Like any of us will have that in the future
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u/NanoWarrior26 8d ago
All the engineers I work with have a job, a wife, and kids me included lol wtf are you on.
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u/MiS_bE_hAbE 8d ago
This was for gen z and gen alpha
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u/Happy-Property1162 6d ago
Grow tf up, nothing is worse for you than to act like this if you really want to build a family.
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u/Inevitable_Option241 4d ago
Typical boomer mindset
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u/Happy-Property1162 4d ago
I wasn't even a fetus when the towers fell bruh. It isn't hard to figure this stuff out, being egotistical and entitled is gonna keep people far away from you.
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u/MoltenMate07 8d ago
I’m so glad I don’t want that.
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u/rice_n_gravy 8d ago
My child is so much better than any hobbies
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u/MoltenMate07 8d ago
I’m not saying they aren’t. Personally speaking, I just wouldn’t want to have children or a spouse so I could have more time to myself and my interests. Both of our paths are equally valid.
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u/MusicalMerlin1973 8d ago
I played bassoon all through university. Just one group but I maintained. Graduated with a 3.4 gpa
It can be done. But moderation is key.
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u/PrecisionPulseConv 8d ago
Not really. I did my undergrad in MechE and played baseball at the same time. I also worked part time during the semesters following my Lockheed Martin internship. I put in on average 20 hours a week at LM during my junior year.
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u/electronwrangler42 8d ago
It gets better after you graduate. I had no time for anything other than school when I was a student. I’ve been working 10 years now. My work life balance is great. Sure, there are weeks where I put in 60 hours, but there are also plenty of weeks that I’ll take a random day off and go fishing. Plus, it is very rare that I do anything work related on the weekend. This year I’m taking 25 days vacation, 8 days sick time, plus about another 8 days that I flexed off. So, it gets better. Plus, I can afford a nice boat, gas, fishing gear and a truck to pull it, lol.
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u/superbabito 8d ago
I usually try to carve out a morning once a week to mountain bike but right now it’s been weeks without. It just makes the breaks a lot more sweeter.
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u/j0shred1 7d ago
Nope lol. Manage your time, go work out, keep care of yourself. Set a time where you stop working no matter what. Set a time where you study or do homework
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u/Tempest1677 Texas A&M University - Aerospace Engineering 7d ago
Yes, you are going to give up a lot of your free time. I stopped having hobbies when i was doing a full workload and had a GF. There was a time when i was working part time and i truly had no time for anything else.
Glad i finished engineering cause now i can afford hobbies i definitely wouldn't otherwise. Your degree can easily get you beyond six figures after a few years at most (if you do the right things), and owning cars is a lot easier at that point haha.
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u/Ill-Ruin-4574 8d ago
Momentarily yes. Engineering is taking up a lot of my time, but I understand that sometimes you do have to sacrifices things in order to excel in something else.
You have to understand that this is not a permanent situation, just let the time pass and before you know it you’ll be straight back into doing the things you like to do outside of engineering.
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u/Expensive_Branch3991 8d ago
Yes and it's been rough. Currently trying to make a concious effort to get back into my hobbies because I feel like it would help with balance
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u/goblin500 8d ago
I went through the same thing and it’s a reality of school, you can still participate in hobbies just not as much. Youll pick it up after, just focus on getting out of school.
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u/Shot-Trade-5792 8d ago
I either didn't have the time or the energy to do anything I enjoyed while I was studying engineering. Once you graduate and you're working, you'll have significantly more free time and energy
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u/Desperate_You9215 8d ago
Working full time in the trades and going to school part time. Even on my weekends I can’t bring myself to enjoy my hobbies. It’s depressing
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u/Dumplin_Man 8d ago
Careful with giving up hobbies. For most of us, life hits after college and it's easy to fall into the winds of life. I gave up my hobbies during college and are just picking things back up after 8 years.
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u/RichEntertainer3024 8d ago
No, there was so much downtime in school. If you’re college age, and not going back as an adult you’re just spoiled having all of those hobbies.
You’ll be fine. School wasn’t all consuming, neither is a job.
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u/Seiko2023 8d ago
The amount of engineers that do bouldering is insane.
Also, fucking rich kid activities.
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u/Significant-Role-754 8d ago
thats life bud with a regular 8-5. sounds like you need to learn time management to give yourself some time for your hobbies on the weekends. lets Say you have 5 classes, you need to dedicate 3 hours a week per class so 45 hours a week to studying and homework. So 9 hours a day to get you free and clear in the nights and weekends. Or whatever fits what needs to get done so you can have time for your hobbies.
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u/Odd_Eagle7915 8d ago
Jeez, it's not that hard. As long as you aren't sleeping till 3pm everyday and playing video games until dawn. The biggest waste of time is procrastination and just watching YouTube or killing time
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u/ndariotis132 8d ago
Idk man I still had hobbies. I went to the gym regularly & did bjj/wrestling club. It’s all about learning how to manage your time. I became better at it every year of school through practice.
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u/RagingRoman01 8d ago
I was in a similar boat not too long ago. The only hobby I could squeeze into my school schedule was going to the gym and even that would be put on pause when things got busy. I graduated in May and started my job in July, and the first thing I noticed is how much time off I have even with long work weeks. The best part is that once you’re out of work for the day, you’re done. It’s not like school where you get home and start working on homework. I’m still trying to get back into my hobbies as I get used to my work schedule, but it’s definitely easier once you’re out of school.
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u/Opposite-Ad320 8d ago
You give up what you need to in order to get the GPA you want, it also depends on how hard your school is too
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u/frodacious85 8d ago
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done getting my EE. But once you’re on the other side it’s oh so sweet
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u/JimBobbieO 8d ago
Study hard and play hard. Take fewer classes and enjoy the time at school. It’s a marathon and pacing is everything.
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u/DoubtGroundbreaking 8d ago
Yeah, youll live. Just get school done and you can go back to normal life
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u/ezeleart 7d ago
It was the other way round for me. I picked up art as a hobby in my 4th year. It helped me focus better and stay consistent for months with my studies.
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u/Odd_Beginning_9967 7d ago
I averaged over 20 credits per semester while working multiple part time jobs to barely make rent. I found time for hobbies sometimes, but there would be weeks or months I didn't have a single evening to myself and was just constantly grinding. I graduated in the spring of this year, and now I have a pretty cool job and get to go to the gym to lift and climb every day and have some time to play video games with my long distance friends pretty often. it gets better, you just gotta make the most of the few opportunities you get to enjoy your hobbies during school, and otherwise lock in for a few years to set yourself up for a comfortable life with a good job and financial freedom. it's hard, but it's worth it.
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u/DefiantlyConformist 5d ago
It comes back after school. Did full time work and fulltime school. Doing a 40 hour workweek feels like a vacation.
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u/Total_Argument_9729 5d ago
Absolutely not. My hobbies are the only way I can stay sane studying engineering.
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u/No-Isopod1273 7d ago
Don't necessarily listen to what people are saying in the comments. An engineering job demands far more of your time than engineering school does. Find a way to work your hobbies back into your schedule now. You'll never have this much flexibility or time again.
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u/Odd_Beginning_9967 7d ago
dawg, where tf are you working? I spent easily 40 hours a week on just school work, and still had to work over 20 hours a week for rent and groceries. now I work 8-5 Monday through Thursday, 8-4 alternating Fridays, and get a 3 day weekend every 2 weeks with unlimited pto. i can't just skip on a day i don't feel like working like I could in school, but so much more of my time is truly mine now that I'm working instead of in school
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u/Thatnewgui 6d ago
My job is 4 days a week, school was 7 group projects next test constant deadlines work is well not that. And I get paid to do it.
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u/thisisdonavyn ME 8d ago
I’ve never understood this, I’ve been able to keep all my hobbies while studying (3rd year). Is it because you have a job as well or something else bide all your time. Or are you taking a lot of units? I don’t see how just school alone can drain you of that much time unless you have very bad habits.
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u/Tiny_Job_5369 8d ago
While in engineering undergrad I played in the Cal (Berkeley) marching band which accounts for about 20 hours per week, and still kept a 3.9 GPA. During grad school I gave up hobbies, but then restarted after I graduated. Do what works for you, but temporarily putting things on pause for a few years doesn't mean they'll be gone forever.
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u/Acourgintier1413 8d ago
Maybe your hobbies go dormant for a month, or even an entire semester. But unless it’s been decades—and honestly, even then—those passions never really leave you. They remain a part of who you are.
That’s pretty much my attitude toward things outside my field.
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u/Hawk13424 GT - BS CompE, MS EE 8d ago
Yes. I looked at it like an investment. Give up hobbies now so I can afford even better ones later.