Father Figure

There is a cost of being a father figure to a child or children that is not yours. My father is gone out of my family’s life. So I’m a father figure for my 3 siblings in addition to being a stable father figure for my 3 future step children. It gets pretty hard considering I have all them looking up to me to be an example for them. With my siblings I have to bounce back and forth from being the father figure to being just big brother, so it gets a little confusing from time to time. With my girlfriend’s kids, their father is more self centered. He doesn’t answer the kid’s questions when they ask and he shows no respect to the people in his life that deserve it. I’ve been trying to push it their heads that respect between people helps society be peaceful. These kids aren’t use to someone who works every day, goes to school, and no matter how tired I am I play with them. With all these kids I don’t do anything that is lacking morals. I try to tell them to stand for what they have conviction for and don’t let anyone make them feel like they are less than what they are. I do have problems with my girlfriend’s son because he adores his father and I’m just the other guy. So with him I have to be tactful on making sure I don’t ruin his image of his dad, but yet making sure he gets good positive reinforcements on behavior. I know eventually I’m going to hear those infamous words from step kids “You’re not my father, stop acting like it”. With my siblings, I get to step out of this father figure role very soon and then I’m just the brother. I hope I pass something good to each one of these kids.   

Research Topic

I plan on becoming a Mechanical and Robotic Engineer. My research question is “how does robotics make our lives easier”. Robotics is in every aspect of our lives. In conjunction with having to know the technical side you also have to be good with people. There are a few different fields to choose from. For example, system design is where you would design new age robotics for specific jobs determined by the customer’s wants and needs of the robot. Another would be human and machine interface which is where engineers must determine how a robot will be controlled. Weather it’ll be self controlled with certain parameters or remote controlled. Manufacturing companies such as Ford use the pick and place robots amongst others in construction of their cars. This makes the production of cars a little more efficient than just using man power. Medical fields need engineers to help design new age prosthetics that move and operate like a real limb. Robotic and Mechanical engineers helped design and construct military systems such as the UAV-unmanned aerial vehicles to spy or take the war to the enemy without putting a soldier’s life in danger. They also designed the bomb disposal machine to disarm bombs. To become these types of engineers you need to be well versed in computer programming, electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, computer aided drafting, and computer aided manufacturing. Robotic and mechanical engineering is an everyday expanding field. There are studies into Artificial Intelligence so robots can learn from human interaction and start thinking for themselves. Studies in how to link the robotic prosthetic to the nervous system are occurring so the amputee would be able to feel certain sensations like pressure and heat with the fake limb. This is just a few of the ways robotic and mechanical engineers affect our lives.