“Just Do What Calls You,” Advises Electrical Engineer Describing His Early Passion and Decision Making
DEAN LENTZ, VP AND GENERAL MANAGER OF RAMONA RESEARCH TALKS PHYSICS, AEROSPACE, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING WITH FELLOWS
Dean Lentz decided early on which direction his education and career were heading. “I decided with a friend in 7th grade that we were going to go to MIT.” And that’s exactly what he did, completing an electrical engineering degree at the Cambridge school nine years later. Not everything else worked out as Lentz had planned, but plenty did, as he explained to the Sandra Lee Heyman Fellows when he joined them on March 21st.
He explained how his interest in electrical engineering led him to work in aerospace: “I’m intrigued by physics. There’s something neat that there’s nothing attached. It just works. Same with aerospace. There’s something magical, especially seeing a flight test.”
To students worried about whether they need to decide before their first day of college which STEM specialty they want to pursue, Lentz advised “It’s important not to feel pressure. At most schools you don’t need to declare [your major] before you get there. They will have a lot of prerequisites. You get exposed to different things. Both paths can work. Don’t feel pressure to do one or the other.” He urged the Fellows to “Just do what calls you.”
Lentz encouraged the Fellows to seek out guidance along the way, drawing upon mentors.
“Somebody has found success along the career path you want to follow. It’s not that you can’t succeed if you do it on your own…but seek out a mentor that has been down the path that you want to travel and develop that relationship actively. If that mentor doesn’t work out or your ambitions change, find another one. Leverage experience of those folks who already have succeeded.”
The Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in memory of Sandra Lee Heyman, a long-time mathematics teacher at the elementary, middle school, high school, and community college levels. The 18-month long Fellowship is aimed at promising high school students who have the opportunity to meet with STEM leaders, visit prominent institutions in the Washington, D.C., area, and access peers and mentors to support career exploration in STEM fields. There are multiple ways to support the Fellowship program, and donations to the Foundation are tax deductible.