Marquise knew that his liking for designing and capability of tackling complex problems would be utilized at the Coast Guard Academy as a Civil Engineering major. He knew that Civil Engineering was a tough major from hearing a lot about it from upperclassmen and teachers, but once he got some encouragement from his Statics teacher his 4/c year, he has been thriving ever since and plans to pursue a structural engineering career in the Coast Guard.

On travelling domestically and abroad

“The Civil Engineering major has offered me opportunities to travel, with future potential opportunities to travel abroad. From going to see the construction of an underground railroad system in New York City to seeing different wastewater and water treatment facilities in Groton and future chances to travel overseas for capstone studies, being able to see different places is one of the pros of being a civil engineer.”

On Civil Engineering coursework

“So, in the initial major-related classes of the Civil Engineering program, you will take courses such as Mechanics of Materials, Dynamics, and Statics. These classes help to explain the principles behind how some of the most modern complex buildings and structures are built today. Albeit these classes are not easy and tend to stress me out sometimes, they are incredibly interesting, and I cannot wait to go out into the world and apply the principles I learn in these classes.”

On applying knowledge from non-major classes

“While the major is Civil Engineering, some of the other classes taken outside of the major here also apply directly to civil engineering. I would say that this is one of the coolest things about being a civil engineer in the sense that you can use knowledge and techniques learned in other classes to enhance the learning that occurs within the Civil Engineering major. It is pretty rewarding to know that the time and effort spent into non-major-specific classes is not for nothing. For example, when I found myself using skills learned in Differential Equations in my Fluid Mechanics class, I felt better about struggling in Differential Equations at that time because it helped me to succeed in Fluid Mechanics. So don’t take any class for granted!”