Brian Erickson: an engineer open to new adventures

Brian Erickson

University of Maine, mechanical engineering major, graduated May 2009

Current hometown: Auburn

Age: 26

Live at home/rent/buy your own home? I moved back in with my parents this spring after living in Charlottesville, Va., for two years, followed by a year in South Portland.

Current job? I just started Aug. 5 as a process engineer at Pioneer Plastics in Auburn.

Enjoy what you do? I don’t have too much to go on just yet, but yes. I have had a strong interest in manufacturing since my junior year of college and now, here I am, doing it.

Major milestones the last four years: I had a pretty major milestone in moving to Charlottesville, Va., for two years (for grad school). Leaving Maine full time for the first time that I can really remember made me realize what I love about Maine, so after two years away in a great town, I decided to again uproot and come back north, which was also a pretty big milestone for me. (I left Virginia a few classes short of my master’s degree, but am completing my coursework for a degree in systems engineering from UVa over the next year or so.)

If you’re comfortable sharing, how much college debt are you still carrying? $0.00 (Thank you, scholarship!)

So, the big question: Was it worth it? It was, for me. There are a lot of ways to further one’s education today, and traditional four-year college was good for me.

Is your job now related to your major? It is. Out of the engineering disciplines at UMaine, I chose mechanical engineering because it seemed like the archetypal engineer to me. The mechanical engineers learn how to apply a broad range of physics to design and production. For the time being, my work consists of trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can about the process, from the chemistry of the laminates to the machinery that creates them, it to the economics that drive the business.

Please finish this sentence: “When it came to college, my parents were right about . . .” . . . debt. I have none because I took their advice and went to UMaine. I got a solid education that gave me good connections, and it gave me the freedom to pursue what I wanted to without having a monthly bill.

And: “My parents were wrong about . . .” During the middle of college, when I was busy freaking out about my choice of majors and what I was going to do in my life and why I was in Maine still when I had passed on schools in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia (all places that I figured had much greener grass than Orono), I applied to transfer to another college, with my parents questioning me, but still letting me go forward with it. I was acting emotionally, there was a girl involved, and switching would’ve probably been the wrong choice. So just for that one time, they could’ve just smacked some sense into me and told me to cool it.

What are you hoping for as you look out over the next 10 years? I’d like to stay in my job and learn it through-and-through. I’d like to have a family of my own at some point. I also have a goal that involves my own mindset. I have my obligations — work, family, daily exercise — but this is my life, and I choose not to feel restricted by obligations. I can stay up late from time to time for a concert, or take a disproportionately long drive to see something weird with my friends, or to visit someone I haven’t seen in a while. So I think my goal is to be conscious of the fact that I can’t let life get in the way of how I want to live.

Do you feel your college experience plays any role in those goals? Totally. Between undergraduate and graduate school, I spent six years trying things that I wasn’t sure I wanted to be doing. If it weren’t for college, I wouldn’t be interested in manufacturing like I am now. I wouldn’t have friends from Russia and China, the South, or Aroostook county. I wouldn’t know that Indian food is really good. Without the people and countless times I had to step out of my comfort zone, I don’t think I would have ever gotten past the restlessness I felt about what I was going to do with myself. It has without a doubt been one of the biggest influences in my life.

Then: Getting A’s, searching for Zzzz’s

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Following the Freshmen: Where are they now?

Since the Sun Journal stopped following the original 15 students in our “Following the Freshmen” series in 2009, bringing to a close our four-year college project, they’ve established interesting lives, careers and pursuits. And gained a lot of perspective on the value of their educations. We were able to catch up with 11 former freshmen and quiz them about life, college and future goals, and how school played into all of it.