Favorite Class

(ASM 210- Fall 08: I'm on the very far right of this picture and my engine is the green one next to the orange one)

Today was the last small engines class of the semester and I'm kind of sad that it's over! It was my most favorite class so far in college. It's about the only hand-on skill that I'm actually naturally good at. It's pretty exciting! We rebuilt an engine earlier this semester and for the last three classes we've been doing troubleshooting.

The first time we did it, I got way too excited near the end because I was in the lead (it's kind of a race) and I forgot the blower-housing on my engine (that's the part with the pull rope.) So, I went to start my engine, and had nothing to pull... it was kind of embarrassing and everyone gave me a hard time.

So, the next week, I was determined to prove I was actually good at it and I ended up beating everyone. We had to find one problem with the ignition, one with compression, and one with carbureation in 60 minutes and then had another 30 minutes to start our engines. After 60 minutes, Jack (the best teacher, ever) just tells you what the "bugs" are and you have to fix them. I found all three "bugs" and started my engine in 50 minutes. Then today, we had to find 3-5 "bugs" in any area. I was the first one to find all the "bugs," but got my linkages all mixed up and didn't quite finish as quickly. I still beat the 90 minute total time limit, though.

To back up a little, I absolutely dreaded this class before school started. I was so nervous because I didn't feel like I learned anything in my high school small engines class. I think it kept me on my toes, though. I'm glad I took it (well, it was required to graduate, but anyway...).