The College Puzzle with Nicholas Lie
Nicholas Lie’s college journey so far has been one of exploration, initiative, and letting the pieces fall into place. A second year in computer engineering, he believes that “all the different little pieces of effort, of the will to do something— I think that's what really makes college eventful and something to look forward to”. In this conversation, Nick reflects on where he came from and where he’s going.
Coding, Culture, and Cultivating an Interest in Computer Engineering
Nicholas grew up in Bandung, Indonesia, having moved from Texas when he was only 3 years old. As a child, he enjoyed LEGOs, Minecraft, and other video games. He shares that “All that sparked an interest in the topic of engineering when I found out that it’s essentially what building is in real life”. From video games, Nick dove into coding, hoping that the interest could lead him into a career.
“I was interested in video games a lot. So I was like, okay, what can I do that makes money with games? The first thing I thought was that I could make games, so I got into coding. That was sort of my first exposure to anything engineer related. But I realized over time that as much as I enjoy programming, I couldn't see myself coding on a laptop for 6 hours straight. But I always enjoyed having hands on work, and so the closest thing to that [was] engineering.”
Growing up in a blend of American and Indonesian culture, Nick notes that he didn’t feel a big difference coming back to the U.S. for college. Both of Nicholas’ parents attended college in the States, and his dad was an electrical engineer, helping place both the University of Minnesota and the major onto Nick’s radar. However, he cites his love for video games and interest in virtual reality development for his initial pull to electrical engineering.
“Through things I saw whenever I played games or whenever I watched movies or TV shows, I thought, out of all the [kinds of] engineering, what seems the most possible? I found electrical. But then in my first year here, I thought, Oh, I didn't really like the way physics was being taught. I wasn't too interested in the further classes, like T lines or energy stuff. I wanted to be more towards the computer side, [and] I decided to switch to computer engineering. I also noticed that computer engineering had more classes that I'd enjoy, like computer architecture.”
Clubs, Mentorship, and University on the Prairie
Outside of classes, Nick found meaning through extracurriculars, joining the robotics club, rocket team, microfabrication, the video game development club, and IEEE in his freshman year alone. He reflects that “There [were] a lot of different places where I could try different projects, and because of that, I feel like that became a good experience to think, oh, wow, I'm surrounded by so many engineers that I couldn't really find back home”.
One particular experience that has impacted Nicholas’ time at the University of Minnesota has been the University on the Prairie, an outreach program that gives middle and high schoolers in rural areas access to STEM knowledge, allowing UMN students to teach their own studies. It was this environment of mutual learning that attracted Lie to UotP. Nick reflects that “I feel like I've always sort of found that the best method for me to learn more is by teaching. Something my teachers told me back at school is that sometimes when they're teaching students, they find themselves actually learning, and I've been trying to adopt that lifestyle more. I realize that as I teach my peers or people younger than me, especially my sister, it's a lot easier for me to grow as a person”.
"I've always sort of found that the best method for me to learn more is by teaching."
Nicholas particularly highlights UotP’s impact on his own growth as a learner and a mentor. “Doing the track for the students made me not only improve as a student, but also as a teacher, since back home, I was also a tutor. But then it was only physics and math. Now I'm teaching engineering, like how to wire stuff, how to code. And it's not just, like, one or two or three students, [but] twenty”.
UotP is led by David Orser, one of ECE’s teaching associate professors with a specialization in education. At the beginning of his freshman year, Nick was in the process of emailing various ECE faculty to find matches in his research interests, Orser being one of them. “Back in my senior year of high school, we had a senior thesis, and the thing I wrote about was about “ungrading”, which is essentially a way to remove grades as much as possible, and change the ways of assessment. Essentially, Professor Orser thought of the same thing, and that's what he's been trying to implement. So I reached out to him about that. And all these small things just started getting together because of that. Eventually, because of that, he offered me [to] help out with this program”.
Nick credits Orser for expanding his knowledge of topics he had previously only dabbled in through clubs, like ECB and PCB design, and 3D modeling. Nick also highlights his club environments as a source of mentorship, stating “I've also been really helped in my clubs as well, especially microfabrication. That's where I learned a lot on how to really use the software. Even if I have issues with physics, I also ask them because they're electrical engineers and physics majors. In addition, I've been mentored by UMN alumni at my church, who went out of their way to help me with my classes since some took the same major as me”.
Reflecting on his various involvements in college, Nicholas highlights the importance of self check-ins and gaining discernment, especially when it comes to deciding between commitments. “In my first year, I joined all these clubs for fun. There was archery, parkour, all these different things. But then, over time, like, as the engineering gets harder, I [was] like, ‘Shoot, okay, which one [do] I want to stick with?’ But it's also easier to choose over time because you grow to [realize], ‘Oh, I enjoy doing this on a regular basis, and I don't find myself getting tired from it, or even if I do get tired, I feel fulfilled by it’. Because of that, I feel more willing to do more of one [thing] rather than having to have a bunch of stuff that I only do a little of.”
Moving Forward and Looking Back
Going forward, Nicholas simply wants “to be a better engineer”. In the long run, he mentions possibly engaging in his own research or starting a company, but is currently wanting to deepen his engineering knowledge and further explore his interests in technology. Nick’s mindset for the future mirrors the lessons he’s learned so far in his academic and professional journey.
“It feels like my life is like a compilation of a bunch of different pieces that just so happened to work. I always worried, how would my college [experience] be? What major would I get? What if I don't get enough credit for this or that? And so I always try to plan, like, 5 years ahead. But then the moment I entered college, the whole plan was just gone. It's like, there's all these different things. You want to try everything. And I feel like the idea of just getting the pieces first— you don't even have to get the pieces together— [just] getting each individual piece of, ‘I wanna try this engineering club, I want to try archery, I want to try working at the dining hall, or, I want to try emailing all these different professors who might not respond back’, I feel like all these little pieces of effort, of the will to do something, I think that's what really makes college eventful and something to look forward to. So you don't really have to worry as much, because at the end of the day, nine out of ten times, your plan's not gonna go as it is. At least it didn’t for me. But I feel like just by looking on the bright side and sort of doing everything while I can, striking the iron while it's hot, that [helped] me experience all the different things I have today. Without doing my thesis or trying to tutor some peers back in school, I wouldn't have emailed a professor. Or, without emailing him, I wouldn't have been able to get on the Prairie track, or be in this. I feel like it's all a bunch of small things that you choose to try and eventually, you'll see how it unfolds”.