Chemical engineering students and engineers?
Regret: No. Like my job? Yes, I clean up after my former classmates (as an environmental engineer). It is a tough major for most people. If math and chemistry are easy or fun for you, then ChemE won't be bad. Still there'll be some classes that don't thrill you but you have to take. That might be P-Chem (I mean, really, how many times does a practicing engineer need to determine the wave function of a subatomic particle in a one-dimensional box?!), multi-variable calculus, or reactor design. But that's true of most any technical major. If you want really interesting topics that lead to late-night bull sessions with other undergrads, do some L&S major - history, Engilsh, poly sci, - it is great prep for an exciting mid-level career at a bank or insurance agency. ChemE is not mostly physics. You have to take 1.5 years of Physics like most any science/engineering major but no more. Whereas you'll have 1 or 2 chemistry classes each and every semester. It sounds like a good choice for you. It has opportunities in electronics, environmental, petroleum, bulk chemicals, and manufacturing. It offers more salary and more opportunities than Chemistry, especially with a BS. I would point out that while your degree requirements will take care of your technical knowledge requirements, workplace skills are broader. I'd look to do what you can to improve your writing skills (school newpaper?), sales skill (part time job), managerial skill (stick with the part time job and supervise others), and how to hob-nob with decision makers. Those are the distinctions between strictly technical people who will be designing, whatever - distillation columns - their whole career, versus those who advance to managing, training and selling what other people in the trenches are grinding out. As the joke goes, "Chemical engineers just want to be chemists who want to be physicists who want to be mathmaticians who want to philosophers who just want to be God. Unfortunately*, the pay scale is the reverse." *Or fortunately for some.
Do you regret becoming an engineer?
No, but as with every profession there are negative aspects to be aware of. 1. Relating to other people. Engineering education doesn't usually teach us how to do things like: temper our approach or interpretation by reading body language; understand the importance of knowing what motivates others; present technical views from the perspective of other people's values, not just the technical problems or solutions; use of psychology and interpersonal skills in general. Skill in the above not only helps professional growth and advancement but makes for a lot more pleasant work environment. 2. Experiencing the Humanities. Benefiting from the wisdom of others through the ages helps us grow outside of our own egos and experiences, and appreciate not only the views of others but appreciate others themselves because we will understand and relate better to others. 3. Develop non-engineering interests. It is too easy to focus on mastering and applying engineering skills in the workplace, to the extent it may make us spend too little time in enjoying and appreciating our family, or enjoying recreational interests such as learning to play a musical instrument or sail competitively, or just exploring and enjoying the whole world outside of engineering. 4. Develop the habit of life-time learning. When an engineer first graduates, the needs are to satisfy an employer and build a life. But, while advancing using the skills one learns in the University, the technical world itself is expanding, changing emphasis and direction, developing new skill requirements, developing new markets, and so on. It is absolutely vital to realize engineering is a lifetime learning process, not only a lifetime profession. There are other caveats to be aware of to avoid negative pitfalls, such as economics, reasonable investment skills, employability in desirable fields, and a lot more, but the above were some I found very important as an engineer but weren't taught very effectively in the Universities I attended. .
Is becoming a Locomotive Engineer a good career?
Regardless of what Nerd says I don't agree. We aren't easily replaceable. The job is tougher than it looks to an outside person. I'm not going to go into everything involving running a train, but there is a lot of things that need to be learned. It can be stressful for some people to do. And no matter how good you are at it there will be times of high stress. If you don't think it's stressful cramming a 9,000 foot long train into a siding that's 9,100 foot long, on a 2% percent grade, in a snowstorm where you can't see the rail in front of you,then your tougher than I am! As for pay I think it pays pretty good. The average engineer makes between 75,000 to 100,000 a year depending on how much you work. But we aren't overpaid. We earn every dime in my opinion. But I still like my job a lot. I must because I've been doing it for 39 years. Also as far as the money goes, yes there are jobs that pay much more but there's much more to happiness in life than money. I'd much rather work at a job I loved for less money than one that paid great but made me miserable. Edit You guys thinking that it looks like an easy job are mistaken. It's not physically hard but it can be mentally tough. Some guys can't hack the lifestyle. Not knowing if your going to work at 3 am or 3 pm from day to day can be tough on you. Plus some guys never become what I call good engineers. Anybody can learn to run a train,but not all of them can learn to be really good at it. The newer technology such as DPU helps some guys look better than they actually are. And many new engineers aren't as well trained in quality train handling as many of the older guys were. If there were still cabooses at the rear I think we'd be seeing more injuries than there used to be. Nothing improved some guys train handling like having a crabby old head conductor call them from the rear and chew their azz out over the radio lol.