The school bell rings, he quickly grabs his keys, leaves campus and hastily drives to the world’s fourth-largest informational technology provider. Once there, he works with a computer’s circuit board, glances at his partner, looks forward and sees his future, a job concerning design, invention and research.

During the summer of 2013, senior Emil George worked at Fujitsu, a Japanese technology company, with his partner who is also his father, until he quit early April to prepare for college. George said his dad is good friends with his supervisor, and the supervisor offered George a job.

“Of course I wouldn’t deny that good of a job, so I took it,” George said.

At Fujitsu, George helped his father with electrical work and corrected faults in computer systems, also known as troubleshooting. George said it was a field he had thought he was comfortable in, but when he started, he realized it was harder than he had previously thought.

“When you troubleshoot, there’s a step-by-step [list of instructions] you’re supposed to follow,” George said. “The first couple of times I tried, I kept on butchering everything. I looked like I had no clue what I was doing. It was embarrassing.”

George said working with his father made an otherwise stressful job relaxing and comfortable for him. Also, as a result of working, George learned how a real job works and what it takes to become a skilled worker.

“If [we] weren’t extremely busy and I had homework I needed to do, I’d do it there. That’s how chill it was to work with my dad. Sure, it’s nothing like working at a busy restaurant. This was basically me being able to hang out with my dad doing what we like to do,” George said. “But, at the same time I now know how the business field works, especially the electrical engineering field.”

At Fujitsu, George learned how to fix and work with computer parts he would not usually work with until after he completed college.

“Technically, I wasn’t certified to do some of the work. But, even then, I watched my dad do it, so I know a lot already,” George said. “I [got] an aspect of what I’m [going to] do and what a commitment the engineering field is.”

George is attending Texas A&M College Station this upcoming fall and was forced to quit his job, because he would not be able to put in the hours he needed and also because of the distance.

“I didn’t want to commit to driving over three hours just for work, that’s a waste of time and money,” George said. “[Also], I have a lot of things I need to put in order before fall rolls around.”

George has an interest in mechanical engineering, although Fujitsu is an electrical engineering company. According to George, different types of engineering all apply to one another.

“Both [fields] are based on physics. But, mechanical engineering [focuses] more on machines and design,” George said. “[However], electrical engineering focuses more on the systems of electricity and power.”

George said the job was a great learning experience that sparked a higher interest in him to pursue a career in the engineering industry.

“[The job] started as a small, [comfortable] way to make money,” George said. “And look, now it’s something I want to [do].”

The greatest things George will miss are the new friends and connections he made with co-workers. However, he still visits and helps his father at Fujitsu when time allows.

“As a hobby, I [still] like [to] work and fiddle with electronics anyway,” George said. “Now I just don’t get paid for it anymore.”