Aero is the discipline of genii and gods. Hence, the majority of you should turn the page right now.

On the rare occasion that someone is still reading, it’s with great joy that we announce that your life ends here. That is, don’t expect the university life you’ve seen on TV, for The University of Sydney is only easy if you’re an Arts student or a Civil Engineer.

In first year you’ll build a Jabiru with your own hands, and in the process, you’ll eliminate any preconceived notions as to what you thought should and should not be able to fly. Apparently random holes in a fuselage aren’t such a bad thing after all.

By this stage you’ll also have been introduced to MATLAB. Learn it, befriend it and love it like a pet dog. You’ll spend more time coding than sleeping as the years go by. Here’s an interesting task for you: type the command ‘why’ for some computer engineered hilarity.

If you ever make it to second year, don’t start thinking you own the place. As a rule, you know nothing. You may know where the nearest toilet is at any given time, but you won’t start learning the real stuff until third year. Mind you, don’t forget the last two years worth of material, you’ll need it at some stage!

At this point of your Uni career, it is imperative that you attend every lecture and every class. If you notice a hot chick in your class, get out your timetable – you’re in the wrong room buddy (oh sexist are we? Well, girls if there’s a hot dude in your lecture, you’re in the wrong room too – male Aero Engineers aren’t hot. We’re ruggedly handsome and mature)

Anyway, as you begin to catch up and get the hang of the Aero Engineering scene, your self esteem lifts and you think, “hey, I might just get through this.” Then you’ll start Flight Mechanics. You’ll love it or hate it. But get yourself a model plane to visualise all the complicated angles and you’ll do fine (but risk looking like a fool).

Finally, fourth year approaches and your thesis comes knocking. If running around organising three months work experience wasn’t enough, you’ll now have to suck up to every lecturer to get a thesis topic you really like. Prepare to buy coffee, polish shoes, feed pets and even chauffer family members, all in the name of finally undoing the one screw that was holding your sanity in check.

So all in all, you’ll hit some serious lows during your time in Aeronautical Engineering. So having said that, why do we do it? Why are you still going to go ahead and follow in our footsteps?

Because of the dizzying highs of course! Literally. The satisfaction of completing this degree and all its hardships is unbeatable. The inspiration that will keep you going is everywhere! Aeronautical Engineering really is the pinnacle of engineering. Anything less and you’re wasting your time. Anything higher and you’re in space – which is the field of lunatics and sociopaths. You’ll complain your way through this degree, but you’ll never second guess your decision. You’ll love it and you’ll hate it. In fact, you’ll love to hate it.

Jeremy Sequeira and Carl Fester

“Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly.”
— Batman costume warning label, Wal-Mart, 1995.