Industrial and systems engineering major Mark Lee ’25 took an unconventional path in his academic journey. While many of his peers pursued the conventional route to engineering, Lee began his college career in accounting, earning his Associate of Arts degree from Indian River State College then planned to transfer to the accounting program at the University of Florida. But the summer before his planned transfer, a transformative phone call from his brother changed the course of his educational path entirely.
"My brother called me and told me about his life as an accountant. He told me that he hated his job and that if there was something I was truly passionate about, to go for it now, while I was still in college," Lee said.
After that phone call, Lee considered all his passions and ultimately decided he wanted to become an engineer.
"I enjoy creating things and that’s what engineers do," he said. "Engineers turn dreams into reality. They go out and make things happen. They change the world. That’s what I want to do — it was an incredibly tough, and somewhat heartbreaking decision for me at the time, but I [ultimately] made the switch into engineering."
Lee spent the next year at Indian River State College, looking for a place he could pursue his newfound love for engineering. During that time, a friend told him about the Texas A&M Engineering Academies.
The Engineering Academies program is the first engineering transition program in the U.S. Students are co-enrolled with Texas A&M University and one of 10 partner colleges. Students take mathematics, science and core curriculum courses through the partner college while taking engineering courses from Texas A&M faculty on the partner college campus. After one or two years, students transition to Texas A&M to complete their bachelor's degrees. Unlike traditional transfer programs, students are Texas A&M College of Engineering students from day one.
"Quickly, I realized there were amazing opportunities that the engineering academies presented me that I couldn’t find elsewhere," Lee said. "I also heard success stories from other engineering academy students. Their success proved to me that this opportunity was worth taking and that I could one day achieve my dream of pursuing an engineering degree at Texas A&M University."
After enrolling in the Engineering Academy at Blinn College-Brenham, Lee quickly embraced every opportunity. Lee joined the Engineering Club at Blinn College, where he served as vice president and later president and established a team to compete in NASA’s Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students challenge, a national competition focused on user interface solutions for future spaceflight applications. As both a Blinn College-Brenham and Texas A&M student, he attended the Student Engineering Council career fairs and Aggies Invent competitions, gaining significant exposure to the interview and hiring processes of major companies. With a Texas A&M professor’s recommendation, he also competed in the Aggies Invent Biomedical Challenge, where his team placed second.
I also heard success stories from other engineering academy students. Their success proved to me that this opportunity was worth taking and that I could one day achieve my dream of pursuing an engineering degree at Texas A&M University.
While attending the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Blinn College-Brenham, Lee found it challenging sometimes to feel fully connected with Texas A&M. But, he found encouragement from his best friend, Bryce, whom he met at Blinn.
"To me, Bryce embodies the true spirit of Texas A&M," Lee said. "Bryce is the embodiment of Texas A&M. Someone who will never give up no matter what. Someone who isn’t afraid to fail. Someone who will do the right thing even if it costs them everything they’ve ever worked for. To me, that’s what an Aggie is. A leader, a hero and a friend. I know that I am an Aggie, because I know Bryce is."
Lee’s strong bond with Bryce defined his vision of an Aggie and laid the groundwork for his future connections. After a year and a half at the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Blinn College-Brenham, Lee transitioned to Texas A&M alongside many friends he made in Brenham, giving him a support group to connect with, in addition to new friends he made in College Station.
"During my time at Texas A&M [in College Station], I joined numerous clubs, networked with many great people, made new friends and taken advantage of even more opportunities than before," Lee said.
Lee has embraced every opportunity that came his way, driven by his aspirations to make the world a safer place, especially automotive safety.
“I dream of a world with zero automative deaths. Automotive safety is my top priority, and I would love to become an expert in that field,” he said. “If I could pioneer new technologies in automative safety that ends up saving lives, I would be the happiest man in the world.”
Lee’s passion for automotive safety and his drive to make a meaningful impact fuel his aspirations, but he also recognizes the importance of supporting others. Reflecting on his journey, he emphasizes the significance of his experiences and offers valuable advice for future students navigating their paths.
"My advice to future students would be to take every opportunity you can find — and if you can’t find any, then make one," he said. "I have failed more times than anyone else I know, because I take every shot I can. Although my ‘success rate’ may be low, my successes are many. And that is because every time I failed at something, I got back up and kept going. Every time I failed, I learned something from it. Oftentimes, the shot I don't think I will make, that I end up making, changes my life forever."
Lee's reflections on seizing opportunities and learning from failure underscore how transformative his journey has been.
"My journey has been awesome and challenging — it has pushed me to my limits time and time again," Lee said. "In order to succeed, I had to fundamentally change as a person; however, these changes were always for the better. If I didn’t have those challenges pushing me forward, I most likely would never have changed. The engineering academy is tough, but it is well worth it. It will forge you into an even better version of yourself."