The general objectives and golas of colleges adn universities are to allow students to mature intelectually and socially and to prepare for careers, especially for environmental engineering profession that are rewarding. The chosen vocation is ideally an avocation as well. Having a job like an environmental engineer, we should take it as an enjoyable job and approaching it with enthusiasm, even after experiencing many of the ever-present bumps in the path. Be love and enjoy is the key, not only for environmental engineering field but apply to other kind of jobs.
Designing, evaluating and assessing a water treatment facility to provide clean drinking water to a community can serve society and become a personally satisfying undertaking to the environmental engineer. Environmental engineers are now employed in all heavy industries and utility companies, not only in US, but also in most countries. Extended areas for environmentale engineer may also reach wildlife preservation that would need extra knowledge to cover the job. Another area that may need employment of environmental engineer are public work construction and management, by both government agencies and consultants and environmental policy and management.
In addition, in Indonesia, most cities have agencies dealing with air quality, water quality, water resource management, water treatment and distribution plant that employ environmental engineers, joined with other disciplines such as biologist and chemical engineer. Pollution control engineering has also become an exceedingly profitable venture.
Environmental engineering has a proud history and bright future. Despite of sometimes the presence of environmental engineers often being defeated by such poor policy on particular regions, the career is still challenging, enjoyable, personally satisfying and monetarily rewarding, although in Indonesia, this may not well represents Professors or Lecturers in Department of Environmental Engineering in some Institutes. In spite of monetary deterrents, environmental engineers are highly committed to high standards of interpersonal and environmental ethics. They always try to be part of the solution while recognizing that all people including themselves are part of the problem.
The keypoint, as long as we put our heart fully inside environmental engineering field, it will be fully personally satisfying.