After settling into my aisle seat on a three-quarters-full, one-class Airbus 320 bound for New Orleans from Denver, I happily anticipated being able to spread out onto the adjoining vacant seat to work on some last-minute items. However, just before the cabin door was closed, I heard suddenly considerable shuffling and giggling from outside on the jetway. Then, in an instant, came swarming onboard 50 or more exuberant teenagers, all wearing matching forest green T-shirts that read “St. Joe’s Workers: Katrina Rebuild.” They filled every unoccupied seat as they came onboard and squashed any hope for extra room or any peace and quiet!

They were from St. Joseph’s Catholic parish near Sutter, Calif. With a number of adults, they planned to join a few similar groups from other parts of the country totaling more than 200 high schoolers. Their mission was to build a dozen or so homes for still-homeless victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The young lady who sat next to me said she’d never done anything like this before, but looked forward to whatever assignment she was given. “Painting, or just being a gofer, rather than hammering nails or sawing boards,” she said, was her preference.

Although good at math and science, she told me she had no plans of studying to become an engineer. Rather, she wanted to be a scientist or have a career in music. The boy next to her wanted to be a psychologist. For his house-building assignment in New Orleans, he hoped to get to use a chainsaw or electrical power equipment. But he thought wielding a hammer, pouring concrete, or doing some wiring “would be fun” as well.

Several others — across the aisle and in front and back of me — expressed similar desires and ambitions. All were well-mannered and respectful in their dialogue with one another (and with me), and their exuberant back-and-forth didn’t stop during the two-and-half-hour-long flight.

What struck me most about this group wasn’t that none of them planned to become an engineer, or that no one knew engineering principles were used in sizing beams, columns, foundations, partitions, joists, and rafters for houses. It was their enthusiasm and idealism that struck me. How true the phrase, “There is bliss in ignorance.” They weren’t concerned about the struggling economy or making money. Simply, they wanted to help others in need, people they didn’t even know. In their lives, big dreams and good deeds meant everything.

It makes you wonder: When did we adults lose our youthful expectations and become pragmatists? I suppose it happens to everyone at different times — certainly by the time we’re on our own, holding a job, and struggling to pay bills while raising a family and advancing in our careers.

In these troubling economic times with growing competition from foreign engineers who are willing to work for lower salaries than Americans — along with our divisive national political scene and the world’s tinderbox-like situation — capturing the lost romanticism of our youth might go far in helping us maintain balance. Then we can be more alert to what is essential in life.

Now, I would never propose that structural engineers stick their heads in the sand regarding difficult issues facing our country or the pressing problems our profession needs to solve. But, in these times, with massive layoffs, endless failures of well-established businesses, projects put on hold, and the constant stream of bad news in the media, it’s hard not to get discouraged, even demoralized. Let’s fight this off!

Because of our increasing dependence on technology and engineering, more and more engineering pacesetters will desperately be needed to address issues like maintaining our infrastructure and expanding national economies. Tomorrow’s world will greatly depend on engineering solutions, so why leave key issues in the hands of those who are technically illiterate? As I have encouraged in the past, engineers must start taking on societal leadership roles and contribute to long-term decisions that establish public policy.

The list of problems future engineers can and will be called on to solve is endless. Yet in these bleakest of times, it’s wise to appreciate what we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have. Life can be fun if we don’t turn into complaining curmudgeons. Recapturing the exuberance of youth can help. So can giving thanks for what we do have.

Richard G. Weingardt, P.E., is CEO and chairman of Richard Weingardt Consultants, Inc., a Denver-based structural engineering firm. He can be reached via e-mail at rweingardt@gostructural.com.