Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Farewell to First Year: How I Survived Engineering 1

It's hard to believe that only eight months ago I was being greeted by Welcome Week reps for the first time. I had never entered the engineering 'BLUE' lounge before and had never lived in residence; I hadn't spent more than a few hours on campus at all! But here I am, a first year, getting ready to complete my finals, move into a house and prepare to enter level two in the engineering discipline of my choice. It can be a stressful and scary time, but looking back on my experiences so far makes me feel fantastic about how I spent my first year here at McMaster University.

Vanessa - in pink - at the Fireball Formal
Ever since Welcome Week, the upper year engineers have been nothing but kind and welcoming! They helped me to find my place and feel at home very quickly. First semester for me was all about hitting the books and figuring out how to adapt to the academic side of things. But once I started going out to more events that the faculty was hosting, I began to really feel like a part of the community...a part of the 'Mac Eng' family.

Daniella & Vanessa volunteering
Some of my favourite memories from Engineering 1 would be getting to wear my prom dress again at the Fireball formal, giving back to the neighbourhood by helping to clean up Westdale, laughing my butt off at all of the jokes in the Engineering Musical and wearing a pink baby onesie for 5 days straight in my successful attempt to earn a Redsuit.

I originally decided to attend Mac because everytime that I visited, I felt this really strong sense of belonging between all of the people that I met. As a grade 12 student, I desperately wanted to know that feeling for myself. And now, I can confidently say that the way to get to that point is to seize the numerous opportunities to get involved and put yourself out there as often as you can. It may be scary at first. I sure felt that way at the beginning of the year - but now I get to look back on my first year and be proud of everything that I have accomplished.

 To all of our high school followers, I hope that you get to enjoy your first year of university like I did. And if you end up at Mac one day, I hope I get to meet you! ~ Vanessa

The Redsuits help clean up the local community - Westdale

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