There are some things you can never really experience twice. Going to university is definitely one of them. Driving a car for the first time is another. There are so many new feelings when someone just turns everything over to you and says “here, you can do it, right?” Here, more than anywhere university is about proving to yourself, and the world, that you can do anything. For me, as I rolled up University Ave. on my way to campus, it was with increasing excitement. All along the side of the road, banners exclaimed the awesomeness of the world’s greatest technical university….U of Waterloo. It was only as we biked past the hallowed doors of Wilfred Laurier that the road banners momentarily changed to show that school’s pride before continuing to describe the innovations of our favourite university, Waterloo! That first day was terrifying. My mind was filled with doubts and fear probably like all other first-years both now and before me who have all taken up this ultimate challenge, this ultimate responsibility: ENGINEERING.
All the fears and doubts I had were pretty much put to rest the first day of orientation. What could be better than people who dyed themselves purple? (Without officially being allowed to, yes, we are bad ass) [Editor’s Note: No one has told us not to!] How about getting to build things for fun in junk yard wars or earning our hard hats?! As Edcom says, ‘frosh will enjoy’. Obviously we were left with no choice. We also had a taste of being rule breakers, something which as smart people we would never do, right? If you were purpled, you know that the things that ‘didn’t’ happen at Waterloo are often the best. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to steal the math tie [Editor’s Note: We’ve really, really strongly been told not to]. Then of course there were all the people we met: crazy people, sane people, but all brilliant, driven individuals experiencing university for the first time. In fact, some were experiencing Canadian cities for the first time. By the end of the week my throat was getting pretty raw from cheering, but I was having a blast! Science may have their secret science dance, math may have their ties, but we have our hard hats, an awesome anthem for our future engineering pride (even though we are still plummers) and our handy dandy multi-tools. I don’t think it could get any better than that.
University is about time management and getting into a routine, but at the same time it is about leaving that routine and being flexible. We are being trained to look outside the box while developing study habits to structure our zaniness. Everything seems new and foreign, even to me and I’m from Ontario! Orientation week created new boundaries of comfort and allowed us all to become more of who we want to be rather than who we were in high school. It’s time for our lives as adults to begin and I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned it can only get better from here.
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