Welcome, First Years, to the Best Week of the Term.
So you’ve finally made it. University. Maybe you’re striking out on your own for the first time. Maybe you think this will be a breeze. Maybe you are terrified out of your mind and the entire world is a bit of a foggy blur, like you’re riding a roller-coaster in a sandstorm (I’m not an empath, just experienced). Whatever it is, this special Frosh Week Issue of the Iron Warrior is here to help. Within it, dozens of people from across the faculty and the university have come together to share with you their knowledge and advice, or to promote the myriad of awesome projects, groups, and teams available for you to join and participate in. Overwhelmed yet? Then let’s start things off easy. The first thing you need to know is about the first week. About Frosh Week. That’s why I’m here: to share with you your first task of having a spectacular time in this first, and incidentally best, week at Waterloo.
For starters, this will be a really easy assignment for you. Even easier than the easiest project of the easiest course (it’s the midterm for PHYS-115, if you’re wondering). Frosh week is the collective effort of hundreds of volunteers and staff, all intent on bringing you safely, happily into the wonderful Waterloo and Faculty of Engineering communities. Every day, there are awesome activities that will show you around campus, let you meet engineering students and students from other faculties, and introduce you to all the important traditions we have. All you really have to do is relax and let it happen.
One thing that is going to happen is that you will be deluged with information about campus and the services the University offers. There will be presentations about getting coop jobs, where to go with medical problems (Health Services, which will be pointed out to you several times), where to go for academic help (WEEF TA’s, professors, and a long list more), the best places to catch a quick nap during an all-nighter (either Comfy Lounge or any hallway that’s not too loud), and a dozen other things. You won’t need all of these services, but do your best to soak it all in because a) you’ll definitely need at least one of them soon and b) you really don’t know which one that will be. But if you miss any of it, don’t worry. Once classes start there are plenty of ways to find the resources you need, like the First Year Office or the university website.
The second thing that is going to happen is that there will be a ton of stuff for you to do. I mentioned before that there would be a lot of awesome activities, and I really meant it. Stuff like Earn Your Hardhat, where you will have to compete against other teams to impress EdCom—easier said than done—or Junkyard Wars, an event that will have you making anything from a piece of rope to a catapult. In order to make the best of these events, all you have to do it jump in. If you’re nervous about doing an event, just tip-toe forward and you will soon find yourself on an unstoppable slide down the steep slope to orientation extraordinaire. But no one else can make you take those steps; you have to take them for yourself. Best of luck.
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