Hey guys! I’m an engineering student in 1A, and I think I’ve picked up a few good tips over this semester to pass on to anyone who might be entering next year or anyone in general. Even though this tip list is directed to 1A engineering students, anyone can follow these general ideas to make their Waterloo experience great.
1. First thing’s first: learn all the acronyms. Whether it’s the SLC, PAC, POETS, etc., you’re going to feel like a foreigner if you don’t learn these acronyms. If you want to ask me more about this in person, please ask the IW staff or contact me on FB, IG, TW, YT, SC, or find me in the QNC, CPH, DC, PPT, NaOH, or AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
2. You know how people say to rely on alcohol in university? Absolutely garbage advice. You should be drinking red bull and coffee constantly to keep up with the pace of university. It only gets worse from here so you might as well get used to it. The constant anxiety and stress will be replaced with hyperactivity, so I guess that’s better. But, if you keep this habit through your undergrad, you’ll be able to afford the alcohol that you missed out on when you finally land a job. Either way, you’re getting hammered eventually.
3. Be intelligent. Don’t be dumb. Smarter people tend to pass courses more easily. If you can’t be smart, be attractive, then the smarter people will help you out in hopes of you asking them out. But now that I think about it, if you were attractive, you’d probably be at Laurier, so this point isn’t too important.
4. Start on that infamous fourth-year design project. Remember, FYDP can also stand for ‘first year design project’. You might as well get a head start now so that you can relax in fourth year.
5. Touch the tool. You know you want to.
6. Something about geese because I haven’t beaten the dead horse yet.
7. Remember your parents pay a ton of money for you to go here, so don’t mess up. Seriously, they’ll be so mad at you. Like what were you thinking? Are you going to waste their money and fail out and be a bum on the streets? They’re expecting you to do well, so don’t disappoint them and be the failure child while your other siblings are under constant praise because of their lack of flaws. On the contrary, if you’re paying for your own education, then feel free to do what you want, because it is (or was) your money. No pressure though.
8. Studies say procrastination can help incubate an idea and lead to a better product in the end. Capitalize on this by procrastinating as much as you can and not doing your assignments. You’re bound to have a creative thought eventually. If your professors say anything, get mad at them for not allowing creativity and free-thinking and call them communists.
9. I’d give a tip on finding a significant other if I could.
10. Have fun. Fun can sometimes constitute up to 15% of a course grade
And that’s all I have! Next term I’ll be back with a few tips on co-op interviews. I’ll show you the best way of sucking up to your employer, resume examples via Google images, and suit coordination tips to give the best impression in your interview. Thanks to my friends Alex, Raeesa, and especially Mitch for helping me write this article.
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