Hey! First, a short description of this column; I’m going to be digging down into the older issues of the Iron Warrior to give a little glimpse of the newspaper’s past and Waterloo Engineering as whole. This term, I’m going to review issues from Fall 2011. If you really want, you can get ahead and read them yourself (I would recommend doing this for your classes instead of this column) at http://iwarrior.uwaterloo.ca/
Today we’re looking at issue 2 of the newspaper. The first article that caught my eye was surrounding Bill C-51, which could allow the law to get information on suspects through electronic means. This article touched on the delicate balance between security and privacy. While the bill is intended to assist law enforcement in managing crime involving modern technology, it would also grant police access to private citizen information and communication that is unprecedented in Canadian criminal investigation.
The Ontario election was also a thing. Liberals ended with a minority government at the time, but the article also focused on the spike in Ontario tuition (history repeats itself), as we had the highest rates of university tuition in the country. Another article also reminded us to vote. It’s extremely important to vote in your provincial/federal/other elections to get your voice heard, no matter how much you think your voice counts. Because it does! Speaking of, we have our VP elections of EngSoc’s B-society soon, so be sure to make your voice heard!
Apparently, midterms were made easier on us as well this year. Changes such as time required for material to be introduce (2 days) in order to be tested, as well as other priorities, were factored into midterm rules. Instructors should also try to accommodate those with coop interviews, and nobody can be required to write an exam/test that is outside 8:30 to 10:00 Monday through Friday. Unfortunately, not much changed about the difficulty, so I wish you the best for your midterm results.
Similarly, another article was titled, “What to Do When You’ve Failed Your First Set of Midterms.” Long story short, it isn’t the end of the world. Yes, you might be upset, but there’s always ways to improve, and it’s important to realize that this doesn’t determine your intelligence. Don’t compare yourself to others, as it’s not good for your mental health, but step back and see what you did wrong. Did you pay attention in class? Did you study outside of class? Did you do it effectively? Have you been eating and sleeping well? Midterms can often bring out the worst of our self-care habits, as we tend to push it off, but it’s important to learn from your failure and be resilient so you can do better in the future.
The last article I want to mention has to do with being proud to be a student, written by the then-president Alessia Danelon. Waterloo Engineering truly prepares you for the real world and its challenges. You are surrounded by gifted people, and you are no different with this opportunity. I know it’s pretty rough sometimes (especially since most of us just went through midterm week) but you’re all smart and tough enough to get through the program. That is a great benefit of your education, to be influenced by people who are down to earth yet inspired. It is an opportunity that you should never pass up, and that we hope continues at this school now and in the future.
That’s it for this issue. Things have changed between back in 2011 and now, but it seems like it’s for the better. I wouldn’t have wanted such difficult midterms, and it was nice to read about motivation from the past president.
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