A special greeting going out to all of Waterloo Engineering. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nick Owens. Some of you may remember me from a series of nonsense based articles about electronics that usually ended in a long winded description about how everybody is in on some kind of complicated conspiracy to take over the world. Well, I hope that you are tired of all the “Fake News” out there, because guess who’s your new Editor in Chief for winter 2018?
I would like to take the chance at the start of this term to say that, although I have had my fun in the past, I am one hundred percent committed to bringing the news, written by the engineering community for the engineering community. This particular issue is a big one to start off the term. For starters, this is Abdullah Barakat’s final term as President of EngSoc. Be sure to read his article on the announcements coming straight from the top.
On the topic of EngSoc, the elections are coming up soon. We have two full pages in this issue outlining all of the candidates for the different positions and their platforms. Elections are coming ups soon so make sure that you read all of the profiles before you decide who you want to represent you. Positions up for election include president, VP finances, VP communications, VP academic, VP student life, and WEEF director.
Our articles this week pertain to a wide variety of material. If you’re interested in the ongoing tensions between North Korea and South Korea, you may be interested in reading the article on the subject by first-time author Jimmy Wang. In more sporadic news, we have an article about a certain miscommunication that panicked all of Hawaii. Have you ever noticed that people are starting to drink less alcohol? Well, you’re not the only one. We’ve got an article for that too. For all of these interesting stories, and the other great articles that I unfortunately didn’t have the time to mention, just keep turning those pages.
Our columns are sure to be just as good. If you missed the witty exploits about life inside the White House, then you won’t want to miss this week’s issue of Dammit Donald. Space Cam is back, and just as lively as ever to bring you updates on Interstellar Objects. Don’t know what those are? You’d better ask Space Cam. Vince Magas has brought back his own Hit Replay, and of course we have the Iron Inquisition. Lastly, Donovan is back with Broskies on Brewskies. Unfortunately, Electro-Nick will not be making an appearance this issue. Apparently, he gets a little antsy in the new year in case the Y2K virus comes back around. Don’t worry though, he’ll be back soon.
Now, this is my first time writing an editorial, so you will have to forgive me if I do a bit of an amateur’s job. In fact, for the longest time, I wasn’t even completely sure what I should write about. I haven’t had a long journey here at the Iron Warrior and only started writing a year ago. But somehow it already seems like a part of me that I would have trouble doing without. Admittedly, there were a few weekends where I suddenly became ‘busy’ while Vince, the editor for the spring term, was looking for copy editors, but from day one, I enjoyed writing articles for this paper.
I guess that you could say that when I first showed up here, I was kind of like a log. Now, a log is a symbol that I always like to go back to because of what it represents. Pure potential. When you first think about it, it may seem like a log is just a dead piece of wood. However, there is nothing that a log cannot become. It can become a chair, a desk, a door, a fire, anything that you want it to. So when you look around at anything around you, you therefore have to recognize either what it once was or what it might become. That sculpture that you’re looking at was once a big, ugly rock, just like how that big ugly rock might one day be a beautiful sculpture.
But, as I’m glad to see, this metaphor does not only apply to myself. When I host the meetings for the newspaper, I can’t help but think of this while talking to the first year students who have only started writing for us. I’ve noticed that they’ve just started applying for their first co-op position and that they all have that same glimmer of both hope and nervousness in their eye. I know that I don’t have much more experience than any of them, but I’d like to let them all know that they should keep the log in mind. One thing, given the right work, can go much further than you might think. You may be nervous about applying to your first job, but trust me, you’ll be walking into interviews with confidence in no time.
And of course, I’m glad to see some of the Iron Warrior veterans returning. It’s been nice to see our very own Raeesa Ashique back and this will be our last term with Cameron Soltys and Vince Magas. Admittedly, there isn’t much advice that I can offer to either of you. You’ve both been through everything that I’m going to go through and I’m sure that throughout this term, I’ll be bugging you for advice more than enough.
So that’s pretty much all that I can say for now, to first years, my colleagues in second year, third years, and fourth years. I’ve always found value in recognizing the potential of something. Especially in those down times, it’s always good to know that there is nothing that you can’t become with just a little bit of work. And if you doubt my logic, just remember what I said the next time you walk past anything made out of a dead piece of wood.
On one final note, I would like to finish by taking the time to thank Gabrielle Klemt for the wonderful job that she did as EIC for fall 2017. I’ll have to put out another thanks to both Cameron Soltys and Vince Magas for all the help that they’ve supplied in helping me get used to this new role. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do the positions some justice this term. If not, I’ll claim that I’m still just a log.
I hope that you all have a great term.
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