Hi readers, or more specifically, hi first years!
As this is our yearly OWeek issue, I wanted to take a moment to welcome all of you first years to Waterloo! This issue has been prepared to go along with all the events happening this OWeek. I encourage you to get out there and enjoy it as much as you can. As someone who didn’t have a real OWeek due to the pandemic, it’s nice to see all the first years at the events I never got to do myself… and is all the more reason why I encourage you to go.
Now, you’re probably wondering: What am I reading? Valid question. This is the Iron Warrior, the Engineering student newspaper! You can find our issues on racks across the Engineering buildings and libraries, or on our website. We meet once a week in DWE 3520A/on Discord. We will be at the club fair on September 4th from 3-5pm in E7 if you’d like to come ask us any questions or are interested in joining us, and our website and social media are in the Table of Contents as well as on the back cover if you’d like to check us out.
When first years come up to our booth at the club fair and get disappointed that we aren’t a design team, something they often say to us if they’re not sure about joining is, “but I don’t really like writing.” To that I say, you don’t necessarily have to write (although, if you do like writing, you should consider joining too)! We’re a team of writers, editors, photographers, and artists with content including articles, Instagram Reels, puzzles, comics, and more. And we’re always looking to grow our team! We’re a mix of engineers from different years and programs, and a few non-engineers as well.
In the spirit of OWeek, I’d like to take the rest of this letter to share my own experience of how I came to join the Iron Warrior. Not because it’s anything particularly noteworthy, but because I like to think someone out there might be able to relate.
I will be the first to admit that I’m not particularly outgoing, nor am I the most comfortable in large groups or when public speaking. Because of this, among other things, I barely spoke to anyone for most of 1A, specifically at the start. As I mentioned, there was no in-person OWeek in 2021, but they did have a “virtual club fair,” so I looked over the list of engineering teams and clubs. I wanted to join something that would give me a break from school and allow me to do something I enjoyed; I saw there was a newspaper and thought, why not try it? I had never posted anything I had written before, but I always liked writing.
At the time, everything was online – it was the pandemic, after all. When I went to a meeting for the first time, the team was extremely welcoming and willing to hear my ideas. Since then, I’ve written a bunch of articles, learned how to copy edit, been editor-in-chief once (twice, including this term), seen the newspaper get back into printing post-pandemic, and seen the team grow. And I’m glad I’ve stuck with it all the way. It really has been a place for me to take a break and do a hobby I enjoy, just as I wanted to when I was looking for clubs in first year.
I guess I like to think that maybe there’s a first year out there who feels the way I did and is looking for something similar to join.
So, while we may not build race cars or robots, if you’re looking for something to do related to writing or any other creative form of content, consider joining us! And if not, hopefully you’ll enjoy picking up our issues off the racks and reading what our team puts together!
Welcome to Waterloo and enjoy your OWeek!
~ Julia (Editor-In-Chief)
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