So they’ve finally come to visit…

Maybe it’s both your parents, or perhaps just one of them, or maybe even your grandparents but nevertheless someone has finally decided to honour you with a visit. So of course you are going to go shopping (take advantage of their credit card) and you’re almost certainly going to have to go out for lunch or dinner at some point (some good food at last) but inevitably you are going to be obliged to give them a tour of the famous University of Waterloo campus. So where do you start?
You will of course have to show them CPH, the heart of undergraduate engineering cannot just be ignored. This calls for a small break in front of CnD and you almost certainly have to rave about the opportunities and events to be found in POETS. The Orifice must be mentioned as well, and you should certainly point out the large crest next to the door. The calendar outside the office should also be admired (you might even see some events you weren’t aware of) however you may not feel the need to explain to your guests the meaning of D.U.S.T.E.D. and B.O.A.T. Racing. The TOOL must definitely be mentioned at this point but you must not and cannot reveal any information about its possible and rumoured whereabouts to outsiders. As you blabber on about EngSoc (and how it’s so much better than other student societies) you might want to make your way down to E2.
E2 or Engineering 2 does have a couple of surprises worth admiring. First of all there’s the WEEF lab, which you’ll notice just as you step into the building from CPH. At this point you should probably launch into a grand speech about the Waterloo Engineering Endowment Fund and how this year they handed out 85,000 dollars for the benefit of engineering students at Waterloo. After your guests have been sufficiently awed by the splendor of the lab you can make your way down the hall. At the junction of the building you can point out the Frosh Week trophies next to the staircase. Rave a bit about Frosh Week and how you did things you never thought you would have the nerve to do. Wacky stories about the random animals that always seem to make their way onto campus during frosh week will probably entertain your guests.
You will at some point need to show them the lecture halls and classrooms where you spend the most time. At this point you can always talk about how bad (or good) your profs are, how uncomfortable and squeaky the chairs are and mention any other random fact you know about the buildings you spend your daily life in. If you want to convince them that the lecture halls are really bad then you may want to consider showing them the rooms in the basement of RCH.
At this point if you really cannot think of any other buildings to show off, you may want to consider the following: Dana Porter Library; the view from the top (spare your guests the pain and take the elevator) is amazing and you can always mention that rumour about how it’s sinking into the ground, Davis Center; it’s such colourful building, sure to cheer anyone up, SLC; mention the random events you’ve attended at the Bomber and explore the underground (did you know there was a Hair Salon?) and if all else fails; visit the Environment and Information Technology building; there’s dinosaurs and a really cool fountain.
At this point you’ve certainly exhausted your guests and your knowledge of random, interesting facts about Waterloo so it’s probably time to head to somewhere comfortable and sit down for a nice long chat. After all, your guest is probably interested in talking to you if they took the trouble of coming to Waterloo.