It is entirely possible I would not be where I am today without The Iron Warrior.
For a recently elected member of City Council here in Waterloo, that is a bold statement, so let me explain.
Ten years ago, I was starting my second year in computer engineering. I went to class, I did my assignments, and I was doing well. But I wasn’t doing much else outside of my classes, and I certainly didn’t anticipate that I was going to.
Then a friend of mine asked me to write an article, because The Iron Warrior was short on content (which I’m sure never happens today). Pretty soon, I’d been pulled in. Three consecutive Iron Pen awards drew me in further, and by Winter 2004, I was the Editor-in-Chief.
At the same time all of this was going on, these same friends, who were also my classmates, had also pulled me into the Engineering Society. I had the opportunity as well to serve as Vice President External and, at the same time, as President of the Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario (ESSCO).
In class, I wrote code, drew electrical schematics, and did calculations. Before I started engineering, I used to write, and write well. The Iron Warrior gave me a chance to reconnect with that, to find more confidence in leadership, and to find a platform for argument and expression. And it was that reconnection with argument that supported taking those leaps into leadership.
After graduating from Computer Engineering in 2004, I had the opportunity to serve twice as the Vice President Education for the Federation of Students, where I worked with Dean Sedra to improve financial aid distribution to Waterloo students.
Most recently, as I’ve already mentioned, I ran for and was elected to Council in the City of Waterloo, particularly for the area including the University of Waterloo.
What I learned in the latter stages of my degree and since graduating is that people with an engineering background should not just spend time working on technical solutions. They can and should work to change the policies that constrain those solutions.
A world where engineers can think through technical problems but can also understand people enough to tackle our community challenges is a better place. Talking to other people, doing research, and writing thoughtful articles are a step in the journey to getting there.
In this 30th anniversary year of The Iron Warrior, I look back fondly on the four years I spent writing for the paper and the four months I spent editing it. I miss the long nights laying out pages and putting out 1100 words into a letter from the editor but not because doing that was great. It was enjoyable because it was an opportunity to use the time I had as editor to help new volunteers start the same journey I had been on.
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