Last blog post of the summer! I cannot believe we’re already here.
Next week marks the start of F!rosh Week and your first day as a first year engineering student here at the University of Toronto. Are you excited? Are you nervous? Are you scared? Somehow I’m feeling all three about my first day next week and I’ve already been around this place for two years.
This week I wanted to compile all the thoughts I’ve had circling my mind as I’ve been writing this summer. I can only imagine what each of you have on your minds at this moment and so I promise to keep this short and to the point.
Parting Words of Advice
- I’ve talked a lot about clubs and co-curricular activities so I won’t get into those specifics again. But if you have the commitment time, please consider getting involved in a student group or activity.
- Get yourself a study buddy —or three! The more connected you can be with your classmates and courses, the better you’ll manage this online academic year.
- It’s a very mature thing to both recognize when you need help and be willing to ask for help. This certainly applies to your courses and academic advisors. Instead of having them chase you down when things go wrong, be the one to take the first step and book a meeting.
- Don’t feel bad about reaching out to an upper-year once classes and assessments start. If they’re busy they’ll be honest about it and tell you, but the majority of the time they are usually able to help and support you.
There are days when you’ll forget everything I just said and I don’t blame you; I’ve done the same with my own advice (I still do). Thought hopefully you’ll remember that this blog exists and will refer to it from time to time as you journey through these next eight months.
Remember Community this year
Back in my very first post I talked about the values that the Skule community strives to uphold, including fairness and honesty, diversity and inclusivity, and above all, respect for yourself and your fellow peers. I hope through reading these blogs and interacting with the Faculty and upper year students online thus far, you believe that already.
Engineering is hard. The profession is a difficult one and will constantly find ways to challenge you both as you complete your degree and later in your career. I think that’s why our community is so connected and involved here in Skule. We’ve decided we’re not going to leave anyone behind; everyone deserves a fair and honest chance to finish their degree and use it to make an impact on the world. That’s why you’ll see so many upper years eager to engage with you on social media, or always sitting on student panels at events to answer your questions, or hand delivering F!rosh kits to GTA students…. We care and can’t wait for you to see what S-K-U-L-E really means.
Quite frankly, as an upper year, I also feel really good knowing that I’ve made someone’s experience here even a tiny bit easier. For that reason, I also hope you yourselves will choose to stay involved in the community so that the Class of 2T5, in a year’s time, is welcomed to Skule just as warmly.
So with that, I want to say thank you for reading these blog posts this summer. It means a lot to know that even a small handful of you have been keeping up with the weekly posts. My contact info is listed in my intro post so please don’t hesitate to reach out. Hopefully we’ll all get the chance to meet one another either remotely this year, or in-person someday soon.
Congratulations again on getting this far, welcome to Skule, and good luck.
Mirjana