2B Chemical Engineering Survivor

December 29, 2016

Going into the term, I was afraid about being unable to pass the term while juggling a part-time job, and an engineering Coffee House directorship. There was so much more that I wanted to do, but this is what I was limiting myself to, especially hearing from my fellow colleagues that the 2B term was one of the toughest academic terms. Now that I have completed the term…I was completely right about all my fears. It was a very stressful, eye-opening experience, and I know it wasn’t going to get any easier.

Despite the time I spent pulling my hair out (figuratively) and crying myself to sleep (not figuratively), there were also triumphant moments during the study term that were happening to me for the first time. This was the first term where I had an interview, MULTIPLE interviews, earlier during the term with decent companies in my hometown, even including Blackberry. At the end, I landed a placement in my hometown for the upcoming co-op term and the following co-op term, saving me the trouble from the job search for the next academic term. I guess putting in a lot of thought and effort on those cover letters really did help, even when it would stress me out to the point where I didn’t want to leave the house at all.

I went through the beginning of the term with a lot of determination to do well academically with a plan to build better habits and improve my time management skills. To be honest, I haven’t dropped my bad habits at all, (like staring at my phone late at night when I should be sleeping) but I was hustling a lot more to get tasks done more efficiently, so I have learned a lot more about time management. Hey, I even squeezed in some time to go back and forth between Waterloo and Toronto to visit family.

For the next academic term, I am not planning on quitting my part-time job, and there’s a possibility that I might do another directorship. The 3A term is supposedly difficult, but with no worries of finding a job, and getting helpful material from upper-years, I am actually looking forward to the term!