Hi everyone! My name is Enoch and I’m a Computer Science student heading into my second year (class of ‘26). Throughout my first year I’ve been fairly active in CCF, so I thought I would spill some snippets of my thoughts and experiences here for you guys to read! I also encourage you to look out for reflections from other frosh once they have been published :D
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
Do you have anything to say to the incoming frosh? Encouragements? Advice?
A common pre-university fear is the social aspect — being able to reach out and make new friends. Here’s my take on making friends in university, based on personal experience.
I’ve met people in my classes, in my building, and at CCF. Of these, I’ve stuck closest to CCF friends — and for good reason. First, I talked to people in my classes only about homework, midterms, etc. so there wasn’t a lot of meaningful conversation there. The people in my building were weird and did drugs, so I knew they weren’t my crowd. But CCF was different — it seems that there’s an implicit trust among Christians that helped me make close friends there. Remember, you’re in the same boat as everyone else in your year, so don’t hesitate to reach out to people. You’ve got nothing to lose! (Join clubs too — I wasn’t really active in the clubs I joined, which was my bad.)
Also, if you have friends in your program, BLESS 🙏. If not, try to make friends in your classes, even if it’s just to talk about homework like I mentioned earlier! I found academics way less stressful when I had insanely smart friends that could clarify stuff for me. University will be stressful at times but I’m one of the worst stress managers I know and I got through first year (mostly) tear-free. You got this!
How did you come to join CCF?
I first heard about CCF through the grapevines of my home church. I knew about Frosh ConneXion since my older siblings attended it in their time, so I went as well. I’m glad I did because it got me pretty excited about CCF since I got to meet fellow frosh in my program and residence early on. (I was told my classes were gonna be horrible and full of tears, but I digress.)
During the year I joined an SG (small group) and also participated in most of the events run by CCF which were a lot of fun! Over time, I got to meet and build connections with so many great people 😄 I highly recommend involving yourself as much as you can in CCF events because — well, how else are you gonna get to know people?!
So yeah, come to CCF! Nobody in CCF bites, and if they do, they’re probably a dog. CCF is a wholesome community (albeit a little troll sometimes) and everyone is open to meeting new, God-loving people and participating in awesome, God-focused events. 11/10 would recommend!! 😄
What are some ways that God has blessed you over the past year?
Worried about co-op? Hope I can help with that! 👇
Let’s be honest — a lot of you come to Waterloo to chase the bag. (Me too.) I want to share my first co-op hunting experience because I think it is truly a testament of God’s great work and fulfillment of His promises.
My resume wasn’t great. I started making it after the first co-op cycle began, so I was already late. I had zero experience and bare projects, so I was screwed since I wanted software positions. I got some interviews here and there, but my lack of confidence and experience didn’t get me far.
Fast forward a couple of months; after several all-nighters I finally had decent projects lined up on my resume, but as a seasoned procrastinator, the end of the term was already near. Almost all of my friends had secured their jobs at this point while I was still in the market, cranking cover letters and desperately applying to every job I could find that was even remotely tech related. Trust me, the anxiety was really starting to build. Waking up to zero interview-related emails day after day depleted my confidence and at times, drove me into tears. I would panic so bad I would be unable to sleep at night; all I could think about was co-op. Worse, my family was getting worried too. I often vented to them (and my friends) about how incompetent I felt, but they reassured me that God had plans for me and that all I needed to do was trust in Him. After long, therapeutic conversations, I did. I prayed and I prayed, and eventually I stopped worrying and just waited for God to do His work.
At last, I finally got interviews again (whew!). I couldn’t afford to blow it this time so I gave it my all. I spent a whole night preparing, I spoke confidently in my interviews, and I was super confident that I had secured an offer.
Nope.
I had gotten ‘Ranked’ for each one, but no offer. So I had to bank hard on whoever got the offers to turn them down so I could get it. Regardless, I had never been so disappointed in myself, especially with how much time and energy I put into those interviews. But then, after a couple of days…
…someone had turned down their offer. The week before final exams, God blessed me with the offer. In pure excitement, I whipped out my phone, called my family and friends and told them I would finally be employed. FINALLY!!!!
Praise be to Him. Never give up.
Anyways, thanks for stopping by! I know it’s not a lot but I hope it was a good read nonetheless 😏
