Hello, friends! Long time no chat. The semester got (surprise) really busy, really fast, and I apologize for not keeping up with my posts as promised. Nonetheless, I am back with a post for you all today!
As I write this it is Friday morning, less than twelve hours after I finished my final exam for my first term (2A) of second year. Because of my program, I won’t be doing my second term (2B) until the spring; I’ll be on co-op from January to April. That said, my third full term of university has been sort of a whirlwind. It passed by so quickly…I still feel like it’s September, not December.
Going into 2A, I was warned that it was going to be a challenge. Upper years in my faculty told me that it may have been one of the most challenging terms to get through. I can definitely understand why they said this now, and despite having prepared myself for hardship I was still caught off guard when things didn’t work out as well as planned. However, I still had a lot of fun throughout the term, and I still live to tell the tale, so that’s a plus!
Reflecting on the last four months, there are a few experiences/lessons/challenges I had that stand out from the rest. These experiences have really tested my patience, perseverance and who I am as a person. While they were a pain to get through, I am glad that I experienced them because I wouldn’t be the person I am now without having gone through them. Not all are bad, of course, and some had positive outcomes. By sharing these experiences with you, my hope is that I can help you in some way: maybe you are going into your first year of university, or into your second year with your first round of co-op interviews coming up (*cringe*), applying to a job outside of school, looking for an apartment for the first time, or are here out of general curiosity and want to hear what I’ve been up to the past few months (and why I haven’t been posting…I’m sorry!).
Without further ado, here are five lessons I learned from this past term. I hope that you enjoy!
- Living off campus is a whole different ballgame.
This past term I lived off campus with my friend from residence. We rented from a student housing company, one of the big-name ones around Waterloo with a bunch of different buildings. This experience by far has transformed me more into an “adult” than anything. If you know me in person/follow me on social media, you know the woes and struggles that I have gone through this past term with this rental company. I’m not going to put their name on here for privacy sake, but if you would like to know because you are looking for a place off campus then feel free to send me a message.
Anyway, there have been many struggles with living off campus this term, but it wasn’t always bad. The apartment is located right in the middle of all the necessities: Uptown is a 15 minute walk away, the mall and grocery store is a 5 minute bus ride, campus is a 20 minute walk and there’s a bus stop right outside our door. It was a decent price for the size, too, and a two-bedroom apartment is rare to come by. When our neighbours weren’t partying or moving around all their furniture at 2am, it could be very peaceful to read or eat breakfast by the window.
I started listing all of the issues out in this post, then deleted it because I didn’t want this post to be me just ranting. I go on for days about the issues I’ve faced this term in my apartment. Being a student while living off campus means finding time to pick up groceries every week and hull them home on the bus, clean the apartment regularly, take the extra time to get to campus and make sure that rent was being paid on time every month. Having to chase after my property manager every other day to report an issue or follow up to something they claimed were being fixed added a lot of unnecessary stress. As of right now I’m not sure what my living plans are for the next three years of university; I am applying to be a don for my third year, so if I get that then I will be living on campus. If that doesn’t work out, though, I will definitely be finding a new place to live.
2. Finding the right co-op job takes a lot of time, effort and patience.
If you are not familiar with co-op, it is essentially you working at a job related to your studies for 4-8 months. You apply through the school (although you can use your own connections/other job boards) and have a lot of paperwork/documents to complete. The University of Waterloo is known worldwide for it’s co-op program, so actually being a part of it is an interesting experience. What a lot of people do not understand is that co-op at UWaterloo is not a placement or internship. The school does not find the job for you: you must apply yourself. You also have to pay nearly $800 in tuition for each term of co-op, which seems silly since you’re not even in school at that time. We have a student job board called WaterlooWorks where employers post jobs specifically for UW co-op students. While you are applying for your first co-op, you are also completing something called a “PD,” or personal development, course. This is essentially a full course in its own right, where you watch modules online, complete assignments, etc. but it is catered to helping you through your first co-op application experience. You also do resume critiques and mock interviews which were pretty useful, but otherwise it was another course with deadlines that you have to meet and pass while trying to pass your other five courses. In addition, the resume template you have to use for the assignment is not recommended to be used for your actual job applications (which doesn’t really make sense).
Going into my first co-op application round, I was pretty scared. Upper years told me that I may not get a job, and to only expect one or two interviews (if I was lucky) in the first round. I was really lucky this term because I got 7 interviews, which was way beyond I even imagined for my first term. I think the number of interviews you get really depends on how much effort you put into your applications. In the first round (which runs Oct-Nov) you can apply for up to 50 jobs: I applied for 27 and catered each resume/cover letter to each employer, but I have some friends who applied to all 50 and just sent in general applications (but they did get jobs). I even have friends that applied for less than 15 and got jobs, and some friends who are still searching (fret not, you will find something, I believe in you!) It all depends on how well you sell yourself, and what sort of experiences/skills you highlight. For me the physical application is the hardest part; once I get an interview, I am confident that I can show the employer my passion and interest in an interview.
When you apply for a co-op job, you can see how many people also apply: one job I applied to had 168 applicants, for instance. That definitely made it more stressful, because knowing the odds of you getting that one position out of 168 people are very slim. If you do manage to get an interview, you can also see the names and emails of the others who got an interview; a lot of times I would find out that I was going against upper years with more experience, which was (surprise) stressful. Also keep in mind that job interviews are happening throughout the regular school term, meaning my friends and I would have to miss class or tutorials to attend them. Usually the TAs and profs were understanding and would make accommodations if you told them you’d be missing a session in advance. Some days were just interviews: I had three interviews in the span of three hours. Your interviews could take the form of phone calls (in this super busy call centre where you are sitting in a cubicle with other people being interviewed on either side of you), a Skype call (mine which crashed twice and resulted in the interview being 1.5 hours instead of 40 minutes) or an in-person interview. You could also be asked to do specific tasks or “tests” – I actually got an interview for the job with 168 applicants, and I had to write 3 essay questions in 30 minutes at the end of the interview. Definitely an interesting (and intense) experience!
Overall I did enjoy the co-op application experience. I feel very confident in writing cover letters, resumes and with my interview skills. Yes, the whole experience was extremely stressful and hard to stay on top of PD assignments, interviews and coursework, but in the end I came out with 4 job offers (one of which was the job with 168 applicants!), all of which interested me and made the decision very tough. Next term I will be working in Guelph as a Waste Programs Assistant at the Waste Resource Innovation Centre, where I will be helping with projects around the city to improve waste diversion strategies and assist with developing an apartment composting project.
3. Life is expensive.
When you start buying all of your groceries, cleaning supplies and personal care products, you realize just how expensive life really is. Groceries were especially killer, and seeing how food prices changed over the last few months depending on the season really influenced what I purchased and ate. I wrote this post about food insecurity and discussed the affordability of food playing a significant role in malnourishment right here in Ontario; while I am nowhere near this state and am very grateful that I can afford fruit and veggies still, the variety I ate was more limited as we moved away from prime harvesting season. A small cauliflower was 7 dollars, an avocado 3 dollars. Insane, right?
On the other hand, I enjoyed this experience because it allowed me to eat more seasonally. The last month or so I’ve been eating a lot of root vegetables like carrots, beets, onions, garlic and ginger, as well as mushrooms, sweet potatoes, squash and cabbage. I ate frozen berries that were picked when they were in season. I would buy things like apples and bananas still just to get a different variety of nutrients in my diet, and when cooking I would try to change around the spices/recipes so that I didn’t get bored of the same ingredients. Yes, sometimes I would’ve loved to have fresh strawberries or a mango or other summer-y produce, but it just wasn’t practical economically. By purchasing produce in season and as local as possible (always check where your produce is coming from, and try to buy within Ontario if possible!) I was doing the most good for the planet that I could. If you’re interested in eating more seasonally, or want to know what kinds of produce will be cheapest (because local availability dictates this a lot) check out Ontario’s produce availability guide here.
4. Getting yourself involved is a great stress relief.
I really enjoyed getting involved around campus last year, so I wanted to continue doing so this term. I volunteered at the Environment Student Coffee Shop again, which is always so fun because I get to meet students, profs and other staff from my department. I sat on the Environment Student Society, the faculty’s student council, as Vice President Operations. We hosted some awesome events including our annual Nacho Crawl, Charity Gala, and my personal favourite, Bob Ross Paint Night. We also ran Mental Health Month festivities, had breakfast with the Dean of Environment and ran office hours every week. I really enjoyed getting involved with the faculty in this way because I was able to connect with other students and staff that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I was the newbie and youngest on the team this term, so it was nice getting to participate in these big decisions made for the faculty and making new friends. I will definitely be applying for ESS when I am back in the Spring term!
I also had a part-time job as a Peer Leader at the residence I stayed at last year. A Peer Leader is similar to a don where they offer support and guidance to a set of students on a specific floor in your faculty (called your “cluster”). Peer Leaders would run weekly study halls where students ask for help on their assignments, course work or get tips for studying; we did review sessions for faculty-wide courses like ENVS 178 (an environmental stats course) and would attend themed community dinners. My floor would also do weekly Tea Time on Thursday nights, where we would chill in the don’s room and just chat about life. For a floor event, I had the floor visit my apartment (which we nicknamed “the box” since it was so small and our tables/counters were made of moving boxes) as I discussed their options for off-campus housing once they were done their first year. The don and I then took them to a board game cafe, which was a lot of fun and a nice way to relax. I also got to volunteer at the Fall Open House, representing the residence at a booth on campus and then giving tours of the residence later in the day. Overall I really enjoyed the Peer Leader experience, and I don’t become a don next year then I will definitely be a Peer Leader again! 🙂
5. It’s okay to take breaks.
I have definitely said this in numerous blog posts, but it is still something I struggle with. Especially with how busy this semester was with courses, co-op applications and dealing with my apartment’s issues, it was easy to get overwhelmed. Nonetheless I knew how important it was to take breaks, even if it was 5 or 10 minutes. When I was feeling very overwhelmed I would stop whatever it was that I was doing and go for a walk or call a friend or my mom. I rarely studied in the apartment because I found the space too confining and for some reason cannot focus when I’m home; I would take myself out to a local coffee shop and spend hours studying away with a latte and sometimes a treat. After I finished a midterm, final or major assignment, I would treat myself to lunch or dinner at my favourite places around town. I attended hot yoga classes throughout the term, which I really enjoyed, and would regularly do stretching in my room. Netflix of course was a good break, and I think I started (and completed…) three different shows. I visited home every few weeks, pet my cat and saw my best friend. Little things like this made the stress more bearable and easier to take on.
Spending time with friends is also extremely important. University can be very isolating, and if you don’t have someone to talk to or just spend time with it can really impact your mental health. Having group sushi coffee dates or just one-on-one adventures with friends were go-tos, and my friends finally convinced me to experience Waterloo’s weekend night life (which is actually a lot of fun). Sometimes I didn’t want to go out because I felt that I had too much to do. Sometimes I wouldn’t go out, but other times I would tell myself that there would always be time to finish things while still enjoying myself, so I would go out and have fun. I tried many new things this semester and stepped outside of my comfort zone and did not regret it at all. In the end, I still had time to finish the tasks I had worried about, while still enjoying my term.
Overall, I really enjoyed this semester despite how much I had to do. Living off campus was definitely an eye-opening experience and really taught me how to “adult.” Co-op will allow me to try out jobs and make valuable workplace connections that will help me establish a career once I graduate. I’ve discovered that I really enjoy educating others, not just about environmental/social issues (hence the blog) but about anything I am knowledgable of. I loved offering my stories and experiences as a Peer Leader to my first-years, and to high school kids visiting the campus on Open House. For the first time I enjoyed all of my courses this term, and while I am glad to have the Winter Break I am disappointed that the courses are over. I have made so many new friends and relationships with the faculty that will only enhance my experience at the University of Waterloo for the next three years. In my first and second term I was a bit hesitant about whether I had chosen the right school/program, but now I know without a doubt that I am in the right place. Despite all the challenges I’ve faced this semester, I’ve become a stronger individual and have further realized who I am as a person. I am so excited to see what the future holds for me.
Thanks for taking the time to read this life update, and I look forward to getting back into blogging. I hope that something in this post will help you in the future, whether it be with looking for a place to live off-campus for your upper years, starting your first co-op application round or anything else in life. My goal is to post regularly throughout the winter during my co-op, and I am excited to share that experience with all of you. Thank you for your patience with me, and I hope you will continue to read what I have to share.
I hope that you all have a great rest of your week, and enjoy the break! Spend some time with friends and family, eat good food, and remember to relax. 🙂
Until next time!
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