First year engineering is hard. Period. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Each engineering student at UBC goes through different challenges in their first year, and in my experience those initial hurdles are often harder to overcome than any others they face in their degree.
My name is Josh, I'm currently in my third year studying biomedical engineering at UBC Vancouver, and I can tell you that overcoming the challenges I faced in first year was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but I'm forever grateful that I did it. I entered UBC Engineering like most students in the program. I found high school relatively easy, and was used to getting good grades with minimal studying. The first month or so of university was a blast. Making new friends, exploring the beautiful city of Vancouver, and late night trips to Wreck Beach were taking up a lot of my time. I don't regret any of that. It's important to have fun in university, but maybe I was having a little too much fun. Inevitably, the first round of midterms came up quick. I felt like I was reasonably prepared; after all, there were plenty of exams I didn't study for in high school that I did fine on. I was about to learn that this was not high school anymore. I got a 15% on the first PHYS 157 midterm. Pretty much all I did was write my name down and sit there frantically hoping something would come to me. Nothing did. Needless to say, I was devastated. I felt like I flushed my whole future down the toilet. I couldn't even imagine a scenario in which I would pass that class, and I still had midterms for all my other classes to go. I called my parents nearly in tears, telling them I had to get out of engineering. My parents told me to at least stick out the rest of the term. If I failed, I failed and that was okay, but they didn't want me to quit. My brother, who was finishing his final year of Computer Engineering, gave me the same advice. He was honest, and told me it wasn't going to get easier, but I had to try to keep improving. So I didn't give up. I kept going if anything just to spite engineering for trying to make me quit. 36% on the MATH 100 midterm. Keep going. Failed assignments. Keep going. Late nights in IKB nearly everyday. Keep. Going. Once finals rolled around I felt like I was in the 15th round of a boxing match with a fighter twice my weight. Then, somehow, I managed to pass all of my classes. The margin to failure was small for many of them, but I didn't care, it felt like a monumental achievement for me. Many other students had quit with far better marks than me in the middle of the term, but I stuck it out and made it. I ended up staying in engineering, and got through second term with steady improvement (there were still plenty of failures). I was accepted into Biomedical Engineering the summer after my first year, and now I'm well into my third year and I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. So, if you're a first year engineering student, or someone in any degree trying to overcome a challenge (UBC is hard no matter what you study!) then my advice is to just stick it out to the end. Don't give up. If you decide to change paths afterwards, then that's great; that's life. I doubt you'll be upset at yourself for trying. You'll be surprised by how much you're capable of when you keep moving forward. I know I was.
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AuthorThis week's author is Josh Goguen ArchivesCategories |