By Farah Afani (DUES VP Communications & President of the Sextant)

Everyone has their own ideas on what the ideal university experience should look and feel like. When engineering students enter their first year of university, they are bombarded with information about what their future will look like in the program and this information is not always pleasant thus harming one’s ability to achieve their ideal experience.

When I began my first year, I found it extremely difficult to balance my social life with my academic life. Many of my friends were not in engineering and did not have the same workload I did which meant that I had to be very selective about when to go out with my friends and when to focus on school. And the latter came with the additional responsibility of managing FOMO – the fear of missing out.

An engineering degree is unlike any other in terms of the time commitment that it involves. Engineering professors and upper year students do not hesitate to tell you how hard it can be and what a “good” study schedule looks like. Sometimes, these standards can be unrealistic as I realized in the first two years of my degree. I felt overwhelmed. But as time goes on, you begin to understand that your strengths and weaknesses are not the same as everyone else’s and learn to leverage this to build your own ideal university experience. You manage the sense of FOMO by gradually embracing that you simply cannot be everywhere at once and make the most out of your time in engineering to make these sacrifices worthwhile.

It’s also important to be kind to yourself whenever you do opt to be social. Whenever I would receive a poor mark or feel unprepared for a quiz or test, I would instantly regret the times I chose to be social that week or month. However looking back, learning to feel comfortable with setting aside school work to be social at appropriate times has helped my mental wellbeing immensely. Engineering will always be an overwhelming program but finding appropriate times to spend time with people that matter and make you feel good can be a welcome and productive break from the stresses of school leaving you feeling more refreshed and able to handle engineering’s challenges.

We are all struggling in one way or another and engineering can be a big part of that. We are always told that there are specific ways on how to balance school work and having a social life, but we are all different. The best way to go about this degree is to understand yourself, your own strengths and weaknesses, believe that with time, everything can be manageable, and just by giving this issue some thought, your future is already looking bright.