Advice on surviving part 2 mechatronics (and part I !!!)

I won’t go through a mechatronics course breakdown because there are enough insightful posts on it from past years. If you wanna know more about our courses through a student perspective, check out James’ (2023 blogger!) posts: 

https://student-editorials.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/2023/08/12/first-sem-in-tron/ (SEM 1)

https://student-editorials.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/2023/09/23/mechatronics-part-ii-sem-two/ (SEM 2)

Instead, today I present:

Phyllis’ wise advice on flourishing as an engineering student who, believe me, has been there and done that ~

I shall provide some specific advice on surviving part II mechatronics, but also some part I advice – hopefully that can come in handy now!

Part I advice !!

• HAVEEEE FUNNNNN, first year is just to give u an intro to uni life and what engineering has to offer. So treat it as a training round, where nothing much is at stake, you should just play around, see what learning style works best for you!
• With that said, still make sure to try your best! And embrace mistakes and quizzes/tests/assignments that didn’t go as well – these are valuable tools to help you identify and target areas you don’t know! So don’t correlate your test score with your self worth, see it as a valuable opportunity for improvement and learning :)) A reassuring self-anecdote: I was on vacation for the first half of part I sem 2, so I completely slacked and bombed my 131 test (below average didn’t pass), from there I locked in for the exam, and ended up being fine!
• Don’t stress because other people are stressing. Yea I usually avoid hanging around people who discuss answers after a test, or talk about how they are almost done with the assignment when you haven’t even started. Look, other people have their own ways of learning, don’t feel like you are behind or should be stressed because of other people’s progress. You lead your own path! Do what works best for you. Some people like to start early, some people work better closer to the deadline (i.e. many of us).
• Don’t worry about internships or doing work or trying to get ahead over the summer. Please just have fun. It’ll probs be one of the last guilt-free, no expectations, 100% free time 3 month summers before internships and practical work hours become a thing :’)

Part II tron advice !!

• Part I advice is still applicable.
• Please make time for yourself / a social life / a hobby. Like yes woohoo lock in academic weapon do well at uni vibes, but also make sure you are taking a break and there is more to life than doing quizzes, being tired, and questioning life’s purpose. And don’t worry you will have free time (just don’t overload yourself with too many commitments). 
• ENGSCI 211: this course is just ENGSCI 111 on steroids. Honestly just practice qs + past papers. Make sure you know all learning outcomes. Its pretty chill.
• MECHENG 235: don’t push things to the last minute. This course is literally 115 on steroids, nobody wants to speedrun CAD and the *iterative* engineering design process. If your group doesn’t do anything, be the team leader. Keep them on track. Check up on them. Remind them.
• MECHENG 242: quite analytical, combo of 121 statics and 121 chemmat. Lowkey I thought it would be chill until I started doing exam past papers. Please make sure you actually understand the concepts + revise early for the exam. Don’t underestimate the exam! Ended up being fine tho, so don’t stress too much.
• MECHENG 201: alrighty labs were stressful but make sure you get your code sorted at home so you can dedicate all of that valuable lab time to test your robot. Ask lots of questions in tutorials, the tutors are super helpful. You’ll be fine. Its only stressful bc of the limited lab time you get, the coding and course concepts itself are not difficult. 
• Sem 2 courses: aight idk man currently going through that right now. I’ll give a lil debrief of sem 2 once I’m more than halfway through.

MOST IMPORTANTLY

From Mr Worldwide, the man himself:

This is for everybody going through times

Believe me, been there, done that

But every day above ground is a great day, remember that

– Pitbull, Mr Worldwide, an inspiration

Engineering can be tough. But I trust you. I believe in you. Make sure you believe in yourself as well. WE GOT THIS, remember how cool you already are to be studying engineering. Imagine saying commerce when people ask “what do you study”. oof.

Thanks for reading! Hope that provided a bit useful, and remember to eat good food and JUST ENJOY THE MOMENT AND HAVE FUNNNNN