Finding Your Tribe

Greetings, you wonderful people! I hope your mid-sem break was relaxing and full of opportunities to recharge…although as engineering students we aren’t usually given those opportunities in mid-sem break. Still, the next half has started and hopefully we’re all ready face the challenges that await us.

As I’m writing this sentence, I’m sitting in the Leech on a Tuesday morning. To my left are some friends I met in Part II CHEMMAT. To my right are some other friends I met by sitting with them in the Leech, who do mechanical and one ESCE dude (Electrical/Software/Computer Engineering) who’s right next to me. I’ve come to fondly appreciate these people throughout my 2nd year. Some of them would definitely know from the drunk voice messages I sent them a few nights ago…

Actually, I wanna talk to you guys about friends. I’d say its a lot harder than in high school, where you make friends out of being stuck with them from 9 to 3 every weekday. Still, there are many ways you can make and keep new friends in university. If you’re worried about how you’re gonna connect with people in your second year onwards (like I definitely have), then this blog is for you.

Onto the bad joke:

Why are ceramics so bad at telling jokes?
BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS CRACK UP!

(In fairness, the funny bone soup one you guys had recently was worse…)

Your Cohort For The Next Three Years

From the conversations I’ve had with some of you first years, it seems that there probably won’t be too large of a Part II cohort next year. That’s okay! In fact, from my experience, smaller cohorts tend to bond more efficiently.

If you’re good at talking to people, that’s great. If not, then I HEAVILY recommend making at least a bit of conversation. It’ll help to find some common interests, likes dislikes…even if its something small like, I dunno, hating pickles (…is that seriously the best thing I could come up with?). After that, you now have an excuse to sit and talk with them at lectures. Although, maybe not too much talking because you need to focus on lectures.

Another thing I can think of is finding people in your year right now who are also keen on doing CHEMMAT. I met one of my closest CHEMMAT friends (who’s sitting next to me as of writing this sentence) from this, and not only he has the same specialisation interest as me, back then we looked almost EXACTLY alike! We were even wearing the same jumper the first time we met.

One word of advice I can give is to simply take a leap of faith. I don’t think I’d have the same friends I do now if I didn’t grow the balls to simply sit and talk with them. After a while, we finally started hanging out with each other outside of university, which is great because we have a lot to talk about with each other (besides the latest grueling CHEMMAT homework).

Initiating Hangouts

Now I’m sure you’ve got friends outside of uni. Arts students, science students…b*siness students…maybe even those who aren’t even in uni right now.

Full disclosure: It’s gonna be a lot harder to keep in touch with them, because you’re not locked in a high school with them from 9 to 3 every weekday. But it’s okay, because even as engineering students we have a bit more time on our hands than in high school (although not a lot).

The most critical thing to do to keep these people as friends is to take the leap of faith and initiate, or at least take part in organising the hangout. Let me tell you guys a story. One Saturday morning, my friends texted me to ask if I wanted to come down with them for a hike in Camp Sladdin…almost an hour away in Clevedon. Now, usually I’m not one for last-minute plans, but these guys have been my friends since Primary school and I haven’t seen them in AGES.

So I got in my car and made the 40 minute drive. My shoes did get disgusting after hiking through mud and dirt for an hour, and I didn’t have lunch until 4pm, BUT, it was quite nice. Especially the view at the top. So maybe next time I’ll consider going on their spontaneous escapades, to wherever it is they plan to go next.

What I’m trying to say is, I know as engineering students we don’t have lots of time, but don’t be afraid to spend some time with your friends. If you wanna win a race, your gas tank needs to be filled…

Extracurriculars

Engineering (or the Faculty of Engineering and Design and Architecture and Urban Planning and Whatnot), has lots, and I mean LOTS of clubs. There’s Formula SAE if you like cars, there’s AUES if you like drinking, there’s WEN, there’s Rainbow Engineering..There’s even clubs not related to engineering like the uni choir, sports teams and the dessert club (?!?!?!).

I’d say working towards a common goal with a bunch of other people is a good way to make friends with them. Lets take Revue, for example. It was a lovely 9-ish weeks of getting together with the skits cast and working on making the most high-quality, hilarious skits out there.

Actually I’ll tell you a story. When I was 16, I was a massive fan of Portal 2 (I still am!) In that game, you can play levels made by the community. I was really into this series of levels called Tales of the Multiverse, and I’d play it almost religiously. Turns out, the guy who made the levels (out of everyone in the whole world who plays Portal 2), is LITERALLY THE GUY TO MY LEFT IN THIS PHOTO!!!!

To conclude, I’d say doing these extracurriculars is a 2-for-1 deal: Not only you get to make friends through them, you can also build up some much-needed soft skills! Very useful for…int*rnships…ugh…

To Recap: Put Yourself Out There!

I’m sure you’ve heard the jokes about us engineers: that we’re antisocial, smelly and don’t go outside. Let me break this suspension of belief for just a second for me to tell you this: we’re all, in some way shape or form, nerdy/geeky semi-social people. And that’s a good thing, because not only you’ll be able to find friends if you simply be yourself, you’ll find a great support system for your future as an Engineer!

I’ll leave you with a quote from Warframe, my favourite game:

“We all lift together!”