Salutations to all readers, and welcome to my final blog post of this Biomedical Engineering series.
FINALLY
All tests, group projects, presentations, assignments, quizzes, labs, and even exams have come to an end. Merely listing them out brings back the trauma (Looking at you MEDSCI), but now we can finally relax once more over our extraordinarily long summer break. And when I say relax, I mean sit and stare intensely at a wall, embroiled by the fear of our exam grades.
I can only advise that everyone takes a moment to appreciate the blissful ignorance that we all reside in before grades are released onto SSO, but once they do come out, keep in mind that these grades aren’t everything. Don’t fret if you haven’t made the Dean’s Honour List. Don’t panic if your GPA is sitting a little low for your preferred specialisation. If you have done all you can, then that is surely enough. You must move forward with time, no matter the grade.
With the end of exams, also comes the beginning of many internships and jobs for us Engineering students. I hope that those who have chosen this path earn some money and/or experience, and start to get those engineering hours ticked off. However, if this year you haven’t found or been accepted into an internship, I again implore you to avoid stress. Keep a clear head, and remember that you have time. It is often better to make the correct decision, than a rushed one.
SEMESTER TWO IN REVIEW
Thinking back over the past 15ish weeks of Semester Two and comparing it to Semester One, I personally found a lot more enjoyment in the courses of this second half of the year. Not to say that the first semester was lacking in any way, but if you have a read over my first couple of posts you will find that there was a lot more focus on general courses. From sharing papers with Engineering Science students in ENGSCI 233 and BIOMENG 221, to the ever-present MM2, the first semester was vital in ticking off the essentials. In comparison, I felt that the second semester delved much deeper into BME-specific courses, with group projects and labs allowing us to apply theory. So if you find yourself doubting your choice after the first semester in the future, keep in mind that it is only half of your year, and there are still multitudes of papers to change your mind.
Further, semester two provided the opportunity to grow closer within our BME cohort, and it is the connections here that truly make university a splendid experience.
Well, I don’t want to keep you from your summer too much longer, so I will bid you farewell. I hope this blog series has provided a little bit of insight into the life of a BME student, and that you’ll soon be choosing Biomedical Engineering as your preferred option. You won’t regret it.
Cheers, Heinrich.
PS
Have a look here for the Biomedical Engineering course viewer, where you can see all the papers required and the potential electives.