Esther's SEE 111 Mini Mentor Assignment

Wow, are we really getting to our last blog post? Time really flew by, didn't it! Thank you so much for reading and (hopefully) enjoying my blogs.  I’ve decided to save my two most important pieces of advice for those who have made it through. It’s ok not to feel ok .  Pursuing an Engineering Degree is one of the most difficult degrees to obtain, and it takes up more credits than an average program to complete. Being here is meant to challenge you and test your perseverance. It’s normal for you to feel overwhelmed, confused, and/or stressed! And I guarantee you won't be the first or the last person to feel this way. It’s ok if you cry about your courses. It’s ok if you’re just plain frustrated with your professors or if you don’t like your classes. The best way to get through these is to communicate. Vent to your friends, or share your concerns with a professor, TA, or counselor.  When I was taking six courses, I’ve been through all of the above emotions and more. Express...

Being a first year may be overwhelming. You feel like you’re on top of the world in your last year of high school, then you have to start all over again the year after. You’re thrusted into a situation where everyone is suddenly adults. Luckily for you, many upper years (especially in our program) are actually really friendly if you talk to them. You’ll meet a lot of the second years and beyond at frosh events, or if you’re in SEESS, or at just about any event that they throw. Try to get to know them! They will give you really good advice on scheduling, opinions on professors, and engineering school in general as they’ve already experienced what you are experiencing right now. Some upper years have done really cool co-op positions as well, so be sure to ask them about what they’ve done and if you’re interested in the same field they’re concentrated in, tips on how to break into there.

In my first semester, I dealt with really terrible bouts of imposter syndrome. As someone who had always cared about their academics, being in university was a huge slap to the reality of the difficulty of being in an engineering program. I remember my first wake up call being when I failed an exam for the first time in physics, and then having that constant feeling of underperforming in all my classes compared to my peers, who often got straight As. In between struggling through juggling six classes worth of material and being tasked to do something in a club that was beyond my understanding, I felt like I was an “Imposter” of some sort, like I wasn’t understanding or doing enough to belong in such a rigorous program.  It’s not something that I have solid advice on overcoming as admittedly I’m still trying to figure my way through that. One thing that helped a lot however, was deciding not to pay attention or compare myself to other people’s progress or marks in any class I was ta...

There are so many different clubs and design teams at sfu! But if you’re debating on whether or not you should join one, I have a guide for you. School is already difficult enough, don’t make it harder on yourself if needed! Helpful Tip 👍 My one sentence for determining whether or not you want to commit more in this case would be “don’t bite off more than you can chew”. If you are trying to decide whether or not you should join a club or design team, go right ahead if you fit ALL of the checkboxes below! You are satisfied with your progress in all your courses and your grades The position or club you are interested in can fit into your schedule and doesn’t involve material that you are uncomfortable with You want to gain relevant experience /improve your resume Many clubs require dedication and commitment. If you are unsure if you can bring that, I would advise revamping your academic schedule (including classes and study hours) or holding it off until you’ve gained academic and t...

Another big tip that I have for you that I barely, if not ever, see any of my classmates do is attend office hours, especially for academic courses like the math and sciences. In my opinion, that is such a huge waste of resources! ATTEND TA OFFICE HOURS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU AND BECOME BFFS (not really but you get the point) WITH YOUR TA! For example, If you have a class that is held in a lecture hall (for example all our math classes), chances are you will have some kind of math workshop associated with it. For our math 150/151, 152, 251 classes it's the pure calculus workshop. Attend those if you have trouble understanding any related concepts or questions with your assignments or practice problems. Trust me, your TA can solve whatever you and your friends were struggling with for three hours in five minutes and guide you to the answer in fifteen. Your TAs are also the people who mark your quizzes and assignments so they know what the professors want when they mark your homew...

The first thing I do before studying is to consider my location. I find that it’s harder for me to study in the comfort of my own home as I get distracted easier. I find that working around other people doing the same thing I'm doing greatly helps as it keeps me motivated and keeps me on track. Because of this, my favorite study spot is at the Fraser Library on the SFU Surrey Campus. The chairs are more comfortable than the ones anywhere else in the Surrey campus and at my house, and it’s a lot quieter too so I can focus better on my assignments. I prefer the tables near the window, so I usually sit in the quiet room or the back of the library overlooking the bus loop.  A Picture of Fraser Library at SFU and a little bit of the view I get when studying near a window here!  Another thing you should consider is if you work better studying alone or with friends. Personally, I prefer working alone most of the time unless I’m really stuck on a subject and I want to collaborate with...

Now, I want to tell you a little bit about me, and why I chose this program. I was always interested in environmental issues and sustainability in general as a child. One vivid memory from my childhood was reading a book on protecting our planet, and it was very searing images of pollution, environmental disasters, and wildlife suffering at the expense of climate change.  So from the get go, I knew I wanted to base my life work on something I could do to combat climate change. When I first saw the news article stating the opening of the program in high school, I instantly put that on my radar. However, I was never the brightest in any stem related subject in high school, and I especially had more trouble understanding math and physics. To make things worse, I was also dealing with personal issues and drama halfway through high school and my academics dropped as a result. Only when I took a computer science co-op course geared towards 12th graders in grade 11 did I realize that with...

It feels fitting that my first post is dedicated towards those about to enter university. Here are some things I wish I did more of in high school before going to SFU!   Number One , save your high school notes! Alot of the courses you'll take in your first semester will have lots of review from high school and your homework problems and notes from grade 12 will be a very very helpful resource. Lectures tend to rush through sections faster than a typical high school class in the related area and will also give you no time to actually think through examples, so having an extra set of practice problems and notes will be beneficial. Number Two ,  enjoy your last year in high school. And if you didn’t, don’t worry because high school is one very miniscule part of your life and I guarantee your time in university will be better if you put the work in. I remember application processes and maintaining a good gpa while balancing extracurriculars and work was for many people, including...

Hi everyone! I’m Esther Li, and I’m a first year student at SFU’s Sustainable Energy Engineering program. Welcome to my mini mentor project blog! Here, I will give you my personal tips and tricks that i found in my first two semesters on how YOU can do your best preparing for and attending university. I originally was going to make a tiktok account and post on there but I did make a new years resolution to delete tiktok so unfortunately that's off the table. However, I still wanted to keep the concept of short, digestible posts that you can easily access and go back to. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these tips and tricks as much as I had fun making them! (PS this pic below was taken at the SFU SEE building's shower room! Super clean washroom and showers if you're dorming as I know people who have had interesting experiences in their communal shower dorms in Burnaby...)