Are you in Grade 12? You should do this before you start university!

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 me, in our last year was very stressful. Don’t forget to take breaks and hang out with your friends before they possibly go out of the city or province for school!

Number 3, try to invest in a good note taking device if your budget allows. Whether it be a tablet, ipad, or two in one laptop, I find that having one place to store and organize all my notes and ideas made reviewing and doing homework much easier and resulted in less clutter in my backpack from 5 different notebooks. 

Here I uploaded part of my actual Linear Algebra notes on OneNote (note taking application) which I have written using a 2 in 1 laptop and a subsequent pen

Number 4, also if your budget and time allows during school break, I would highly recommend playing around with applicable skills that will greatly help you in engineering school. Coding is a great example of this, and although the two coding classes you will take in university in C++ are not prerequisites to any other courses later on, employers find it a crucial hard skill and being able to proficiently code is a huge asset for some companies hiring for co-op or job positions. In addition, you can do really cool projects with python and C++ as a hobby. Learning arduino and circuits is also a great option, and you can even start off by taking an electronics or robotics class in high school and joining a subsequent team. In general actually, any trades program that you do will be widely applicable later on so take advantage of those classes in high school. 

Helpful Tip👍If you would like to get a head start on programming in C++, here is my CMPT 130 class website where you can try doing some of our assignments beforehand. Keep in mind these assignments, course curriculum, and Labs may change! In no way am I endorsing any form of academic dishonesty with sharing this. 

Course-Info | CMPT130 - Fall 2022 (sfu.ca)