Is Engineering School even for me?

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 hard work and lots of help, I could achieve the applied mathematical side of engineering and that's when I decided to apply to SEE. Even now, I’m still definitely not as smart as some of my friends and classmates and I’ve accepted that I’ll have to put in more work to get to that point, but I've come to terms with that.

So why did I say all of that? I wanted to show that even if the possibility of engineering school sounds intimidating to you, that doesn’t mean that you’re not fit to take it. You will learn all the skills you need from the SEE level classes even if you have no experience, and it’s totally up to you on whether or not you want to be an honor roll student or even just getting by, because at the end, we will all graduate with the same degree. It’s totally ok to take things slow too! Engineering school is traditionally notorious for the harsh scheduling with people are normalized to take up to six or even seven courses a semester in other schools, which in my opinion is not healthy and enjoyable. It’s totally ok to take less courses and graduate later, but if you prefer the total opposite, that’s ok too. The best part about university is that everyone has the freedom to go at their own pace! So I’d say go for it if you really want to go into engineering school, be realistic with your expectations, be prepared to study hard, and to always put your mental health first!