Please Note: Emma's post is from Sunday, September 4th, 2011 prior to moving in.
Hey Everyone! My name is Emma and I'll be blogging about my experience living as a first-year student at Renison College at the University of Waterloo. At Waterloo, I will be studying the Management Engineering program. I grew up in Mississauga (just outside of Toronto) and have gone to St. Mildred's Lightbourn School since Gr. 7. I was involved with a lot of different clubs and teams at my school and I am hopeful to find similar activities at Waterloo!
I thought to start things off I would tell you a bit about my whole experience; starting with my offer of acceptance to Waterloo, why I chose to live in Renison, accepting my offer, and how I've been preparing for moving into Renison on Monday, September 5th.
I received my acceptance to Waterloo in March of 2011, right at the start of my March Break. It was my first acceptance, so I really didn't know what to think. It was kind of surreal! At that point in the whole application/acceptance process, I really thought that I would be attending U of T. It wasn't until I received a phone call from a Waterloo student in my program and learned more about what my program was really like, that I began considering Waterloo more and more. I attended a Girls in Engineering Event during March Break (the day after my online offer of acceptance) and really liked the people I met.
At the Waterloo Day for accepted students on May 30 (about 5 days before I had to decide where I would be going to attend university) I visited Renison for the first time and fell in love with the place almost immediately. It just 'felt right'! There isn't really any other way to explain it. I had attended every open house at every university, I had toured all the residences at a lot of universities & nothing felt right for me. My friends kept saying they 'just knew' when they went to the right residence, but I hadn't experienced that yet. I toured the rooms in Renison and immediately felt at home! Renison played a HUGE role in why I accepted Waterloo. I had seen the University residences at the March Break Open House and thought that they were okay, but as soon as I stepped into Renison it felt right; it was clean, the people were super friendly and welcoming, I liked the dining area & the menu options, and I could actually see myself with some of my things in the rooms! When I was driving back to Oakville that night (about 1hr away from Waterloo) I decided that I wanted to go to Waterloo. I accepted my offer to the Management Engineering co-op program later that week. I was on my way.
All summer I started to pick up things here and there (like school supplies) that I thought I might need. I loved being able to choose a new colour scheme for my room. My room at home is decorated mainly in pink. This was the first time that I could choose new colours that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to have. I choose to buy most of my bedding, bins, and other little decorative accents in a turquoise/Tiffany Blue colour or a deep plum. I was also really excited to buy a new laptop and printer. I chose to go with a Macbook Pro and an hp printer. (Find out from someone in your program what the best options are for you)
Throughout the summer I've felt really excited about what it will be like to live in Renison, to live away from my family and friends (although as chance would have it two of my really good friends are also moving up to Waterloo), meeting my roommate and floor mates, and to be more independent. But all of a sudden, this last week I've all of a sudden started to feel nervous about all the things I was excited for earlier in the summer. I realized though that it is completely normal to feel this way... all of my friends are feeling the exact same way too!
Can't wait to move in on Monday!!
- Emma
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