Sunday, February 26, 2012

#Rezlife (Daniela)

Hey everybody!


So us lucky university students had our only break of the semester this past week. Yes, it was the much anticipated reading week, where some people like myself try (and fail) to get ahead on school work. It’s a good chance to catch up with friends and family and maybe do some coveted winter sports. But alas, that week comes and goes in a blink of an eye and I am already back to my home-away-from home: Moulton Hall.

Move-In to Moulton Hall Welcome Week 2011
(Sneak peek to your move-in :P )

Despite being in second year, I am in residence again, and having spent two years on campus, I have some good insights into residence life. At Mac, there are many different residence options and themes. There’s your standard dorm style, with a range of 1 to 4 occupants, suite or apartment style. Then you have to throw in themes like all-female, international, substance-free, etc. I’ve lived in a double and single room, each offering their pros and cons. Double is great because you have someone to watch movies and hang with all the time, and single is sometimes nice because you get that “me” time.

A very essential tool for any student living on campus is the meal card. You ID card, which doubles as the magical swipe card for purchasing food, is your key to sustenance. I was blown away by all the options on campus when I first arrived. Eventually, I stumbled upon the buffalo chicken wrap which I ate way too many times. Not going to lie, the food does get a little tiring, and if you let it, the Freshmen 15 will happen. It’s not a myth.

Rez is great for two main reasons:

1) Convenience. You’re a stumble out of bed away from class.

2) Opportunity. Residence gives you a whole other community outside your faculty to be a part of, with leadership positions even in first year with the Inter-Residence Council. Then later on, there’s a chance for Community Advisor or Residence Welcome Week Rep.

For more info and PICTURES(!) check out the housing services site here: http://housing.mcmaster.ca/index.php

Later days,

Daniela

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Work work work....then fun! (Genna)


Hello World!

So the semester is well underway, and in the grand tradition of engineering I am now buried in midterms and assignments. I’m talking about constant back to back midterms peppered with assignments, tutorials, and lab reports. Doesn't that sound like fun? Well, to me it actually is! As much as the workload may be daunting I do love what I’m learning. Although I’m not too excited for my 3 midterms in a row next week…Ugh!

Oh well! One by one I’ll get it all done. What’s keeping me going this week is the thought of Karaoke Night with the cast/crew/band of the engineering musical! We like to act a little silly from time to time, and what could be sillier than singing the Spice Girls at the top of your lungs in front of a group of strangers?! We like to do bonding activities here at Mac Eng - it’s like one big happy family!


Above: Here's a group shot of the absolutely fantastic cast of the 2012 Mac Eng Musical. Can't wait for the whole show to come together!

Above: Musical is serious business! Here we are rehearsing a scene in the show. We are so intimidating!

I can’t wait for reading week. The best part about it: sleeping in every day in the week because there are no classes! I think I may go skiing with some friends from high school…or just spend the time at home with my dog :P

On an exciting note, I got rehired with one of my professors, so this summer I get to spend time doing research in the laboratories on campus. It’s really fun, and I actually have a chance to apply the material I've learned in class to a real life situation!

Anyways, I gotta go back and hit the books. I’ll tell you all about my summer job another day. Hope everyone’s having a fantabulous February!

Cheers

-Genna

Friday, February 3, 2012

If you're not Part of the Solution, you're Part of the Precipitate (Daniela)

Hello friends!

I hope February is off to a great start for you (it’s 29 days this year, you know). I’d like to take some time to talk to you about Chemistry labs! Every first year engineering student has to take CHEM 1E03, and if you’re like Genna and myself and decide on Chemical Engineering, you get to take CHEM 1AA3 in second year!

If I think back to my high school chemistry labs, it’s striking how different they are compared to university chem labs. First of all, high school labs are what, 40 minutes? At Mac, the labs are 2 and half to 3 hours long. The funny thing is, it’s sometimes a rush to finish.

To participate in labs, you’re required to take an online safety course so you know how to handle and dispose of certain chemicals and various safety precautions. Guess what? You can actually use strong acids! They’re available! Woo!

The most pleasantly surprising thing for me when I entered my first chem lab was that there is legit equipment, and most of it is set up for you when you get there! For example, the lab I did this week required titrations, an electric pH meter, a fume hood and various acids and bases. We had to find the isoelectric point of casein by first precipitating it with an acid, and then putting it back into a solution using a base. It was really cool, although my lab partner and I both had issues precipitating the casein.

Sometimes, labs are individual and sometimes they are done in pairs. It depends on what equipment is needed and the difficulty of the experiment.

I enjoy chem labs a lot, and I’m glad I get to do them again in second year. You get to throw on a lab coat, some heavy duty goggles, and accurately measure, graph and calculate. Labs are a great way to learn about the material you hear about in lecture, and they are pretty fun if I do say so myself!

Later days,

Daniela

Where did January go?! (Paula)

So even though we have no snow to show for it, it IS in fact already February...which means 2 things:

1) Dun dun dun....Midterm season is upon us! I've written 2 of 10 so far, and to be honest I didn't enjoy them too much. Hopefully the rest of them are kinder! Luckily I have the next full week to study for my Heat Transfer test on Thursday, so no excuses for not being maximally prepared!!!

2) It's almost reading week! Reading week is like March Break for University students - inevitably some reading and studying does actually need to get done, but it's a great opportunity to get away for a few days. Maybe go to a cottage, or hit the slopes or the beach, or maybe just take the time to chill at home for the week and enjoy the lack of classes and labs.

I'm heading to Tremblant for the week with a group of friends to do some skiing and snowboarding, and some cross-country skiing as well. It will definitely be a nice change of pace! Well, as long as we get some snow before then.

Anyways, back to the grind. Have to get started studying for Heat Transfer!

Have an awesome weekend,
Paula