Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Memories of my First Year!


Coming to University could look very scary.

Mary enjoying a cup of tea!
You have no idea what to expect, you have heard all these different stories and have talked to every student or alumni you could reach but yet, facing it yourself is a whole different story.

For some it could be a little more challenging; living away from family for the first time, having English as a second language or being a newcomer in Canada are some of the challenges many students face in their freshman year.

I had all of the above! I came to Canada in 2008 and had only 2 years of high school to learn English. I was pretty terrified of the idea of coming to a new city on my own and entering an unfamiliar community. Even though I was only a 2 hour bus ride away from my family, somehow it felt like they were at the other end of the world.

But don’t let that scare you! Here comes my most important point:  Being a newcomer is not as hard as it looks. The rest of the incoming first year students know as much as you do about the university!  Also, the community is so tight and welcoming that it doesn’t take long before you will fit right in! From the very first day of the frosh week I felt right at home [Did I mention how awesome Welcome Week is? Find out more here: http://studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca/orientation/welcome-week.html]

Mac engineering students have an especially exciting student life.  There are plenty of fun events and lots of clubs to join to help you bond with people who share same interests as you.

Basically, Mac community members know the difficulty of adjusting to a new life style, and they all support making your experience the best it can be, both socially and academically.

After two years as a ‘Mac Eng’ student, I am still as in love with campus as I was the first year. I’m confident that I made the right choice as I pursue my chemical engineering degree. ~ Mehrdokht ('Mary')

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Summer's Almost Here!


Hello world!

So much has been going on this summer, I don’t even know where to begin! For the past month and a half I have been working with Dr. Heather Sheardown, one of my chemical engineering professors, in her lab on campus. I have the opportunity to work with graduate students learning from them and working alongside them on their experiments. It has been an incredibly educational experience. Our lab deals primarily with biomaterials and drug delivery to the eye. I have been making various contact lens materials infused with drug, and tested their ability to release drug directly to the eye to treat disease. We do this to increase the effectiveness of the drug in treating disease. It’s really cool!

Genna, Josh & Javaun volunteering at May@Mac Open House
Here I am volunteering to greet
future students at May@Mac Open House!
I hope you all are excited for summer to arrive! To all you grade 12 students, I hope you didn’t have too hard of a time deciding what school you will attend. If any of you attended our May@Mac Open House last month I hope you enjoyed exploring around campus! Hopefully we were able to convince you to all to come at Mac.  And to all you who did choose McMaster, I can’t wait to meet you in September! I’m an orientation leader for the faculty of engineering this year, so you’ll find me hooting and hollering in my red jumpsuit all Welcome Week long!

If you have any questions, or want to know what to do next in preparing for Mac, visit http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/future/accepted.html for the answers!
Have an amazing summer guys! ~Genna