Superheroes + Pulling a Bus + a Hovercraft = Mac Eng Welcome Week 2013

Salutations my friends!

Could you hear us where you live? Our cheers were roaring this past week because it was Welcome Week 2013! Welcome Week is an awesome opportunity to meet people in your residence (or off campus) and meet spirited upper years at McMaster. 

During the week, there are so many different events you can choose to attend. Everything ranging from academic sessions to a charity casino night! 

I had the privilege of being a Welcome Week representative for McMaster Engineering one last time before I graduate (this was my third year as an Engineering Welcome Week rep, otherwise known as a “Redsuit”). Our goal as Redsuits is to welcome students to the McMaster Engineering family, to help ease the transition from high school to university and to pass on our infectious Mac Eng spirit to the first year students. There are many events throughout the week that the Redsuits are at, but I want to give you the high-lights of some of my favourite moments this week - in pictures!

Alex (the rep in the red suit) is directing traffic during move-in to residences. We then help you move your belongings to your room and cheer to welcome you to McMaster!

McMaster engineers are known for their unbridled enthusiasm, many traditions, and their antics. Paul decided he wanted to join the McMaster marching band during opening ceremonies.

The eager first year students are introduced to our lovely "mascots" Super Plumber and Wonder Plumber on faculty day. After this, they broke off into teams and competed in some crazy Olympics!

On Thursday evening of Welcome Week, after the first day of classes, the Redsuits host Gulliver's Engineering Kickback (faculty night). We take school buses over to Gulliver's Lake Park for an evening of barbecuing, swimming, and inflatables! Here one of our Redsuits takes to the boxing ring to battle a first year student!

In downtown Hamilton there is an iron ring, a commemorative plaque and a time capsule donated by the Hamilton Section of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers near Hamilton City Hall. We head on downtown during Welcome Week to raise money for Shinerama.

Each year, the university raises money during Welcome Week for Shinerama. Shinerama is an organization that raises money for cystic fibrosis research. To raise money, the engineers pull an accordion city bus through the streets downtown in an event called Bus Pull. These are just some of our enthusiastic volunteers!

The bus flashes between "Mac Engineering, Pulling Together" and "To Fight Cystic Fibrosis"

Evidently, Bus Pull is one of my favourite events of the week.

The first year students pull the bus down Main Street while the redsuits tell people passing by why we are raising money and asking if they would like to donate.

After, we trade roles, and the Redsuits pull the bus back down King Street, while the first year students collect money.

On the final day of Welcome Week, there are the annual IRC Bedracers. They are exactly what they sound like, we race beds around a track. Super Plumber and Wonder Plumber proudly lead the charge on our hovercraft bedracer!

After a long tiring week as a Welcome Week rep, you really appreciate your fellow reps. Here we are, on the last day, exhausted, but still unbelievably excited for the coming year with the first year friends we've made! It was an amazing group to rep with for my final year!

Now it's time to gear up for classes....That's all for now folks!  ~ Christen

Welcome Week 2013: T-minus 1 month!

Vanessa & her housemate sporting Brandon Hall shirts during Welcome Week 2012. 

I remember the excitement I felt around this time last year when I was getting ready for my first Welcome Day and Welcome Week. I was doing my research on McMaster University, asking upper year students a million questions and generally amping myself up for what was soon to be the most epic week ever!

During Welcome Week there are thousands of wildly-spirited representatives in colourful funky suits (coveralls, actually) helping first years 'find their place' at McMaster University. There are reps for the entire school (MSU Maroon Reps), each residence (Residence Orientation Representatives or ‘ROR’s) and of course each faculty/program! Each residence and faculty/program has their own coverall colour.

The sea of red; first year engineering students
gather in the Student Centre.

This year, I am equally (if not more) excited for an entirely different reason; I get a chance to be one of the leaders for the first year students! I will be representing the Faculty of Engineering this year during Welcome Week.  Engineering reps are referred to as ‘Redsuits’ (our coveralls are red!). We are credited with the right amount of goofiness, mixed with the willingness to help students get to know campus and each other. I'm looking forward to connecting with as many new students as possible during Welcome Week.

Here's a fun tip: be sure to go out to all of the events you can during Welcome Week. And I mean all of them!  I met all my housemates (now some of my closest friends), came out of my shell and had one of the best experiences of my life during my Welcome Week.

Engineering is a program that requires a lot of hard work and focus.  Midterms and assignments start to pile up fast, so make the absolute most out of your Welcome Week.  

Welcome to McMaster's Class of 2017! Can’t wait to see you there!    ~ Vanessa

One of the best parts of Welcome Week; the aerial shot of your graduating year! 
This is the photo we took last year during my Welcome Week.

Farewell to First Year: How I Survived Engineering 1

It's hard to believe that only eight months ago I was being greeted by Welcome Week reps for the first time. I had never entered the engineering 'BLUE' lounge before and had never lived in residence; I hadn't spent more than a few hours on campus at all! But here I am, a first year, getting ready to complete my finals, move into a house and prepare to enter level two in the engineering discipline of my choice. It can be a stressful and scary time, but looking back on my experiences so far makes me feel fantastic about how I spent my first year here at McMaster University.

Vanessa - in pink - at the Fireball Formal

Ever since Welcome Week, the upper year engineers have been nothing but kind and welcoming! They helped me to find my place and feel at home very quickly. First semester for me was all about hitting the books and figuring out how to adapt to the academic side of things. But once I started going out to more events that the faculty was hosting, I began to really feel like a part of the community...a part of the 'Mac Eng' family.

Daniella & Vanessa volunteering

Some of my favourite memories from Engineering 1 would be getting to wear my prom dress again at the Fireball formal, giving back to the neighbourhood by helping to clean up Westdale, laughing my butt off at all of the jokes in the Engineering Musical and wearing a pink baby onesie for 5 days straight in my successful attempt to earn a Redsuit.

I originally decided to attend Mac because everytime that I visited, I felt this really strong sense of belonging between all of the people that I met. As a grade 12 student, I desperately wanted to know that feeling for myself. And now, I can confidently say that the way to get to that point is to seize the numerous opportunities to get involved and put yourself out there as often as you can. It may be scary at first. I sure felt that way at the beginning of the year - but now I get to look back on my first year and be proud of everything that I have accomplished.

 To all of our high school followers, I hope that you get to enjoy your first year of university like I did. And if you end up at Mac one day, I hope I get to meet you! ~ Vanessa

The Redsuits help clean up the local community - Westdale

A tradition continues during exams: fun yet...salty?!

Well, it’s that time of year again…final EXAMS.

Although you may shudder at the thought of writing 4 to 6 three-hour exams in the span of two weeks, exam season is a very exciting time around campus. For example, McMaster's upper year engineering students will get together and hand out saltine crackers to the first years as they enter their exam sessions in order to calm their nerves and settle their stomachs.

It’s so much fun cheering them on and getting them pumped up to write their exams! And the University provides lots of support for students who need a little extra help. You can always visit the Student Success Centre or Student Wellness Centre for counselling, academic and peer support.

Check out some photos of all the goofy Redsuits in their element, handing out crackers. We all remember how it feels to be an 'Engineering I' student going through our first set of final exams. As you can see, our Redsuits are here to greet new students arriving in September, but they continue to welcome the new members of our Mac Eng community throughout the year. This is just one of the many established traditions we value and continue to bring to life! Check out our McMaster Engineering Society website page dedicated to our traditions.

 

Happy Thoughts...

With the end of exams comes the beginning of summer! The sun is shining and the weather is (finally) clearing up. I can tell you that makes it very difficult to study indoors.

However, I’ve got to power through and study for these last few exams in order to enjoy my summer. Then it’s nothing but fun and frolicking all summer long! Maybe I’ll have time to get some work done in there…

Hope everyone has an amazing summer.
Cheers! ~Genna

Ho-Ho- Holidays!!!!

 Season greetings from all of us in Eng I Outreach office!

Congratulations to engineering students who finished off exams yesterday! Especially the first years who just finished their first semester as a Mac Eng student!

Take a look at the gingerbread house that some of the upper years made to help the first years celebrate! It’s a little in shambles after the students ate it… but it was definitely a tasty celebration of the end of exams J

I think I am speaking for everyone when I say winter breaks are just so much more relaxing when you are in university. Why, you may ask?  Well, the winter break is at the end of the first semester, thus we are done with those courses for good and can stretch our legs and take a nice relaxing break before the new semester comes and pull us back in the library!

If you followed our survival guide like you should have, I assume you had a swell time writing your finals and most likely are sipping eggnog while reading this. I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In case you do not celebrate Christmas, I wish you the happiest holidays and a pleasant winter break. Go pour yourself some more eggnog or make a ginger bread house or climb the Kilimanjaro, sky is the limit!

Give yourself a pat on the shoulder; you made it through another year! Take moment to remember your happiest memories and maybe some moments which were not exactly happy, but maybe made a positive change in you, made you a stronger person and taught you a valuable lesson.

Life is all those memorable moments, so take a break and prepare yourself for a whole new year! May this year to be the best one yet!

Holiday Fun at McMaster!

Hello World!

What a whirlwind the past few months have been! We're currently in the last few weeks of first semester before exams and the profs have really been keeping us busy. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel...Winter Holidays! There is nothing more exciting than knowing you get 3 weeks off to relax and not worry about school. With the season fast approaching, Mac Eng has really taken on the holiday spirit.

This past weekend was the Hamilton Santa Claus Parade and as tradition dictates the engineers were present to ring in the holiday season. Our various car teams were present and the "Redsuits" (engineering spirit leaders) were out handing candy canes to children and singing Christmas carols to our heart's content! This was my 4th year marching in the Parade and it did not disappoint. Below are a few shots of our amazing marchers in the parade.

Our lovely Mac Eng paraders!

Action shot of the two Carpools during the parade

Some amazing Redsuits leading the Eng team

Oh no! Someone was left behind!

Along with the Santa Claus Parade, Mac Eng holds an annual fundraiser event called Santa Hog. At Santa Hog we raise money for Interval House, a women's shelter, by caroling from class to class asking for donations. Now, these are not your average Christmas carols. Like everything we do here at Mac Eng, we take our own spin on traditional carols and make them about Mac Eng. If you're wandering around campus on November 30th you're sure to see us spreading Christmas joy!

Well, that's all for me! Gotta go back and hit the books.

Cheers!

~Genna

Back to school--Bring on the fun!

Wow, I can't believe September is over! It feels like only yesterday I was donning my redsuit and welcoming first year students into McMaster Engineering. Welcome week is always one of my favourite times of year. Everyone is so excited to be back at school, and the campus is so energetic and enthusiastic! I made so many friends in first year, and I know they're going to have an amazing time during the year. From "Carpool" parties to bus pulling, it was truly a week to remember! On faculty day we formed groups of 20-30 first years and 5 reps for some fun-tastic engineering games. Check out my wicked awesome group below. What a bunch of stunners!

Here we have some of the amazing first year students pulling a Hamilton public bus across the downtown core of Hamilton for Shinerama! It's been a tradition in Mac Eng for years as a fundraising event  to help fight cystic fibrosis.

And finally, just a shot of the most fantastic group of people you will ever meet!

Just because Welcome Week is over, that doesn't mean the campus has been dead. Far from it! Coming up we have the annual Engineering and Science Olympics, an event that is run for high school students to get them interested in science and introduce them to the McMaster campus. On October 11th we will have around 1000 high school students from schools across Ontario exploring campus and participating in various activities throughout the day. If you're school is coming down for the event, I can't wait to meet you! Don't be afraid to say high to some of the awesome volunteers we have helping out with the event. They want to welcome you guys too!

Anyways, I have to get back to my mountain of homework awaiting me.

Cheers!

~Genna