Get sporty!

Hello out there!

Today I want to talk about one of my favourite things: sports.

Whether it is playing sports, or watching the Marauders go for gold, I am there in a heartbeat.

If you like getting decked out in your school colours and painting your face, come hang out with my spirited friends at the Mac football games! 
This is when we beat Waterloo 66 - 3! #fansofthegame

Throughout high school I played on school teams and city leagues. I don't have the skill to play varsity (the inter-university competitive leagues), but McMaster has me covered with a variety of intramural sports leagues offered throughout the school year. Whether you’re into the classics like soccer or basketball, or are interested in trying your hand at something new, like inner-tube water polo, there are intramural teams for you!

Last fall, my women's outdoor soccer team won the championship! #1
I played keeper.

In addition to the McMaster intramurals, the McMaster Engineering Society has sports teams like rugby and hockey, as well as department competitions like the Ratboy Memorial Soccer Tournament. Ratboy is a day-long outdoor soccer tournament that happens in the spring, just before exams. All the engineering departments face-off on the pitch for ultimate glory and a shiny trophy! New this year are department competitions that happen once a month. In September, the Chemical Engineering department beat the Civil Engineering department at an intense game of soccer-baseball! (As a chemical engineering student, I'm pretty proud :) )

Many first year students ask “can you find the time to play sports with the heavy engineering workload?” and my answer to that is “YES! Absolutely!”. In fact, I think a big part of being strong academically is finding time to do things you love and keeping balance. So join a team, kick a ball around, swim, and give you brain strength to rock those 

midterms!

In indoor, my team made it to the finals and ended up in second after a close match.
 (That's me in the bottom right)

Hope to see you all on the courts or on the pitch!


Later days,
Daniela

ExCELebrate Good Times!

Hello friend!

It's been a very exciting week for McMaster Engineering. On Monday the faculty invited students, faculty, staff and special guests to the campus to learn more about the ExCEL building, our envisioned Engineering Centre for Experiential Learning.

Some of the wonderful ExCEL volunteers (and me at the right!)

It was very exciting. The theme of the event was "Reaching for the Top" featuring a keynote speech from Andrew Brash; a mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest. We aspired to align our vision of the ExCEL building with the notion of overcoming adversity and reaching the top of the mountain. Dean Ishwar Puri also stars in a rock climbing video that introduced the day's events and got more than a few laughs out of the audience!

Since the event was aimed to showcase the engineering student body, they invited the McMaster Engineering Musical to perform.

Mac Eng Musical's presentation

Needless to say we were touched. Thanks to our amazing team of musical members and alumni we were able to put togethera 10 minute presentation about how the ExCEL building will help students grow and develop into well-rounded engineers.  Check out our special presentation here! Dean Ishwar Puri got a real kick out of it :)

Dean Puri also made an amazing announcement. Thanks to generous donations from Gerald Hatch and Kurt Strobele of Hatch Ltd (the Canadian-based engineering giant), we have finally reached our goal of $8.5 million! This means the building can finally start becoming a reality. I may not be around to see it completed, but you know I'll come back and visit.

More talented engineers from Musical!

Not only are things getting started for the ExCEL building, but they are for the Musical as well! Next week we have our auditions to pick our cast and band. I can't divulge what show we're doing just yet as it is highly classified information, but when I can you'll be the first to know!

Alright guys, I gotta run to class. Somehow I "gotta" fit school into all the craziness around here.

Cheers!
~Genna

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

First Month Face Off: Tips to Survive the First Month of University

Ciao everyone!

Summer is quickly coming to a close and the start of the school year is around the corner. To help you navigate the strange (and sometimes choppy) waters of university life I made a list of tips to help you survive your first month at university. My friend Christen got a hold of my list and thought she had "better" tips to offer. So here are our top tips. Let us know whose tips are the best!
[Disclaimer: All advice to be taken at your own risk! ]

Christen & Danielle as they battle for the list of top tips.

Danielle’s Top Tips:

• Keep in contact with your high school friends.You will be meeting tons of new people during university (especially during Welcome Week), but don’t forget about the friends that stuck with you through high school.
• Get to bed early every night. “Beauty sleep” is more than an expression; it’s science.
• Stay hydrated. Just because summer is over doesn't mean that the warm weather has left! Septembers in Hamilton are known to be hot, so keep refilling that water bottle.
• Use your resources. Ask your professors for help and visit during office hours; sign up for the Ask an Undergraduate Engineer Program; use the Math Help Centre - dedicated to first year math courses; visit the Student Success Centre and the Student Wellness Centre to find out about the services they offer.
• Get involved. McMaster Students Union has hundreds of clubs and Mac Eng has over 15 clubs and teams for you to get involved with! Try some out and find one that fits you.
• Volunteer. Join the Mac Eng Outreach volunteer team! Send us an email at goeng1@mcmaster.ca and become one of our fantastic volunteers.

I've saved the best tip for last.

• Have fun! University has been the best experience of my life so far. Make sure you enjoy the ride.

Christen here. While those were some good tips, I have some sage-like advice for you. Listen, you will.

Danielle & Christen - they are actually friends

Christen’s Awesome Tips:

• Meet new people! The best part about university is it is full of thousands of new people. In that mix there is bound to be some that share your love of Shakespearean English.
• Caffeine is your friend. Those late night conversations about the meaning of life and what happened in the last episode of Game of Thrones are where the best friendships are built. 
• You can be whoever you want to be! None of these people know who you are, how ‘popular’ (or unpopular) you were in high school, or where you got that unsightly scar. This is your clean slate! Take it, don’t wait! Be the best you that you can be, because “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You”.
• Get off social media. (Except our blog because we are awesome people). “I’ll just check Facebook for a minute” always turns into several hours of surfing the information superhighway. There are so many other things you could be doing!
• Attend as many events as possible. Life isn’t too crazy during that first month so it’s a great opportunity to get out and see all the options available to you. Challenge yourself and try at least one thing that is outside your comfort zone.
• Find balance. With that said, once you have found some activities you want  to be involved in, make sure you take some time to sit down and prioritize!
• Learn! That’s what you came to school for! But don’t forget, not all learning happens in the classroom. Some of the most memorable lessons happen when you are open to learning outside of class time. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed our tips. (Christen, I still think my tips are better than yours!)

Until next time, 

Danielle

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.

The (My) Dog (Joe) Days of Summer: Discovering My Hamilton

“But isn’t Hamilton like, gross and sketchy?”

I shake my head for what feels like the thousandth time and politely explain that what they are describing is not my Hamilton. I have called Hamilton my home for the past 4 years, and had frequented to the Hamilton Farmers Market and the Hamilton Waterfront Trail since I was a toddler. I will admit I came with some preconceived notions about the city based on my limited experience, but they soon were long since forgotten when I started school here. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves...

In my first year at McMaster, I lived in Whidden Hall residence, which backs onto Cootes Paradise. My roommate and I would take study breaks to go for a hike in our own backyard (literally).

The longer I stayed in Hamilton, the more adventurous I became in my exploring! This is me overlooking one of the 126 waterfalls in Hamilton. I believe I have only visited an embarrassing 8 of them.

To stay active while I’m in school, in addition to taking advantage of our olympic-sized pool, I also enjoy cycling on the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail. I was up particularly early one morning and caught the heavy dew evaporating from down in Dundas Valley. The Rail Trail boasts 32km of opportunities like these.

As I write this, I am sitting, enjoying a cup of Fair Trade iced tea in the lovely My Dog Joe coffee shop in Westdale with my fellow blogger Danielle and our friend Larissa (an electrical and biomedical engineering student at McMaster). The Westdale community is the friendly neighbour to the university filled awesome shops including everything from comic book stores to bakeries. It reminds me a lot of one of my other favourite places in Hamilton with a similar atmosphere; Locke Street!

I came to Hamilton with some biases of my own that may have initially held me back from exploring my city. I hope that having read this, and seen some of what my beautiful city has to offer, you will come with an open mind in the fall and discover your Hamilton.

That’s all for now folks!

~Christen

Engineers Without Borders Break Down Barriers at Summer Retreat

Hello out there recent high school graduates! Congratulations and welcome to the world after high school!

One of the cool things about university is all the opportunities that come your way. If you thought you had access to many cool clubs, teams and organizations in high school, wait until you get to Mac!

Daniela (bottom left) and her fellow EWBers at the end of their retreat.

Since I started at Mac, I have been involved in the organization Engineers Without Borders (EWB). It’s a national organization with chapters in universities, companies and cities across the country. Some of the work we do in Canada is focused on engaging high school students to think about the impact they have on the world, promoting fair trade, influencing engineering curriculum, and lobbying the government concerning development issues.

With so many ventures and members across the country, summer provides us EWBers with an opportunity to get together and talk about the work different chapters are doing and plan for the coming school year. During the Canada Day long weekend, the Ontario and Atlantic chapters got together in Paris, Ontario and had three days of intense discussion and planning. It’s great to unplug and get thinking with loads of flip chart paper, markers and post-its!

In this session, groups were having a discussion around different 
types of aid: market-based, needs-based and rights-based. 

One of my favourite sessions was the Agricultural Extension FarmVillage activity, where participants learn about some of the challenges that farmers face in rural Ghana, Africa. When I was a Junior Fellow (short-term volunteer) in Ghana with EWB, I was part of the Agricultural Extension team, so this session gave me a chance to share a bit of my experience. (Check out the blog, Let's Go Black Stars!, I wrote while I was in Ghana in 2011.)

Something that is really awesome about EWB is that the co-founder & CEO, George Roter, comes out to these retreats and participates with us! We even have a tradition called "Q&A", where we all gather together and can ask him whatever questions we have about the organization. As students, we play a fundamental role in what EWB does. It’s pretty cool!

If you want to learn more about EWB, shoot me a comment or look me up when you get here in September! We’ll be at Clubs Fest and Eng Fest, events where all campus and engineering clubs have sign-up booths.

Later days,
Daniela