So last week I attended my convocation at Western University and it weirdly made me feel all types of ways. Reflecting back on my four years of university, I can confidently say that I’m definitely a different person from who I was when I entered Saugeen-Maitland Hall. If you told first year me that I was going to graduate in four years with a BMOS degree with an honours specialization in Consumer Behaviour and be done with school and working a real adult job, I would tell you, you’re insane. But hey, that’s life right? Always unexpected but always finding a way to work itself out.
First year started off with me sharing a dorm room with one of my best friends from high school Kim, in an extremely traditional style residence, Saugeen-Maitland Hall. We were lucky because we were friends before sharing a room together, and we continue to be friends today. I also feel that we were really lucky with the floor that we got put on because all of our floormates were incredible and it was a truly wonderful experience living like that. Aside from the cafeteria food that eventually got really tiring, I’d say that my living situation in first year is definitely something I look back upon fondly.
After first year, being able to live with friends as roommates was something that I am so appreciative for. I loved being able to have the freedom to plan my days the way I wanted to, cook the food I wanted to eat and overall just live the way I wanted to live without constraints (sorry parents!). Living with roommates has definitely taught me a lot about how to be a good roommate, how to take care of your house and how to deal with bugs (cockroaches and others). Being able to live on my own has made me more responsible and confident that I can actually ‘adult’ a little bit. I’m definitely going to miss living with my friends and having a lively (slightly dirty) house to live in that’s a 5 minute walk away from McDonald’s and Starbucks.
I also ended up joining a club on campus called the Chinese Students’ Association. This club turned into much more than just a club, it became a different family at Western for me. It got me through being homesick and gave me a chance to meet older students to gain advice about surviving at Western. I loved how it gave me something to look forward to on Monday nights and a place where I felt so comfortable around everyone. I’ve always loved participating in extra curriculars but being able to connect with so many people on a variety of levels definitely laid a strong foundation for the rest of my university career.
Coming into first year, I intended to complete a Bachelor of Science with a specialization in Nutrition and Dietetics and to continue on to become a Registered Dietician. Throughout my high school experience, I was really conflicted on what I wanted to study in university, but I thought I finally made the right decision when I chose nutrition. Funny enough, the indecisiveness didn’t stop in high school. Being a nutrition student at Western is definitely hard considering the program is delivered through Brescia, an affiliate college of Western, but on paper you’re registered as a ‘Western’ student. A little bit confusing, don’t ya think? On top of that, at Western, you’re required to take Business 1220E, an introductory business course, if you’re enrolled in the nutrition program. Prior to entering university, I was completely terrified of taking this course. I knew nothing about business (besides what I remembered from a grade 10 intro business course that I took where my teacher just rambled on about how the school’s administration is ridiculous and nothing makes sense, I’m looking at you Mr. Shields). Then hearing about how you had to actively participate in this course scared me even more because I wondered how could I participate if I knew nothing about the course material and would probably take a while to digest and learn it all? Adding in the fact that I enrolled in a section where I didn’t really know anyone, you could say I was scared shitless. Luckily, on one of the first days of the class, I found there was a couple that I knew from high school who was in the same section as me so I thought, “Yay, I won’t be completely alone in this course and will have some study buddies!” However, on the day that we chose our seats, I wasn’t able to come early to class and we couldn’t find any groups of 3 seats together for all of us to sit. There was space for 2 in one area, and I figured that they would likely want to sit next to each other so I surrendered the seats and tried to find another single seat. In hindsight, this was probably the best decision I made because while I was looking around aimlessly for a single seat next to some hopefully friendly people, someone yelled out to me “There’s a seat here!” Hearing that, I went and ended up sitting next to a bunch of strangers, who turned out to be some of the greatest friends I made at Western. These people helped me with coursework, invited me into their group when the course required a group project, and pushed me to enter into my first ever case competition.
Another scary thing I did in first year was enter into a business case competition. I’ve never even heard of what these things were before I came to Western and to be asked to join someone’s team in first year was definitely not something I expected to do. I was so anxious because I felt that I wasn’t competent to be on a team to compete in a business competition but also wanted to try something different. After being asked, I needed a bit of time to consider so I ended up calling a friend and asking for his advice and he told me, “What do you have to lose?” I figured it was a fair statement so I said yes. This case competition team was built with a variety of people with different skill sets and backgrounds and it really was one of the highlights of my first year. We worked so hard together on our presentation and supported each other through our fears and eventually ended up winning first place. That moment was so surreal to me and really lifted my confidence about what I could actually do if I just take a risk and pushed myself. It was also the moment when I started to question what I wanted to do with my life and if I chose the right program to study.
I reflected a lot about my first year at Western because I think it created a really strong foundation for how the rest of my time at Western unfolded. The choices I made in first year led me to cultivate the relationships that I have now, the career path that I decided to pursue and the values and passions for things that I currently possess. The girl who naively thought that life was like a Taylor Swift song and who wanted to become a registered dietitian has evolved into a girl who’s a little more open-minded and is now an aspiring professional marketer, all thanks to everything that transpired while at Western University. It’s so bittersweet to be leaving Western and the life that I had there, but I know that the relationships I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned will follow me for the rest of my life. Although my undergraduate life was an amazing time, it’s impossible to be stuck in the same place forever, so I’m excited to move forward and transition into this post-graduate lifestyle! I’ll always have a home at Western and hey, that’s what Homecoming’s for, right?
