“I
think
you
need
a
good
balance
of
social
life
and
academics
or
work,”
muses
Toni
Carlisle.
“You
need
outlets
for
energy,
ways
to
take
a
break,
meet
people
or
give
back
to
the
community.”
Toni
pursued
a
number
of
activities
during
her
time
at
Waterloo
–
the
Women
in
Engineering
Committee
(WIE),
the
Varsity
Nordic
Ski
Team
and
intramural
soccer.
Toni
learned
of
soccer
through
friends
and
joined
varsity
sports
and
WIE
during
orientation
week.
She
credits
each
activity
with
helping
her
to
“develop
skills
like
leadership,
organization,
planning
and
stress
management.”
Her
broad
influences
and
experiences
also
helped
Toni
meet
new
people
and
have
a
successful
undergrad
experience.
“Academic
marks
were
only
part
of
my
definition
of
success,”
Toni
explains.
“I
had
other
goals
–
which
I
achieved
–
and
I
think
they
really
helped
my
overall
Waterloo
experience.”
Toni
encourages
other
women
to
find
their
own
definitions
of
success.
“As
a
minority
in
engineering,
there’s
a
tendency
for
you
to
want
prove
you
should
be
there
as
much
as
everyone
else.
But
I
believe
it’s
important
to
set
your
own
goals.”
After
graduating
with
Waterloo’s
first
mechatronics
engineering
class,
Toni
moved
to
Texas
to
work
as
an
Instrumentation
and
Controls
Engineer
with
ExxonMobil.
Alumna, Mechatronics Engineering (BASc ‘08)