Karolina is a Applied Mathematics, Biology Option, co-op student in her 3B term. Here is what she had to say about her first year at Waterloo.
Why did you choose the University of Waterloo?
I was very good at Math in high school and knew that I wanted to explore the subject more. Waterloo was one of the best options in Canada for me to do that. On top of that, the possibility to do co-op was one of the major influencing factors that lead me to accept my offer of admission here.
When you received your offer of admissions, how did you celebrate your success?
At first, I had to read the email multiple times because I couldn't believe that I had gotten in. In high school, going to university seemed like a major step to starting my future and becoming a ‘real’ adult. I had seen quite a few students at my school receive offers from universities they applied to, but it still seemed very unrealistic to me. Once I realized that the email was not a fake, I immediately told my math teacher. I think he was even more excited than I was.
Before you arrived, what worried you about coming?
I'm originally from Germany, but I came to Canada for high school so I was already used to living in a Canadian environment. However, I went to high school in New Brunswick and I had only been to Ontario for short weekend trips, so I was curious as to how different it would be. Also, since I lived so far away from Waterloo and my parents don’t live in Canada, I never got to tour the university before applying. So I had no idea what the campus would look like. I watched as many videos as I could find about Waterloo on the Internet, especially about residence life. I had been to boarding school so I was not concerned about living with other people in general. However, I knew how difficult it could be to have a good roommate. The university made us fill out a questionnaire to assess what kind of roommate would be best for us. Fortunately, I got very lucky, my roommate and I got along well.
What did you expect Canada and the University to be like?
One thing I like about Canada so much is that everybody is generally very open and easy-going and this also goes for the University of Waterloo. I did not have any trouble getting to know people in residence and in class. Coming from a smaller high school, I wasn't sure what I could expect from my professors, but they were very open and helpful whenever I had questions about assignments or exams.
Was there anything that surprised you? How so?
What I found most surprising was how many opportunities there were on campus for students to get involved. I think I expected university to be more isolating, but I was able to find a community quickly. In my first term here, I worked as a residence ambassador and showed potential future students what their new home could look like. I also worked as a scorekeeper for intramurals and volunteered on campus.
In addition to this, I was surprised by how many options there are for students to stay fit. My residence even had its own small gym and I purchased a shoe tag with some of my floor mates that allowed us to do a lot of fitness classes on campus.
Were there any highlights during your first term at Waterloo?
One of the highlights was meeting all of the people from my floor in residence and having a great time with them. What I like about living in residence is that you develop friendships so much faster because you live together. Once spring came around, I also came to appreciate Waterloo as a city, and the campus itself, a lot better.
If you were arriving as a new international student again, what would you do differently, or the same?
I lived in residence for the first two terms and didn't get off campus very much. My friends and I were living in that typical ‘campus bubble’ where our whole world basically ended at the boundary of the university. If I were to do it again, I would try to get off campus more and explore the city. Once I started living off campus, I realized that Waterloo actually has a lot of neat spots to offer that are worth exploring.
