For Alan Li, leaving Markham and the comforts of home wasn’t easy. Even though he was miserable the night before he left home, after his first week on-campus, he realized his worries were unfounded. He met a lot of new people and became excited for the adventure that lay ahead of him.
Li chose Waterloo because of co-op and the practical education of a computer science degree. With no previous coding experience, Li felt that he had a lot of catching up to do when he started classes and didn’t do a lot of extracurricular activity beyond Poker Club.
“In high school I pretty much did everything, but in my first year and second year I didn’t participate in many extracurriculars,” remembered Alan. During a co-op, two fellow upper-year co-op students explained that getting involved with MathSoc would be a good way to get involved in the community.
“I really enriched my education,” said Li. “Being able to see school not as a sort of foreign entity that gives me homework, but as a dynamic sort of system in which everybody is coexisting, and trying to improve the lives of others as well as themselves.”
As Li’s finishing his education, he credits the co-op system with preparing him for the workforce. It also helped with his personal growth by giving him some financial independence and taking care of getting his own lease and paying taxes. Though graduating is a bit sad too.
“I definitely feel sad about not being in school anymore in Waterloo,” said Li. “It’s just this great environment where you can hang out with friends, and of course, you’re doing work at the same time. But I think it was a place of learning that I’ll definitely cherish and I’ll miss.”