Whether they are first-year undergrads or PhD candidates, many University of Waterloo students struggle to find a work-life balance.
For the Eigenvictors – an intramural team made up almost exclusively of math students – work-life balance was something they found on the soccer field.
Intramurals is a great way to provide students with a break from the late night studying and early morning grind, as it allows students, “to do something completely different from the daily studying and researching,” says Mathieu Rundström, a PhD student in Combinatorics & Optimization (C&O) and the Eigenvictors captain.
The Fall 2023 Eigenvictors team
The Waterloo intramural program is an on-campus sports competition that runs each term and offers 15 different types of sports. After playing six games with six different teams, players are placed into playoffs where they have the opportunity to take home the grand prize: yellow intramural shirts and well-deserved bragging rights. Whether students have previous athletic experience or not, intramurals are a fantastic opportunity to get exercise and foster community.
The Eigenvictors - whose name is a pun on the mathematical term “eigenvector”- formed several years ago as an opportunity for C&O students to get exercise and bond outside of the classroom. Rundström has been on an Eigenvictors team for five terms in a row, though this is the first term with this particular line-up of players.
The Eigenvictors consist entirely of C&O students. As Eigenvictors player and PhD student Camryn Steckel states, “It’s nice to have a team of people from the same/similar departments because it fosters community and gives us the opportunity to meet people with similar interests who we might not have encountered otherwise”.
That being said, sometimes necessity has forced the C&O students to join forces with other graduate students in math.
Steckel explains that “Sometimes [the Eigenvictors] also combine forces with the pure math soccer team – they did this over the summer and won yellow shirts!” “The team also used to have a bit of an infamous cheer,” she adds, “but thankfully that was disbanded before I got here.”
The Eigenvictors aren’t the only athletic activity that many C&O students participate in. Both Rundström and Steckel are involved in many other activities outside of intramurals, in addition to their studies.
Rundström explores his athletic interests through cycling and running, and completed the Toronto Waterfront half-marathon this past October. With the upcoming winter months, he may have to find a different hobby; he jokes that “there seems to be a rock-climbing epidemic in the Math Faculty. Maybe I’ll get infected – who knows?”
Steckel has already caught the rock-climbing bug. She also enjoys running, explaining, “I mostly do individual sports/activities, so it’s nice to be able to be on a team and work together with others.”
The Eigenvictors team has mastered the art of balancing their studies and extracurriculars.
Rundström explains that intramurals isn’t a huge time commitment for the most part, but he admits that he has had to skip a few games in the past due to academic commitments. He says, however, that “getting a break to do some physical exercise is needed for both my mental and physical health, which intramurals provide in a nice way.”
It can definitely be a challenge to keep on top of school, but the Eigenvictors prove time and time again that through collaboration, initiative, and camaraderie, a healthy balance can be formed.
“Intramurals are a fun way to be social, get exercise, and do activities that I probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to do otherwise," Steckel says.
Rundström adds, “winning is a good bonus too!”
For more information on Intramurals and how to register, visit the Waterloo Athletics Website.