What is WiCS Orientation?
WiCS wants to celebrate you! We believe that having an inclusive learning and working environment in the School of Computer Science is the key to success. We want to help foster this environment by making this a fantastic first-year orientation. Celebrate with us the first Saturday of the Fall term by connecting with other women and gender diverse (including transgender, non-binary, and gender fluid) first-year CS, SE, CFM, and CSBBA students, listening to talks from current undergraduates, and enjoying swag and food!!
Each year's orientation includes:
- Networking (meet the people in your program!)
- Mentoring (navigating first year, study-life balance, academic advice, clubs and societies)
- Technical Resources (part technical, succeeding in co-op, navigating student portals, tools for time management)
- Food (afternoon snack and dinner)
Past Orientations
WiCS Orientation 2024
2024 Schedule & Links to Presentations
|
Time (EDT) |
Topic & Presentation Slides |
Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
2:00 PM |
Registration | |
| 2:30 PM | Introduction to WiCS | Joanne Atlee -Director of WiCS, Professor of Computer Science / Software Engineering |
|
2:50 PM |
Planning your School Term with Notion | Claudia McComb - 3rd-year Computer Science |
| 3:00 PM |
Madeline Pinto - 3rd-year Computer Science |
|
|
3:10 PM |
First Year Experience | Nayantara Gummalla - 2nd-year Computer Science |
|
3:20 PM |
Imposter Syndrome | Priyadarshini Saha - 4th-year Computer Science |
|
3:30 PM |
Navigating Academic Advising and Support Services | Navya Gulati - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 3:45 PM | Q&A | |
|
3:55 PM |
SNACK BREAK | |
|
4:30 PM |
Getting your First-Co-op Placement | Hannah Du - 2nd-year Computer Science |
|
4:40 PM |
How to Have a Successful Co-op Term | Khloe Ramdhan - 4th-year CS/BBA student |
|
4:50 PM |
Co-op Q&A | |
|
5:00 PM |
Defining your own Journey through University (Mental Health) | Grace Feng - 5th-year Computer Science |
| 5:15 PM | How to Start on New Projects (e.g., Side Projects, Going to the Gym) |
Jane Zeng - 2nd-year Software Engineering |
|
5:25 PM |
Getting Involved in Extracurriculars | Siimar Leen Kaur - 2nd-year Computer Science |
|
5:35 PM |
WiCS Undergraduate Committee - what we do, what resources are available to the students, getting involved with WiCS |
Shriya Kaistha - 3rd-year Computer Science
|
|
5:45 PM |
Q&A | |
|
6:00 |
DINNER + Panel on What I Wish I Knew In First Year |
WiCS Orientation 2023
2023 Schedule & Links to Presentations
|
Time |
Topic |
Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 2:30 | Joanne Atlee -Director of WiCS, Professor of Computer Science / Software Engineering | |
| 2:50 | Challenging yourself |
Chunxin Zheng - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 3:00 | Time management + Notion + Google Calendar |
Emily Zhang - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 3:10 |
Health (balancing, mental health, community) |
Areena Akhter - 5th-year Computer Science |
| 3:25 | Navigating Transportation in Waterloo |
Skylar Ji - 2nd year Computer Science |
| 3:35 |
Q&A |
|
| 3:45 |
SNACK BREAK |
|
| 4:15 | Navigating Co-op Applications |
Amanda Bishop - 4th-year Software Engineering |
| 4:25 |
Navigating the co-op term (co-op reviews, making the most of the experience) |
Dora Su - 4th-year Computer Science |
| 4:35 | Building a good Resume |
Ashnoor Kaur Randhawa - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 4:45 |
Co-op Q&A |
Amanda, Dora, Ashnoor |
| 4:55 | Networking |
Nina Tan - 4th-year Computer Science |
| 5:05 | Side Projects - what are they, why they are useful, and how to get started on one |
Rebecca Zhou- 3rd-year Computer Science |
| 5:15 | Getting involved in Extracurriculars | Grace Feng - 3rd-year CS |
| 5:25 |
WiCS undergraduate committee -- what we do, what resources are available to the students, getting involved with WiCS |
Claudia McComb - 2nd-year Math/CS Maryam Afshar - 3rd-year CS |
| 5:35 | Q&A | |
| 5:45 | DINNER + Panel on What I Wish I Knew In First Year |
WiCS Orientation 2022
2022 Schedules & Links to Presentations
|
Time |
Topic |
About |
Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:30 | Introduction - WiCS | What is WiCS- why do we do what we do, and why it is important! | Joanne Atlee - Director of WiCS, Professor of Computer Science |
| 2:50 | Portals |
Learn about student websites and platforms from the school (Quest, Learn, Portal, etc.), essential websites (course schedules, course outline browser etc.), and some external websites (like UWFlow). |
Khloe Ramdhan - 2nd-year Computer Science BBA |
| 3:00 | Organizing Term w/ Notion |
Learn about Notion! how to use it alongside your syllabi, input tasks and stay on top of the workload at university! Plus get a QR code to a custom notion template! |
Claudia McComb - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 3:10 | Side Projects | All about side projects; what are they, why they are useful, and how to get started on one + examples! | Anjali Gupta - 3rd-year Computer Science |
| 3:20 | Mental Health | All about mental health and why it should be your number one priority throughout your university career. | Yi Lin li - 2nd year BBA + BMATH & Shriya Kulkarni - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 3:30 | Recovering From Failure | Listen to the personal experiences of a UW student in her journey of failing courses, not getting a co-op, and the importance of mental health. | Yzabelle Perez - 2nd-year Computer Science |
| 3:40 | Snack Break! | N/A | N/A |
| 4:30 | How to Get Your 1st Co-op | Learn about navigating your first applications, resumes, cover letters and interviews! | Dora Su - 3rd-year Computer Science |
| 4:50 | How to Succeed in Co-op | Learn about navigating your first co-op term, and how to get good reviews and a good experience. | Athena Liu - 4th-year Computer Science |
| 5:00 | Imposter Syndrome | Learn about calibrating one's progress against more experienced peers without feeling demotivated! | Anneliese Wen - 5th-year Computer Science |
| 5:10 | Clubs | Learn about what UW has to offer with its types of clubs (athletics, for fun, career-related, other skills, design teams). Plus learn how to connect with a club! | Chang Liu - 4th-year Computational Math |
| 5:20 | Little WiCS | Learn about the WiCS undergraduate committee; what we do and what resources are available to the students! + Getting involved with WiCS | Kitty Li- 3rd-year Computer Science |
| 5:30 | PANEL | Join 5 Women in CS to discuss their first-year experience, co-op, classes, + a live Q&A Session! Get all of your burning questions answered! |
Panellists: 1. Hanya Sakr (2nd-year SE) 2. Angel Liu (2nd-year CS) 3. Amanda Bishop (3rd-year SE) 4. Nada Elhossiny (2nd-year CSBBA) 5. Aastha Kotecha (2nd-year Math) |
| 6:00 - 7:00 | Dinner! | N/A | N/A |