Undergrad review: 1A

September '03: I arrive at my residence in Eby Hall and meet my first ever roomates in university. One of them had been issued a speeding ticket for going 120 in a 50 zone (yikes!). The other doesn't like The Beatles (boooo!). However, in the end, Adam and Jamie turn out to be great guys.

Frosh week is a blast. Toga is fun. I meet more people that week than I ever did in high school.

My goal for the term is to consume as much alcohol as possible. Adam, Jon, Rian, Deryk, and the rest of my floormates help me do so.... perhaps too well.

An old high school friend lives on one of the girls' floors and ends up hanging out with me and the boys during the 4 months. She even ends up dating my neighbour's best friend. If only there were other females on our floor....

There is another person in Eby Hall that I recognize; he worked at the library of my high school. More on him later.

Academically, I get off to a hot start by getting a 90 on my first midterm, which happens to be Calculus. But then the wheels begin to fall off as I start missing classes and forgetting to hand in assignments. The drinking must have also taken a toll on my immune systerm... I get sick every couple weeks or so. At one point, I get so conjested that I actually go deaf (yes, I temporarily lost my hearing). It's no wonder why I gave up attending lectures. The worst sickness comes during final exams. I write my Classical Algebra exam with a fever.

But the biggest blow of the term is not being able to find a co-op placement for the winter. I feel like a loser and wonder why nobody wants to interview me, especially after most of my engineering colleagues were "matched". Is it because I am in such a nerdy program and have no people skills? Or is it because I am Asian and they assume I don't speak English? What exactly do I have to do? I begin questioning the value of a university education, as well as my abilities to become successful. My ECON 101 prof doesn't help the cause either; he tells us we all need to either be "innovative" or move to India.

Should I have looked for a co-op placement in Bangalore?

Well at least I had fun during the moments when I was drunk, but academically it might have been a good time to switch career plans.