In my previous blog post, I wrote about my experience in first year engineering and shared lessons that I learned. This is the second blog post in that series and describes my experience and lessons learned in second year university!
After first year, I decided to pursue a double degree in electrical engineering and computer science. In second year, I had a better idea of the effort required to achieve my goals, so I calibrated: I continued to focus on my community service activities and academics, but also carved out time to talk to and learn from friends, peers, and mentors, whose world views have had a big influence on my life.
Here are my key experiences from second year:
- Living in residence for a second year and ensuring I allocated enough time to eat healthy, get enough sleep, and stay physically active
- Another 10 courses over two semesters (the standard course load) toward a double major
- Volunteering at three organizations in leadership roles (I focused on being more deeply involved in these organizations than first year)
- Carving out time to talk to others: I took time to build interpersonal relationships with peers, friends, and mentors
- Continued participation in leadership development programs on campus and in the community
In second year, I learned two very important life lessons:
- The value of teams and community
- Action leads to passion
The value of teams and community
What stands out most about second year is finding a cohesive community of like-minded individuals. In first year, I primarily plowed through all my challenges, responsibilities, and goals on my own. But in second year, I started to really connect with others who had shared goals for their academics and community activities. By engaging and working with others, we were collectively able to succeed on team projects and community initiatives.
Two examples from second year clearly demonstrated to me that we could achieve far more as a group than anyone individually could:
- In Tikkun Olam Makers, our team of 80 people worked on 15 technical projects to solve challenges for people living with disabilities.
- In Engineers Without Borders, our team of 15 people presented to over 900 students about water pollution and other global issues, along with ways to solve those issues.
Many of the people that I worked closely with in second year were people I knew from first year. But it was only in second year that I started to actively engage in building interpersonal relationships with others and the benefits of those relationships really started to pay off. I learned that it takes time to build trust and rapport with others, and that time is both necessary and worthwhile.
In second year, I prioritized taking time for talking to and learning from others. What I realized is that everyone has a unique set of skills, areas of knowledge, accomplishments, and priorities. Seeing others striving for and achieving excellence in different areas of their lives motivated me to work harder toward my goals and also taught me about strategies that others use to achieve their goals. Some very kind people were even willing to provide advice directly on challenges I faced and tips for becoming a better leader (and person!). I learned to seek out opportunities to learn from others, especially those that strive for excellence in their life.
I feel lucky to have met such amazing people. And it's not that people I had met previously were not good - it's just that I never took the time to learn more about others and their perspectives. From listening to and valuing diverse perspectives, we were collectively able to achieve much more. Further, listening to diverse perspectives has broadened my worldview and even shaped my career goals!
Action leads to passion
I've always loved helping others. When I was a kid, I used to shovel the neighbours' sidewalks and help unblock the drain during spring melt to prevent water from pooling. (I still try to do these things when I can!). As I grew up, I often became involved in larger scale initiatives like fundraisers in elementary school and food drives in high school. In university, I became even more involved, volunteering at a children's hospital, leading programs for people living with disabilities, and presenting to hundreds of students about water pollution.
When I was participating in these activities in elementary and high school, I primarily thought of them as enjoyable activities. I usually didn't have a specific goal in mind other than to do a good job!
It was actually in first year university that I first began to understand the term “social impact”. A professor had used the term in a discussion, and it started to click - I had participated in all these activities primarily because I cared about social impact! As I went into second year, I realized that the action of volunteering over the years had driven my passion for social impact, and it's something that I care about deeply.
My action had led to passion. If it weren't for all that time I had spent volunteering, I wouldn't have realized how volunteering can positively impact the community. Other areas of life, like education and work, often also follow the same principle - action leads to motivation, and motivation leads to passion. It's interesting our brains work that way, because we often hope to be motivated first, and have that drive our action. But in reality, I've learned that it's often best to start taking action, and motivation and passion will follow.
