This September I started my first semester of chemical engineering, and it has been quite tough to say the least.
To give you some context I’ve been really busy until now. I tutor a girl 2h a week, I take tutoring classes myself 4h a week and I play field hockey 4h a week (a part from going to uni ofc)
This semester I’ve taken Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Graphic expression and Computer science. I’ve pretty much struggled with every subject, which is normal considering their difficulty. However, I quickly realised that how successful you were with each of these subjects came down to organisation.
At one point everything started piling up; projects, exams, and of course my own things outside of uni, I just couldn’t keep up. This made me sacrifice many things for a while, mainly my Christmas holidays.
My uni started exams the very first day after Christmas break, hence I knew I had to work all Christmas to get decent results. I mainly focused on Calculus and Physics which I considered the hardest.
Unfortunately, the exams did not go as well as I was expecting. Everyone found them incredibly hard. Although I was expecting them to be very challenging nothing could’ve prepared me for how hard some of the questions were.
Overall I realised that the only right strategy is getting really good grades in the partial exams for them to compensate the grades you will get in the final exams.
Eventhough I did not have the best experience, I believe I’ve never learned so much before in my life, for that I am happy. I am also quite excited to have a fresh start next semester as I now know what I have to change and how I need to organize myself. I have also realised that I have to cut some personal activities or I won’t manage with the work load.
Do you have any advice for a new engineering student?
