Terese’s Story – From Arts to Engineering

We are so pleased to welcome Terese to the EoT team! Terese is studying engineering at the University of Waterloo. Today she is sharing her story….

Growing up, I had always been heavily involved in the arts and this was always something I planned on pursuing a career in. I attended an arts school in high school majoring in dance and strings and minoring in vocals.

I was encouraged to explore a career in engineering due to my interest in academic courses such as science and math, which is what led me to my current program: Nanotechnology Engineering.

At the time, I thought of this as a crazy change in focus – from arts to engineering, and questioned whether or not I would be able to fit in with students that had been interested in engineering for much longer.

When I began my program, I was extremely intimidated. After leaving high school with the proud achievement of 2^nd in my class, I was now in a new class with students who had all achieved the same status or higher.

I was no longer the best, and this was a tough pill for me to swallow. I knew I would have to find a way to succeed with my set of skills among students who had been coding since elementary school.

To my surprise, I was able to use my creativity to think differently and solve problems. I utilized my leadership skills and experience collaborating in extra curriculars to my advantage in group projects and lab settings.

These were all skills that I thought I would never use, but I experienced first-hand how inclusive engineering is!

Engineering revealed itself to be much more “artsy” than I had anticipated.

This feeling of “not belonging” was one that I chose to embrace, and I’m so glad I did!

It’s important to challenge ourselves wherever we can by taking advantage of those uncomfortable situations instead of shying away.

Thanks Terese – we are proud to have you on the team!

Anyone relate to Terese’s story? Can you think of a time you said yes to something intimidating and it ended up surprising you!