A New Life in Waterloo

When first coming to Waterloo, I was apprehensive about meeting new people, living out on my own and having a new job with a mountain of pressure to succeed, even before I got on the scene. The most daunting challenge before my flight out to the east coast was to say goodbye to my friends and family for an extended period of time.

Once I left Vancouver and settled down in my new home in Waterloo, I felt more at ease, but still anticipated my first day of work. I think the best way for me to calm my nerves was to call my friends and family to just feel comfortable with my new surroundings. After the first couple of days, I learned what was expected at my job and what sort of skills I was required to perform while completing certain tasks.

Knowing your role and what it is expected from you is the most important lesson in the professional industry. All I had to do was trust in my abilities and work as hard as I can right off the bat. Once I got into the rhythm of my work structure, I felt more confident with my abilities and how to handle certain clients as a Graphic Designer.

My area of focus that I would have liked to sharpen more is my social skills in the workplace. I didn't take the opportunity to really explore my surroundings at the office and did not diversify with other colleagues. I think that I would have loved to see other professionals in their respective roles work and inspire another side of me to embody a certain aspect of their work style.

I would highly recommend to any student in the SIAT program or in any other program to consider doing Co-op with SFU. You learn life changing and imperative skills for the future and also the experience is invaluable which gives you the competitive edge over other students in the work place.