You might have heard “EngScis have no social life!” We’re glad to say this is not true at all. Like any other program, your social life is your own choice, regardless of your discipline. You’ll still have a lot of opportunities to hang out with your friends, and meet new people as well. Here are some factors that contribute to social life in EngSci.
In EngSci, you’ll share at least 23 courses with all your peers in the foundation years. You’ll be in the same lectures as at least half the class, and will share tutorials with about 30 classmates, making it very easy to make friends in EngSci. You can form your own teams and study groups, or simply talk to someone new on the way to/from class. Remember, it’s up to you to reach out to people and start a conversation!
You can always find a vibrant EngSci community outside of class. Want to build a real satellite, star in a comedy review, play in a jazz band, or race a solar car across Australia? We’ve got clubs for that and much more! EngScis are very involved in extracurriculars, allowing you to easily find classmates and other engineers in all sorts of design teams and Skule™ affiliated clubs. Also, there are many clubs open to all U of T students. It’s easy to start a conversation at a team/club, because everyone has a shared interest. Weekends or breaks are great opportunities to catch up with your friends from high school or outside the U of T community.
The EngSci Common Room is a student lounge open exclusively to EngScis! Here you can find EngScis across all years eating lunch, playing games (such as Super Smash Bros., foosball, and more), chatting, or studying. This is a super comfortable space for you to reach out to your classmates and upper-years, and immerse yourself in the EngSci community. Tip: if you’re nervous about talking to upper-years, a good conversation starter is to just ask them about their experiences in first-year courses. Upper-years don’t bite, we promise!
EngSci Club hosts large annual events such as the EngSci Dinner Dance and Nocturne Talent Show, in addition to frequent, smaller get-togethers. These events are great places to spend quality time with friends and make new ones! Make sure to follow @engsciclub on Instagram to stay updated regarding special events.
One of the easiest ways to make new friends is to just go through life normally and talk to people! If you’ll be living at a student residence, we strongly encourage you to chat with people in the dining hall, in the gym, or even the elevator. You never know who you’ll meet; they might share a certain background or hobby with you, and this can catalyze the formation of connections. If you’ve become acquainted with someone, feel free to greet them if you see them somewhere, even if it’s as simple as a: “Hey, what’s up?”
Upper-Year Insights
“EngSci requires you to sacrifice a lot of time and energy if you want to do well, but you can still maintain a social life if you’re smart with how you manage your time. I had a small friend group during first semester, and I managed to gain more friends and acquaintances during my second semester. Although I primarily hung out with these people in class, I was still able to spend time with them outside of EngSci in activities such as, shopping, eating out, and going to the movies. If I didn’t invest in a social life during my first year, my mental health and wellbeing would suffer a lot. While you definitely won’t be partying every weekend, the connections you make will become an essential part of your support system.”
“There are several ways to go about meeting people. I was fortunate enough that there was an extracurricular I did in high school (quiz bowl) that I could continue doing in university, so I just joined that. While I haven’t actually joined any design teams, lots of my friends have met people through them.”
“I think the most important thing, however, is realizing that when you start first year, there is a period of about 2-3 weeks when everyone is trying to meet each other. I am a pretty introverted person and hated doing it, but I just forced myself to talk to people. I met one of my friends just by randomly starting to talk to someone in the line for dinner at Chestnut. Basically, everyone is in the same boat as you and you just have to trust that other people are also sitting/standing around and hoping someone will talk to them.”
