My first semester at SFU has definitely been a semester I will never forget. Many days, especially the ones leading up to midterms and project deadlines, can be seen as exhausting and gruelling, but at the same time, those days were also memorable and life-changing — from making new friends inside and outside the classroom, to hosting my first-ever networking event to students, faculty members, and industry professionals.

After much of the hard work I put into this semester, I decided to tone things down and enjoy my Winter Break as much as possible. One thing I enjoy as a Communications & IAT joint major student, in the midst of finals season, is that:

1) The majority of IAT classes are project-based, so you do not get any midterms or finals. Instead, your final is usually a project presented during your studio lab.
2) The majority of CMNS classes (at least, that’s what I think) have take-home finals. They are open-book and the answers to the questions stem from course readings and your own personal opinion(s), which I think is neat in this field of study.

tl;dr - my joint major doesn’t really have finals, so I get to enjoy a month-long Winter Break. Hooray!

For the most part, I spent my break catching up with friends and family, and working part-time. During this semester, I did not really have any time to meet up with friends to either study or to simply enjoy life.

One of my good friends, named Joyce, had her birthday in mid-December, and we, along with 20+ other people, all met up together for a dinner at Earl’s. And on Christmas Eve, I was invited by my cousins, Bruce and Diana, for an annual Christmas family gathering. We ordered 100 chicken nuggets that night.

If anything, I expect the Spring Semester to be very similar to Fall — I am planning on taking a full courseload again and participating in school clubs (maybe adding in some more, as I just landed a volunteer position with SFU Recreation earlier this month). To wrap up this post, I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2018!

Cheers,