A Day in the Life of a Female Engineering Student

Hi! My name is Maggie Allen, and I am one of the Reps for the Happy Human Project. I am an Engineering Student finishing up my second year here at Dalhousie University. I have chosen the discipline of Environmental Engineering. I am happy to be bringing you along for a day in my life as a female engineering student. 
 
Engineering is a degree that is a branch of science. Everything in our lives has an aspect of engineering to it. The science related to engineering involves design, building, machinery, and structures. More specifically, environmental engineering uses biology, chemistry, and soil science among other science-based ideas to develop solutions to environmental problems. At Dalhousie, Environmental Engineering is a branch of the Civil-Engineering Department which exposes students to the properties of structures and designing as well.

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Today is a big and long day for environmental and civil engineering students. We are in the midst of our end of the year presentations and competition of our earth-quake proof building project. Come along with me on a fun filled day. First thing I do most mornings on a busy day is wake up at 6:00am and slowly roll out of bed and walk to the DalPlex. I try to get a good workout in before a long day to wake me up and start the day off right. I live on main campus, and all engineering classes are downtown on the Sexton Campus, so after the gym I go home and get ready for the day: pack my bag, eat breakfast, and hop on the bus. Today, I have my final design presentation and an interview for a summer job, so I get dressed business casual. By 8:00am I am on the bus to get to my 8:35am Applied Differential Equations Class. An easy way to describe this class is math without numbers. After class, I grab a coffee with some engineering friends and head to the IDEA building to do some work and preparations for my presentation later today. My next class, Mechanics of Materials, is at 11:35am. This class is all about learning how to ensure materials are safe for buildings and structures being built. After class, at 12:55pm, I meet up with peers and eat lunch and practice my presentation. My interview I have today is at 1:30pm so I head up to a quieter area and get ready to join the call. I’m super excited about this potential job and whether I will get the opportunity to join their team. My call is not super long, which is nice, so I don’t have to rush to my presentation at 2:30pm. I meet with my group outside the room and go over the presentation with them a few times and then we head in to finish up the project. Multiple groups must present today, which is super interesting to see all the designs of everyone’s building. The presentations end around 3:30pm and I am done all classes today, so I head back to the IDEA building and do some work, studying, and finish up some weekly tasks for Geology while I wait for my friend’s classes to be done. Around 4:30 pm, we walk home and quickly grab some supper before having to head back to campus for our design lab. Environmental and Civil students have a lab slot 6pm-8pm today to finish our buildings before the competition next week. I head back down to campus after supper and head to my favourite part of classes. The lab slots are always fun and interesting. The hands-on aspect of engineering is probably the most exciting. At 8:00pm I walk back home and grab a snack and head to my room to finish up some homework before calling it a day around 10:00pm. Typically, after a long day like today, I will go see what my roommates are up to which they usually are doing something fun and full of laughs. I usually try to get to bed early so when I wake up tomorrow, I can do it all again! 
 
As much as engineering sounds busy, I can ensure you at the end of the day it can be very fun and lots of memories are made studying and spending time with peers! This wraps up my day. Thanks for coming along with me.

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