Reflections of a Co-op Student

As I'm getting ready for the Thanksgiving break, I thought it would be a good time to sit back, think and reflect upon the past few weeks that I have spent at this University. After collecting my thoughts, I could think of a zillion new things I have learned or experienced. For your sake, I’ve tried to shrink this down to just three.

Before I begin, I should explain that I'm in a co-op program. We spend our first semester on campus, doing a full load of regular courses just like everyone else here. But our second semester is spent out in the field, working as an intern in a business or other kind of enterprise. Recruiters from these places look at our resumes, come to our campus, and conduct interviews. A complicated matching scheme tries to ensure that all the recruiters get the kind of students they want, and that all the students get suitable placements.

As you can imagine, there's a lot of dancing about, and a lot of informal wisdom that goes into the matching. "This placement looks good, but you'll end up spending all day in a tiny office with a constant stream of boring clerical and data-entry work." Like kind of important to know before you apply. Sometimes there’s dishonesty when students or recruiters play games to try to make sure the matching is to their benefit. For example, they tell you they are ranking you first (which they are not supposed to divulge), so you rank them first to ensure a match; but then they interview someone else, change how they rank you, and now you get your last choice. It happened to me and I was very upset. In the future, I will rank according to my gut and not change my ranking despite what a recruiter may unofficially tell me.

Anyway, here are the three things.

First, the strong bonds I have already developed with so many of my classmates. The community-based culture here is really special. People want others to succeed. This can be clearly seen through small gestures like a fellow classmate introducing you to a co-op recruiter during a recruiting event, or spending time (a very rare commodity) to help your study group or classmates understand a difficult concept. This community-based culture is also clearly reflected in closeness of the faculty with the student body. I could have never imagined the easy accessibility of such a high-profile faculty before I actually experienced it.

The second most important aspect of this University to me has been the tremendous support and guidance we receive from our second year class. The second years have been so generous with their time, just to help us with so many different things. Whether it is guidance on co-op positions, conducting mock interviews, doing resume reviews, or sharing their co-op experiences – you can ask them anything and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. In fact, in so many cases, I have seen our second years proactively helping us out in order to see us do well. I am totally humbled to see this level of support and look forward to continuing this tradition next year.

Third and lastly, I would do a disservice if I do not mention the great learning experience. I am not just talking about the academic learning – that is undoubtedly top-notch. The other aspects of learning range from networking to leadership to drinking skills. (Yes, having a social every Thursday does give you ample opportunities to have fun, if you can manage your time well.)

These past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride. Sure, there have been some tough moments, tough days or even tough weeks. But after coming back every day from school, I do experience the sense of achievement of having learned something new, and something which will help me in future.