engineer out of water

Question: Any academic / life suggestions for a engineering student on 1 year suspension? I really feel now there’s nothing I can call hope now. I cannot face my friends and also it’s a shame to my family. Also how can a person make decent friends in their age while he is out of school?

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hey there,

your friends and family can think whatever they want. if they think it’s shameful to be suspended (despite the fact that many engineering students are suspended/put on probation every year, many of whom continue on to successful degrees), that’s their prerogative.

fact is, only you know what engineering at uoft is like, and only you can decide how you want to feel about being suspended. obviously, no one wants to be suspended, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend the whole year feeling gloomy or beating yourself up about it.

suspension is a year-long opportunity to figure out 1) why you were suspended 2) what you want to do next and 3) how you can go about doing whatever that is. if you take some time to think about 1) and 2) and decide that you really do want to come back to engineering, i would recommend looking into these resources.

it might also be a good idea to get a part-time job or do some volunteer work. sometimes you can have the clearest thoughts about something while you’re away from it. do something different from engineering, and see if you miss it or not.

getting a job or volunteer position could also help a lot with making friends. i’ve made some of my best friends through extra-curriculars or jobs i’ve held. charity village is a great site for looking up volunteer opportunities in the city, and you may want to take a look here as well.

best of luck,

aska