YouAlberta
I interviewed Aamir Mohamed, a councillor at the University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) Students’ Council. He has previously served as president of the Engineering Students’ Society (ESS) and president of the First Year Engineering Club (FYEC). He has a passion for making an impact through governance and engineering.
What inspired you to pursue engineering and governance at the same time?
I was inspired by the people I met when I first came to university.
It started when I enrolled in the Bridge2engg (an introductory program designed to help students prepare for engineering) and met my week one instructor, who was also the lead for First Year Relations within the ESS.
Through their encouragement, I decided to go to the First Year Retreat, which opened up a space for informal conversations with the then-ESS president and various other executives from engineering student groups. Those conversations really opened up how important it can be to have a community and support network around you, especially in an intense program like engineering.
It's nice to navigate the tough waters with peers and seniors who are always looking out for you. These little conversations and perspectives showed me the real value behind being involved in the community.
What do you find to be the most exciting aspect of engineering and governance?
I think it’s the innovation, solutions and perspectives that you see or come to realize through interactions.
I was always fascinated by how things around me worked (that’s what brought me into engineering). That curiosity fueled me to learn more about how the university functions and how that affects me directly through my program.
It’s also fun to explore conversations on how things come to be with people around me. It leads to incredible conversations about what can be improved in our programs and what can be done beyond the status quo.
How do you manage your time while prioritizing your goals?
There was a really interesting assignment in my first year in ENGG 100 (Success in Engineering). It was about putting everything (literally everything to be done in that semester) into an Excel sheet as a to-do list and tracker.
It felt like a monumental task at the beginning, but it made the rest of the semester so much easier to navigate. Since then, it's something I do each semester. I just put everything I need to get done in a list and start associating micro-deadlines in my head.
What advice would you give to other students navigating engineering and involvement with governance?
- Talk to people around you.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
- Go for anything that seems like a fun opportunity.
- Open yourself to other opinions.