1. When you made the decision to study engineering because you wanted to build things that would change the world.

Remember how happy you were?

2. Or your parents made it for you, because it was either engineering or medicine.

The horror!

3. When you get to university and see how hard it is to get into an engineering course.

But you got in, so you feel great!

4. When you realize that the class is 97% male.

But you’re a girl! #Winning

5. When you start registering for courses and you see the ridiculously long list.

Wait, what?

6. When classes start and the lecturers all seem to be speaking Greek.

Edakun, what is Fourier and Laplace?

7. Then you realize that your Math no longer actually involved numbers, just bloody letters.

This was not the plan!

8. When your lecturer begins your first lecture of the year by showing you a pie chart of those who carried over.

I. Will. Not. Cry.

9. And most 3 or 4 unit courses seem to be taught by demon professors.

These ones want to kill me.

10. When your friends complain about their ‘many’ 10 courses while you have 16.

Don’t annoy me.

11. When you do assignments over night and finish 20 minutes before classes start.

No, no, I’m not sleeping.

12. When you actually start your assignment 20 minutes to the due time.

Gosh!

13. And you have classes from 8am to 8pm, so no food places are open by the time you’re done.

I’m one with the hunger.

14. When you finally have a free period and a lecturer fixes an extra class in it.

My God will fight for me.

16. When you hear someone saying they like the course that single-handedly destroyed your social life, self-esteem, and GPA.

Is this one mad?

17. When your class size just keeps reducing till you have less than half of the students you started the course with.

Engineering = The purge.

18. So you start contemplating changing course.

But you stop, because parents.

19. When tests results came back and the entire class failed.

You’ve never felt more together than at this time.

20. When the lecturer has covered 1500 pages of lecture notes and you ask him for AOC and he says ‘EVERYTHING’.

HAY GOD!

21. When the ‘Control Systems’ lecturer thinks that you actually understood what he was teaching.

Look at this one.

22. When you hear about a revision or tutorial class.

Yassss!

23. Then it’s exam time, and you cannot even eat or sleep.

Sleep and food are for the weak – and non-engineering students.

24. But you can calculate what you need to get to pass.

F is 40, let’s start from there.

25. When you enter the exam hall and the questions ask you about material you haven’t learned yet.

Where’s my handkerchief that the pastor blessed? *wipes answer sheet*

26. That impending sense of doom when you realize that each of the three questions on your exam sheet set has multiple, lettered parts to it, all compulsory.

And it’s a 3-Unit course.

27. Overall, this is you during exams.

I’m not mad.

28. When you hear that results are out but you don’t move, because you already know what you got.

I calculated it, please.

29. When your parents ask you to explain your results.

It is not my fault.

30. Then you realize that engineering wasn’t really your calling, but you’re stuck for 5 years.

And time does NOT go fast.

31. When your 4-year course counterparts are graduating and you’re just going for IT.

It’s okay. It’s fine. I’m okay.

32. When the lecturers actually expect you to make your final year project by yourself.

LOL! What did you teach me?

33. You can count the number of first class students in your whole department on one hand.

But your parents don’t want to hear.

34. When all of your family and friends suddenly require your help on household repairs or math. Because engineer.

You know that’s not how it works right? Well, at least, not in Nigeria.

35. When someone else in your family wants to go study engineering.

Sure! Continue!
>

OUR MISSION

Zikoko amplifies African youth culture by curating and creating smart and joyful content for young Africans and the world.