Q&A with Priya Shrestha

Priya is a student ambassador here to answer your questions. Click here to contact Priya.

Why did you choose Green Process engineering?
I did a lot of research before choosing my discipline of engineering, and when I was looking at the classes I’d take in Green Process, I got really excited. I’ve always been the kind of person who listed “environment” as one of their passions and I also enjoyed taking chemistry all throughout high school. Green Process engineering uses the fundamentals of chemistry while focusing in on being proactive and developing new processes and products that are both ecologically sustainable and economical. This, to me, sounded like a perfect fit.

Why Western Engineering?
The Western Engineering community is one of a kind —there is so much genuine support and encouragement from both faculty and other students. I’ve realized that at the end of the day, any accredited engineering program is going to give you the same degree, but the experience you get will vary. It’s important to like where you’re going to be living and who you’re going to be surrounding yourself with for the next four years (at least). For me, I know that I’ve found where I belong and I am beyond thankful that my string of decisions led me to Western engineering. At Western, engineering really is a team sport.

Can you talk about your extracurricular activities at Western? 
I’m currently the Second Year Green Process Representative and Environmental Commissioner on the Undergraduate Engineering Society. Because of this, I have the opportunity to organize environmental events throughout the year like Nature Walks and Electronic Waste Drives, and I am working to facilitate the growth of our composting and alternative recycling programs within Western Engineering.

I am also the Head of Theme on WECCA (Western Engineering Concrete Canoe Association). As a club, we work to build a concrete canoe that’s about 20 ft. long and then put it in the water and race it against other school teams at competitions. Engineering clubs definitely allow you to extend your learning and apply knowledge from the classroom to real life. I remember learning about stress and strain in my first year Materials course and then going to a WECCA concrete mix later that day and actually helping to perform a tensile strength test —super cool!

I’m also on EnviroWestern, WesternFoodies, Sunstang Solar Car Team and the Engineering ChemClub as a general member, and I’m an Off-Campus Soph as well. I think extracurricular activities are a great way to get involved and make new friends!

How do you manage school-related stress? 
I made my own hourly planner to organize my study schedule, classes, extracurricular activities, and even breaks —my entire life is in there! I always make sure to allot time for friends and family and to do things I enjoy. Blocking out specific hours in the day to focus on various tasks really helps me to manage stress because I’m able to take everything in one hour at a time while knowing that I have a plan for the week already outlined.

Favourite study spot on campus?
The CMLP Study Room is great because it’s usually pretty quiet, but you can still have casual conversations in there.

Best place to get coffee on campus?
The Spoke —they have fair trade coffee and the place itself has a great vibe!

What is a fun fact about yourself?
I co-write a food-review blog about restaurants in London with one of my friends from high school. Feel free to ask me about London’s food scene!

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