The tour of the electrical engineering building was a mix of boredom and excitement. Amusingly, the objectively useful parts were boring and the exciting parts were essentially useless, as the variety of different lecture rooms and the labeling scheme for the various buildings and rooms within was rather boring but, if I wanted to find my way, it was necessary. On the other hand, the engineering labs we were shown had tons of interesting equipement that I would love to work with, but they were largely reserved for advanced students, so I would have to prove my mettle before I was allowed to work with them. Not a terribly big surprise, electrical engineering alone had about a thousand freshman, not to mention the entirety of the engineering department. If they wanted to have state of the art-labs for everyone, they would need the entirety of Accord Island.

Another thing the tour drove home was just how imbalanced the engineering class was, in regards to sex. The group I was in had twenty freshman in it and only two of them were girls. It was not a numerically representative sample, but previous classes had about ten to twenty percent females so it was not too far off.

During the tour, I got to talk with a couple of the guys, mainly about what we were seeing, the other girl had collected a couple of guys and was happily holding court with them, whereas I mainly focused on the tour. There would be a time for socialising later.

After the tour, the welcoming lecture of the head of the engineering department was held in the largest lecture hall, a lecture for multiple engineering disciplines but not all of them, there were far too many engineering freshman to fit them all into the hall at once.

The lecture itself was well scripted, focusing on guidance for us instead of the self-praise I had expected. I had expected that department head would advertise the fact that we were now enrolled at the best engineering school in the world and in a way, he did. But not as I had expected, he focused on making sure that we understood that we were at the start of our road, that we had grown up as the most brilliant student at our school, maybe in our city, but that every single one in the room had been that most brilliant student. Now, each of us was just one out of many, each as smart as the other. He urged as to cooperate with each other, instead of competing.

Or, as he put it, “The most important thing you will learn here, is to work in a team. Think of your schooling like climbing a mountain. Whether you manage to get to the summit depends on your determination and grit, nobody can carry you. But, if you climb alone, a single stumbling step might result in a deadly fall. A team, can keep you steady and make sure that a misstep is just that, a missed step, not a fatal accident.

Some of you are used to be graded on a curve, the best student setting the standard for all the others. We don’t do that here, if, in four years, none of you remains to receive their degree, so be it. If all of you manage to get to the top, you will all be celebrated.

Some other schools try to weed out their students with single exams or classes. We don’t do that here. Here, every exam, every class, will be hard and every single one of you will stumble at some point. Build a support-network early, so such a stumble is not fatal to you.

You, dear students, are those who will build the future.”

Afterwards, he presented us a mathematical problem. It was advanced, insanely so. And it was interesting. As I was getting my notebook out to start taking notes, I saw all around me drawn pens and notebooks, as everyone was fixated on the problem presented to us.

As I was trying to find a starting point to work at the problem, a soft touch at my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts.

“Hello, do you want to work with me?” I was asked by a girl who had moved next to me. Without breaking my focus on the problem, I softly, to not disturb those around us, said “Sure, take a seat.”

We conversed in soft voices, each of us focused on the problem and the papers in front of us, but neither of us managed to get anywhere. We agreed that the first step should be to define if the problem was solvable at all, before going further.

“Good. I doubt any of you got anywhere, the problem I just presented you is for graduate level students after all. But, some of you looked for partners to work with. I have no doubt that those who did, realised that by working together you managed to do more. Having someone you can bounce ideas of is invaluable, as another set of eyes sees things from a different angle.” the department head pulled everyones attention back to him, driving the point he had trying to make home.

Finally, I conceded that I would not manage to solve the problem, at least not without a lot of work and Galatea’s help, so I looked over to the owner of the voice I had worked with. I had noticed a slight accent, but had focused on the problem and ignored it. Now, I looked at her for the first time, offering a hand in greeting.

“Hello, I am Diana. Pleasure to meet you and work with you.” I said, with a smile.

“Yes, indeed. You can call me Nisha, nice to meet you.” she replied with a bright smile and twinkling dark eyes.

Neither of us was quite happy with simply conceding that we could not solve the problem we had been posed and discussed it, after the lecture had ended and we were leaving the lecture hall. As we talked, the topic shifted a little and we discovered that both of us were indeed electrical engineers and we decided that we would work together in the future. The department head had stressed to find people to work with, so starting a small group seemed to be a good idea.

“Would you like to go for lunch? It is nice to have someone to talk to. I’m afraid my dorm-mates are focused on pursuits I have no interest in.” Nisha suggested.

“Sure, why not. I want to attend the lecture of the department-head for physics in two hours, but until then, I am free.” I answered.

“The physics-department? Why?”

“I am one of those insane few who were not content with a single major, my schedule is filled to the brim, but I am confident that I can pull off the double major, electrical engineering and physics.”

The wide-eyed look made it quite clear that my new friend thought I was totally insane.

“Well, you certainly don’t lack in confidence.” she said, while shaking her head and smiling.

We continued on our path, looking for a place to eat, when Nisha spotted an establishment, focused on some sort of african cuisine.

“I think they serve eritrean cuisine. I’ve tried it before and found it very much to my taste, and they have nice vegetarian options.” Nisha told me, after studying the menu for a moment.

I had no real idea what to expect but followed anyway, curious what we would find.

When we were at the counter, I looked over the menu, seeing many things I had never heard about before. Deciding to put faith into my new acquaintance, I asked, “I am afraid I have no idea what the various items on the menu are. Could you recommend something?”

“You could try the Bebiaynetu, it’s sort of a mixed bag, with different vegetarian dishes on bread. I’m afraid, if you want a meat-dish, I can’t help you.” Nisha gave me a suggestion.

Not wanting to brave the different items and not wanting to make a fuss by needing a long explanation what each dish was, I simply went with her suggestion.

Soon, we had our food and were seated, enjoying a, to me, very exotic dish. Our conversation would send most people running to the hills, we both were still trying to crack the problem we had been posed before. Neither of us seemed to be the type that would concede defeat and at the end of the day, math followed rules, complex rules, yes, but rules nonetheless. And it made for interesting talk, discussing possible ways to tackle the problem. Over lunch, we managed to get to a point where we had ideas how to start working on it, but finally, I was out of time and headed towards the physics-department, after exchanging contact details with Nisha.

The lecture made by the head of the physics-department was quite similar, they must have general talking points. He did not stress that we were those who would build the future, but that we would be those who stood on the shoulders of giants, able to see further than at any time before, before some of us would become giants in our own right, propping up future generations.

Again, an incredibly complex problem was posed and this time, I looked around for someone to work on it with. A few seats down the row, three others sat together, two guys, one girl, all staring at the problem with sparkling eyes. I walked over, asking if they wanted to work together and within moments all of us were absorbed in the complex interplay of equations. The problem was of a completely different type but it worked to push people into groups, if they had the motivation to work on it. Others simply sat, staring at the problem wide-eyed, not even trying to get anywhere. Maybe, that was the first step of weeding out the chaff, those who formed up with others, trying to solve something, regardless of the chances quickly founded groups of like-minded people, those that stared in shock were left behind.

After the reveal that the problem was just a next-to-impossible challenge, the three I had worked with introduced themselves, telling me that they had met at the exams to get into the academy and met up here afterwards. The two guys were called Stephan and Alexander, the second name forcing me to suppress a smile, the girl was called Galina. We left the lecture together, on my suggestion exchanging contact information and heading towards the physic-buildings tour.

The second tour I was on was rather similar to the first, only now I was getting to know the three of them, making it more interesting. The laboratories were even more expansive and complex compared to the engineering facilities and even more exclusive as well. But we were told about a service to rent workshop-rooms to students for a reasonable price, something I wanted to follow up on. I was itching to get a new workshop, it had been months since I had been able to get real work done.