Filip Zivkovic

Year of Study:	Third
Program Area:	Biomedical Engineering
What inspired you to choose your program?	I thought it would be the most interesting of the engineering programs, and I like challenges.
Specific area of interest/concentration in your studies:	Just entering third year so I should be able to answer this question in few months, but at the moment my interests are still broad. I like circuits, and look forward to learning much more in engineering.
Your career aspirations:	I hope to make changes and contributions to whichever particular field I end up in.
Job you want in 10 years:	Tough questions! I hope to be designing something, or using higher level thinking at my everyday job. Engineering always starts not so great, but gets better as you familiarize yourself and uptake more challenging tasks. So I know I can't skip step one, but I hope to be working in an interesting field, and that my ability would reflect the difficulty and importance of the work assigned to me. Getting a good start in each new endeavor is always the difficult part.
You have completed co-op terms with these companies:	No companies. I did do a research co-op with a professor here at SFU and learned plenty during my work term. NSERC (and a little bit SFU) give funding to professors to employ undergrad students in their laboratories.
You are involved in the following campus clubs:	I have been involved in the SFU waterpolo club, and have been a frosh week leader last year. I will also be participating in frosh week this year, it's always an exciting series of events that are great to be part of. Otherwise, my time is spent on school work and off-campus clubs. I highly suggest doing intramurals if at all possible, especially if you make a team with a group of friends. I did this for both volleyball and twice for soccer.
Volunteer placements at school:	I did skin safety presentations to high school students (I can give more info to anybody who wants to know about this), coached off campus, volunteer for fun events such as frosh week, and volunteered for Golden Key Honors Society. I wouldn't so much recommend volunteering for Golden Key, it turned out to be more towards business students. If you can get ANY volunteering OR work with a professor, I suggest you consider it. These are usually great opportunities.
Favourite quote:	"For exam preparation, Step 1: always expect the worst. Step 2: Make sure it doesn't happen." I've made mistakes by leaving out either step, always ends in a mistake. Otherwise, I'll end up prepared and not making mistakes.
Advice for new students:	Single most important piece of advice: use strategy for school work. If something is not working, do something else. Use your own judgment for this. Start your degree at a high pace; it's nice to be able to slow down after rather than needing to catch up. Or, take forever, that's up to you. Avoid situations where you keep switching your degree though! -Once you make good friends, plan your courses with them. Especially if there are labs involved, and as well if they are a good influence on your grades. No need to have to make new friends every class. Perhaps you should try to stick to the schedule; it'll save you some headaches. I didn't, but that's up to you. Don't buy every textbook: often you won't even read the material for one credit courses and anything recommended but not needed. Don't get rid of your textbooks after the courses are done either.