What is a WatCard?

By the time you enter university, a student card, usually consisting of your picture, name and ID number on it, is nothing unusual but it definitely becomes a staple in your life as a university student.

Now normally, you don’t put much thought into your student ID card, which uWaterloo students refer to as their WatCard. However, last week my WatCard “mysteriously” went missing and suddenly I was experiencing a sense of loss, not to mention panic.

And why is that?
Well, your WatCard has so many uses, other than being your official identification as a uWaterloo student. It's one of those things that you only start to notice its true value until after you find yourself without it. Take it from me!

Use #1, your WatCard serves as a bus pass for the Grand River Transit system for the duration of your Undergraduate studies. All Undergraduate students are able to use their WatCards to take any bus using the public transit service through the Grand River Transit. Get out and explore the city of Waterloo. It won't cost you anything! 

Use #2, your WatCard can hold money on it, acting as a debit card. You have the option to put money onto your WatCard either online through your banking system, or at the WatCard office (located on the lower level of the Student Life Centre). And so my top 3 reasons why you should put money on your WatCard are:

1. You are able to use your WatCard to purchase things at all Food Service facilities (which serves as the meal plan for those living in the Main Campus Residences), and at almost any vending machine and Tim Hortons on campus. As well as food facilities such as Campus Pizza, McGuiness Front Row, Williams Coffee Pub, Pizza Pizza, Swiss Chalet, Sobeys and many more locations off campus.
2. You are able to use it at the Feds Used Bookstore, UWshop, Campus Tech, Feds Express, the pharmacy, the Turnkey Desk (to buy GO and Greyhound tickets) and at any photocopier or laundry mat on campus
3. Doing so eliminates the need to carry cash around on campus and it comes in handy in an emergency.

Use #3, your WatCard allows you access to certain uWaterloo facilities. You need your WatCard on hand when using the athletic facilities (Fitness Centres, Courts, Ice Rink, Pool) at the Physical Activities Complex, or Columbia Ice Fields. You are also able to book study rooms or a piano room in the Student Life Centre, as well as to use the UW Shuttle Service (a transportation service shuttling you to an off campus location from campus late at night) with your WatCard.

Use #4, you are required to show your WatCard to write an examination (midterms and final exams). To me this is the most important use for your WatCard! When you go to write an exam you are required to have your WatCard face up on your desk to show your professor, instructor, or exam proctors to verify your identity. It is definitely a MUST NOT FORGET when heading to any midterm or final exam and causes unnecessary panic before an exam when you realize it's not in your pocket like you thought. Yes I experienced that once or twice in my first year!

Use #5, your WatCard serves as a library card. In order to borrow any books or resources from a library on campus you need your WatCard. The online journal and article database through the uWaterloo library "At Home" system can only be accessed using the library card number that is also printed on your card.

The uses don't stop there! At certain stores such as Zehr's and East Side Mario's, you can receive discounts on your purchases if you show your WatCard.

As for me, my story of the lost WatCard has a happy ending!
I was able to go to the WatCard office and within minutes was given a new card. I was even given the option to retake my photo, which of course I was more than happy about! There is nothing worse than having a photo on your WatCard that makes you cringe for the next four years every time an exam proctor or bus driver glances at it!