Everyone makes going to university a big deal. Yes, university is different from high school, but I find all things that make it different are reasons why I like university so much better. When my back-to-school nerves kick in, thinking "at least it’s not high school" puts me at ease.
1. People
U of T has about 60,000 students, which makes it impossible for cliques to form. A rerun of "Mean Girls" is not an option anymore. Thank goodness. You also get to meet people from all over the world, not just the same classmates year after year. Diversity rules!
2. Schedule
No more waking up every single day for an eight-hour long school day. Unless you somehow ended up with a bunch of 9:00 classes like myself, you can get some good sleep-ins. Some days you may have just one class, or even no class; what a breeze. I know a few lucky students who even have Fridays off, no fair. On the other hand, I have seen some pretty scary looking Engineering schedules so this one definitely depends on what you plan to take.
3. Most lectures only happen a few times a week
If you’re coming from a semestered high school you most likely had the same classes every. single. day. Yikes! My highschool was on a yearlong schedule so I had eight courses, all at once, for the entire year; now having five at a time and then switching is great.
4. You know your due dates well in advance.
I freaked out the first time I got all my syllabi because of all the assignments and dates, but having this beforehand makes it easier to organize and plan ahead, preventing last-minute melt downs. In high school, I felt like due dates just sprung up out of nowhere, often leaving me stressed.
5. More freedom!!!
In one of my small seminar classes, someone had asked the professor to go to the washroom, and the prof said "this isn’t high school, you don’t need to ask.” Looking back, I find it quite odd how in my high school you'd have to ask a teacher for permission to use the washroom, so this is a nice change.
6. More opportunities and facilities
I can’t compare the ten clubs and sweaty high school gyms to the thousands of clubs, internships, jobs, research opportunities, and beautiful facilities U of T has. Whatever your interest is, U of T has something. Being a world-class university, opportunities are endless, from on-campus jobs to research.
7. More motivated
I was shocked when I had group projects at U of T, and every member contributed, put in effort, and actual hard work. This greatly opposed the high school groups where I felt like I did the whole project by myself. Being a top university, the standards are set high, which rules out being with a slacker. Yes, a few slackers may still exist, but this is U of T, the student caliber is exceptional, and you will mostly encounter motivated students with incredible work ethics.
8. Over in a Blink of an Eye
And if all this doesn't help your back to school jitters, remember, we’ll be done by April instead of June. Woo hoo!! It’s only 8 months (unless you take summer courses…). We can do it!
Back to school is never easy, but I’m just glad there are so many things U of T has to offer that personally, make university a far better experience than high school.
Until next time,
Sammi
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