5 Things That Surprised Me About University

When I was first starting in Creative Industries, I honestly had no idea what to expect from my first semester of university. I tried to prepare myself as much as possible by looking up blogs and social media accounts that featured the past experiences of students, but there will always be something that surprises you. That’s not necessarily a bad thing! Even though I am more than halfway through my third year of university, I still face some surprises from time to time. Here are five things that surprised me when I first started my university journey.

Like many other students first starting university, I was used to the 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. school schedule I had been living for the past four years. So when I found out that night classes were a thing, I was surprised. I never really associated night classes with regular undergraduate classes. Each semester I typically have at least one night class (usually from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and I find myself enjoying them. I was scared I’d be too tired to pay attention, but if the content is engaging it’s usually not a problem. As someone who much prefers working in the evenings, night classes are a nice change from classes during the day.

During high school, homework and assignments on the weekend was the norm and I expected the same when I made my way to university. However, I did not expect to have tests and exams on the weekend. Not all programs and faculties will do this, so you may not encounter this during your university career. When I first found out that my Accounting & Finance roommate had weekend tests and exams on a somewhat regular basis during the semester, I was shocked. During the exam period at the end of the semester, Saturdays and Sundays are fair game for final exams. I’ve only had a couple of weekend exams, but it is something that had never happened to me before and I didn’t think would ever happen.

Going into university, I knew that professors and instructors would likely be very knowledgeable in their fields. However, I did not expect some of them to have such impressive professional experience that they had gained throughout their careers. My NNS 101: Intro to News Studies instructor had worked high up at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for years and had the most interesting stories to share. My NNS 500: Journalism and the Arts instructor was a professional theatre critic for The Globe and Mail. To keep it going, my NNS 103: Basics of Photojournalism instructor had been the photographer for Canadian prime ministers and had taken portraits of celebrities like Donald Sutherland and Rhianna. One last example, one of my instructors for CRI 530: Talent Management was a music manager by profession and had great real-life examples to share with us. Having instructors that can share their experiences in the industry makes for a really engaging and enriching class.

For some reason, I had pictured university as a bunch of students sitting in a lecture hall, diligently taking notes while the professor lectured. I thought our only assignments would be solitary essays and papers. I was wrong! I find that especially in my program, there is a lot of group work and opportunities to collaborate with your peers on a variety of assignments. Even outside of my Creative Industries classes, I find myself working in groups often. I’ll admit group work is not my favourite thing, but it teaches you valuable skills for working with others that will definitely come in handy in the future!

I never really thought much about what resources our university offers to its students. So I was very much surprised by what I could take advantage of as a student at our university. I love to use the academic writing support from Student Life and Learning Support. Advisors will go over your essays or other academic writing to help you with the writing process and offer feedback. I was a regular with them in my first year. The library (opens in new window)  also makes writing academic papers much easier. You can search their website for academic and peer-reviewed sources to help write your essay and chat online with a librarian (opens in new window)  to help with your research. Trust me, their website is a life-saver. If you love dogs (who doesn’t!), you can even check out our therapy dogs (opens in new window)  and cuddle with the cuties during their weekly events. I also take advantage of the fitness classes at our university gyms, since access to the gyms are included with our tuition. University really does have something for everyone!

Honestly, university never stops surprising me! I learn something new every day, and have just learned to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.