Highschool vs. university: comparing the academic journeys

Graduating from high school feels like it happened yesterday. The thought of university always scared me because it was completely foreign to me. I’ve been attending Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) for almost two years now, and even though high school and university have their differences, there are also many similarities. Here is everything I wish I knew during the transition.

Similarities: I thought I had so much freedom when I started high school, but that completely changed when I began university. In Grade 12, I was on the cusp of turning 18 years old. I reached a point where I had to make my own decisions and take responsibility for the outcomes. I had to perform my best in my work to ensure I got accepted into my dream program, Journalism. I was responsible for my own education, and the same goes for university. In both cases, I have a future to work for. 

Differences: Even though I’m only 19 years old now, I feel more independent than ever in a university setting. In high school, I was stuck in the same routine every single day. Being downtown Toronto at TMU gives me the freedom to explore the city beyond the four walls of the classroom. You are also responsible for making sure you attend your university classes, and I encourage myself to go to every one for my own future benefit. I take the initiative to look out for myself rather than being told to do so.

Similarities: High school and university both have clubs to join and fun events to attend where you can meet new people. 

Differences: Coming to TMU without my high school friends has allowed me to meet people from different upbringings. Being introduced to students' unique stories and backgrounds has also instilled confidence in who I am as a Muslim Pakistani-Canadian. Adding onto this point, it was easy to separate myself from the students in other grades in high school, and I stayed with the same group of friends for all four years. When I came to university, I noticed the difference in dynamics between age groups. Since some courses are open to all years, most of the people I’ve met are older and more academically experienced than me. Age is just a number here.

Similarities: Like high school students, university students also get breaks during the summer and winter. University students also take advantage of Reading Week mid-semester to study before their midterm exams. High school students may have similar time off, such as March Break.

Differences: My winter break after fall semester was almost one month long, and my summer break after winter semester was about four months long. I took advantage of these long breaks to pick up shifts at work, spend time with friends and catch up on hobbies that I missed during the school year. I’ll admit, I couldn’t wait to go back to campus again once these breaks were over.

Similarities: The deeper I got in my high school journey, the more freedom I had with the courses I wanted to take. Similarly, TMU has an abundance of courses to choose from as part of your liberal, elective or professionally related courses, no matter what your interests are. I feared that university would only have huge lecture halls with hundreds of students in them. I promise, if this happens, it isn’t that intimidating once you're in it. In fact, TMU also has classrooms that are the exact same size as high school classrooms, and even some with fewer seats. I’m placed in these smaller classrooms for my tutorial and lab sessions. These classes are meant for intimate discussions on topics introduced in the lecture.

Differences: In high school, I had the same four courses every single day for a semester. In university, there’s more of a weekly rotation. Depending on when courses are offered, I get to create my own schedule. This makes attending school really easy for a commuter like myself. I also love that there are different buildings on campus for you to learn in depending on where your classes are held.

Even though I’m only in my second year here at TMU, I feel like I’ve experienced the best of both worlds and made the right decision when I decided to attend here. I’ve faced my fears, become more independent and have surrounded myself with the most supportive people.

Bye for now,

Hadiqah

Thumbnail image: Katerina Holmes via Pexels (external link, opens in new window)