A Quick Break - Transfer time.
This blog post is going to be slightly different from all the others. For this, I will be answering a question that has already been asked of me many times.
"How's your first quarter at Uni been?"
The short answer to this is fine, however most of you already realize that when someone says fine it means that are most definitely not fine, so I'll go into more depth.
There are quite a few major differences from Uni and Central that I still have to get accustomed to. The primary one is workload. At central I had daily math homework, weekly science homework, and the occasional essay, which is similar to Uni. The problem here is that the daily math homework and science homework at Central I could finish in probably 10 minutes flat, while at Uni math can sometimes take up to an hour and science is just more complicated in general. With the workload, came a lot of extra time to manage it, which I am slowly getting used to. I never had free periods or study halls before back at central, so having extra time during the school day is rather new to me. Also since this is junior year, I just have a lot on my mind that I need to get done.
Now many of you might be thinking, well the workload at Uni is obviously gonna be more than the workload at central, which is why I will shut up about it.
Next up I will talk about the people at Uni and how I feel about them. Everyone (so far) has been kind and helpful. Whether it be school related or external, there are always people around to help you out. However the idea that "Uni is a non-competitive school" is a downright lie, people will always be naturally competitive with each other, comparing test scores and such. With so many smart kids in this school this gets quite intense.
Being a transfer usually means knowing no one at the school beforehand, and getting accustomed to it could use quite some time. Fortunately for me, I already knew most of my class (Juniors) prior to arriving. Some I knew from primary school, and the others I met online, most often while playing League of Legends together. Joining a Uni gaming discord helped improve my connections tremendously.
Lastly, I will talk about the school itself and the teachers. The teachers and classes here are great, but I suspect this is due to the student body. At central, teachers could teach very little when compared to Uni, mostly due to the constant misbehavior of students. When you have a class which is willing to learn, you can teach a lot more. Also the faculty to student ratio is a lot better, so getting help is easier. The school is nice, its right on campus and pretty comfortable. Remember, I came from a concrete no air-conditioning no air-filtration building at Central, so I may just have lower expectations.
In summary,
The people are nice, my grades are yikes, and its not a surprise.
"How's your first quarter at Uni been?"
The short answer to this is fine, however most of you already realize that when someone says fine it means that are most definitely not fine, so I'll go into more depth.
There are quite a few major differences from Uni and Central that I still have to get accustomed to. The primary one is workload. At central I had daily math homework, weekly science homework, and the occasional essay, which is similar to Uni. The problem here is that the daily math homework and science homework at Central I could finish in probably 10 minutes flat, while at Uni math can sometimes take up to an hour and science is just more complicated in general. With the workload, came a lot of extra time to manage it, which I am slowly getting used to. I never had free periods or study halls before back at central, so having extra time during the school day is rather new to me. Also since this is junior year, I just have a lot on my mind that I need to get done.
Now many of you might be thinking, well the workload at Uni is obviously gonna be more than the workload at central, which is why I will shut up about it.
Next up I will talk about the people at Uni and how I feel about them. Everyone (so far) has been kind and helpful. Whether it be school related or external, there are always people around to help you out. However the idea that "Uni is a non-competitive school" is a downright lie, people will always be naturally competitive with each other, comparing test scores and such. With so many smart kids in this school this gets quite intense.
Being a transfer usually means knowing no one at the school beforehand, and getting accustomed to it could use quite some time. Fortunately for me, I already knew most of my class (Juniors) prior to arriving. Some I knew from primary school, and the others I met online, most often while playing League of Legends together. Joining a Uni gaming discord helped improve my connections tremendously.
Lastly, I will talk about the school itself and the teachers. The teachers and classes here are great, but I suspect this is due to the student body. At central, teachers could teach very little when compared to Uni, mostly due to the constant misbehavior of students. When you have a class which is willing to learn, you can teach a lot more. Also the faculty to student ratio is a lot better, so getting help is easier. The school is nice, its right on campus and pretty comfortable. Remember, I came from a concrete no air-conditioning no air-filtration building at Central, so I may just have lower expectations.
In summary,
The people are nice, my grades are yikes, and its not a surprise.
I'm glad to hear that you like Uni overall! It was actually a little surprising to hear that Central's workload was a lot lighter, which sounds nice at the moment since this past week was very busy and stressful, but I also see the upsides in a heavier workload.
ReplyDeleteIn the past year, I think more and more people have acknowledged the competitive atmosphere at Uni. I've heard a lot of discussions about this topic in and outside of class and I think many of us are trying to combat it as it doesn't create the atmosphere most of us want.
It's always so interesting to hear from a transfer's perspective because I personally think they have the best grasp of what Uni really is. As someone who's been here for 4 years, I can't really compare it to anything else because it's just been what I know. So, I find it cool that you like it here, even with the difficult adjustment that you are making. I wish you the best of luck on other classes, and hmu anytime if you need that Phys B help, while I might not always be able to help you, I have friends that would always be willing to if you need it haha.
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome that you're enjoying Uni! You are so right about the competitive-ness of Uni, even if it's sometimes hard to recognize. I think sometimes it's easier to stay supportive with your friends, while you act much more competitive to the rest of the grade. For example, I'm way more likely to compare myself to my table-mate in Physics than I am to my friends in another hour.
ReplyDeleteI feel you. I was also a transfer freshmen year, and the transition was a difficult one. I 100% agree with everything you said. When I first came here, I barely had any friends, and for you to have the courage to come as junior, I respect your mental toughness to accept this challenge. Every day, it seems that you are getting more accustomed to the Uni community. I love how your fellow Uni peers have helped you. The people that helped me when I first came here are still with me today. Never forget the ones who've helped you in these tough times. Great personal and honest blog post Kevin.
ReplyDeleteHearing your perspective as a transfer is really interesting! We as Uni students tend to get just a little bit brainwashed, I think (which I say lovingly), so hearing about what it's like 'on the other side', so to speak, is always cool. The workload at Uni is definitely crazy intense, but I think it's at least sort of balanced out by all the cool resources we get. I'm glad you're adjusting! I hope you have a great time for the rest of your Uni career.
ReplyDeleteI can vouch for the truth to pretty much everything you said. Centennial was very much the same in every way you described. Having a student body that all share a competitiveness in academics is vastly different than Central or Centennial, and as you said, having a class willing to learn is huge.
ReplyDeleteIt's really cool to hear an outsider's perspective on the environment of Uni. For most of us, we are so accustomed to being here that we don't know any different. Further, a significant number of us went to middle schools without troublemakers anyway, so we're totally sheltered from that environment. I'm glad you were able to settle in well to the hyper-competitive and collaborative environment we all call home.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I'm glad you're enjoying Uni! (Except maybe all the homework because I agree it's intense.) One of my personal favorite things about Uni is that the (vast majority) of people here are willing to help each others when they need it, although sometimes we are too competitive academically. I really liked how thought out this post seemed, and it was super cool to see the school that I've been at for 4+ years be described by fresher eyes.
ReplyDeleteIt's great you like Uni! I like hearing about my school, especially from an at-one-point outsider. I liked reading this as it reminds me a little bit of my experience in subbie year, as I too hated the increase in workload from a public school.
ReplyDeleteFlashback to freshman year! I went through the same phase when I got to Uni where I had to get used to spending 2 hours on homework instead of 5 minutes. I am glad you are enjoying Uni. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI was a transfer myself and I made a lot of the same observations as you. The workload was so much more than anything I had done before. The academic competition has always bothered me, especially because some people try to play it off as though it doesn't exist. Pretending it isn't there makes it worse in my opinion. I'm glad you found a way to connect with people though. It's harder to do once people have already been in a class for 3 years together and have already formed their own cliques. I would have struggled a lot more if cross country didn't give me an easy way to connect with people and make friends.
ReplyDeleteI found this post quite interesting as no one else here (at least I think) is a transfer that has a perspective like yours. Having been at Uni for the last four plus years (and reasonably well-behaved elementary and middle schools) I never experienced students being disruptive to the point where it severely interfered with class. I can relate to you with workload on some level though, when transitioning from being a 6th grader at a public school to being an 8th grader at Uni. The first few weeks at Uni, I spent over two hours a night on basic Math 1 homework because the content was so far ahead of what I was learning in 6th grade.
ReplyDelete