Facts about university studies
Three or five years, six or ten terms, six or ten exam periods, uncountable stress situations as well as funny ones, and approximately 50 kilos of chocolate. That is how your university studies can look like.
#1 Expectation:
“Finally, no mid-term exams. I just need to survive three weeks of the exam period. That is a piece of cake.”
#1 Reality:
“In this course, you are going to take 2 mid-term tests and three short surprise tests. You need to get at least 60% of total number of points, to be allowed to take the final exam. Also, you need to write a 10-page seminar paper on the topic of X.”
#2 Expectation:
“Finally, no useless courses…such as chemistry, which I will never use in my life. At university, there will be just the courses I enjoy.”
#2 Reality:
“So, what are the courses for this term… Operations research? What is that supposed to be? What research am I going to be doing? Ok, what is next… Logistics. Hm, I was always very interested in what types of garbage containers are carried by trucks…”
#3 Expectation:
“Everybody always says that university is hard. I mean, I guess so. But I am clever and smart, and I don’t basically have to study at all. That can’t be so hard.”
#3 Reality:
“Couldn’t have anybody just warn me about how difficult it is?!”
#4 Expectation:
University student: “Exam period is just like the high school leaving exams.” High school student: “I get it… It must be pretty hard, but I mean, you can’t compare it to the leaving exams. Everybody says that the leaving exams prepare you for your life.”
#4 Reality:
“Is this book supposed to be read for one exam? And do the teachers know that it has 500 pages? In high school, this book would have lasted for 4 years. And are there some questions we should prepare? No?! Omg, I want my leaving exams back.”
#5 Expectation (for girls):
“Economic faculty… There will be plenty of boys! Dozens of handsome, smart, and ambitious boys!”
#5 Reality (for girls):
Not dozens, but maybe hundreds. Every day, you see a handsome and possibly ambitious one too (you are at university, so they should be ambitious). But that’s it. Then you never see him again.
#6 Expectation (lecture):
“The notes can be written on a laptop. That’s cool, so I can be on Facebook, and the teacher won’t see me.”
#6 Reality (lecture):
“What was on the previous slide?? What did he say?? What does this term mean, did he say it?? And will he put back the slide??”
Maybe, now the university studies look quite scary, so let’s balance the score. What was the best within the three years at university for me?
- You meet a lot of great people, and when you get to know them, you realize they are even greater.
- Usually, everybody helps everybody.
- You don’t have to be at a lecture every day at 8 a.m. sharp. You don’t have to be there at all within the three years, because you are there voluntarily. Nobody’s forcing the degree on you.
- If you really don’t want to go to school (and there are such days), you just don’t go. It’s enough if you’ll know everything for the exam.
- The teachers approach you as an equal person to them.
- The exam period sucks, but you don’t have to go to school for almost a month! If you do go there during that time, you’re a nervous wreck, but otherwise, it’s great, isn’t it?
- Lunch breaks are usually long enough for you to spend it in a restaurant or a café. No more high school lunchrooms, where there is only limited number of options.
- Party at the beginning of the term. Party at the end of the term. Party at the beginning of the exam period. Party after the exam period. Basically, you’ll need to get mentally prepared for the beginnings, or celebrate the endings.
- You don’t see the same faces in one class for several years (like in high school), even those you really don’t want to keep seeing anymore.
- If, during a lecture, you need to urgently reply to your friend or you are starving, you simply reply and have a snack. Usually, the teachers are okay with it. But you can also lose track of what’s being said and never catch up again.
- No more two months of summer holidays. Now, there’s three.