University Is Meant To Be Experienced In Real Life, Not Online
HALIFAX – Ah, how I love the first days of September. These days and nights are probably the most nostalgic for me. Even though January is considered the new year, in our society the month of new beginnings is really September. It’s when the new school year begins, it’s often the time when people accept new job offers or move to a new city.
For a lot of people, including myself, September is the month of exciting memories from a fresh University semester. Seeing your favourite classmates, close friends, and professors after a long summer break is exhilarating. There’s are no shortage of hugs, kisses and pints of beer being handed out during those first sunny September days.
That’s why I feel so sorry for post-secondary students who have to resume classes this fall. Many universities have opted for online classes, which eliminates the campus atmosphere entirely. It’s hard to think of a university without that bustling hub filled with mingling students, concerts, parties, and all forms of face-to-face interaction.
Before you go to university, make sure to remind yourself that you are paying for more than just a piece of paper that says you have a degree. University is meant to be an immersive experience. The life lessons you learn from the hundreds of people you meet over those four years are invaluable.
I worry that, if enough students enroll for online classes during the pandemic, those universities will start making it the new normal, even after it’s safe to mingle again. It’s like how people are now predicting the traditional office space may disappear now that employers realize employees can work from home on their computers and cell phones.
So if you are heading into your first year of university and you feel disconnected from the campus life, have a simple piece of advice: don’t go back in January. Take a semester off while this crazy world of ours settles down into some sort of social norm. At least wait until people can mingle again, and go to parties again, and attend seminars again.
Imagine saving up money for half a year after working a job and coming back to university with more financial security than ever. Trust me, having money in the bank account while attending university enriches the experience (pun intended).
The first year is the most important of the four. In your first year of university, you will meet people inside your dorm and inside the classroom, and some of these people will become lifelong friends. You will attend a class that blows your mind away and the professor instructing that class becomes a lifelong mentor. You will have experiences that can not be copied into the digital world. Think about it this way, you only have eight semesters to experience university life. So yeah, those four years really fly by when you think about it. I wouldn’t waste one minute of one class that wasn’t in-person.
I still remember my first night at STU like it was yesterday, even though it was 13 years ago. I arrived at the Fredericton airport on a flight from Labrador around 7 pm on September 1, 2007. I was technically a day early, so there weren’t many people when I arrived at Chatham Hall (no longer in existence at STU).
I had already agreed to meet an old friend from back home who also happened to be living in Fredericton at the time. We went to Sweetwaters (also no longer in existence) and we drank and danced the night away. I shared a cab with four strangers on the ride home and they invited me out of the blue to a 4 am hot tub party at their place. I wrote down their address and said I’d grab some swim trucks from my still-unopened luggage and be right there. I wish I had gone, but I passed out in my dorm room upon returning. The next day I woke up to my future friends and dorm-mates moving in, while a James Brown song blasted over the speakers.
You can’t duplicate these social experiences online, obviously. And for every story I have of first semester adventures, there are a million more out there.
My advice is the same for returning students, although I understand that it can be harder to take time off when you’re in the middle of a degree. But at the same time, I look back on how joyful my third year of university was, and how much I would have lost if I spent those crucial middle years doing online courses.
I know it’s a tough choice. People want to get their degree and their education in a hurry. But there is no shame in holding off a semester or two. I, myself, waited until I was good and ready at age 21. I had to put up with a lot of old man jokes from my 18-year-old friends, but I wouldn’t change that decision for any other offering. So, if it is important for you to get your degree ASAP, please ignore my advice. But if you agree with my philosophy on how university should be experienced, don’t be afraid to take next semester off, until we’ve learned to live with Covid.