Reflecting Nehemiah... my life at Calvin College

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The University of Toronto

this is the University of Toronto School, one of the best high schools in Toronto, and also the school of some of my friends from Richmond Hill Chinese Community Church. the school happens to be located a 5 minute walk from my house, which is kind of neat. this school is part of the university of toronto, where i am now an official visiting student. i have the student card and everything, and just today i changed my facebook account so that my primary network is at the university of toronto. when facebook changes, it’s official! so it’s kinda neat being at a giant university that is quite different from tiny calvin college.

i was blown away by the size of one of my classes. the entire classroom is full, and it seats almost 200 people. according to my UT friends, during the year, the class size reaches 2000 people and takes up an entire auditorium. this is a huge change from my calvin classes which has a maximum size of around 30 people. in a class this big, i don’t really know the professor, and for now, none of the students. so it’s a little bit awkward, but i can focus on listening to the lecture and taking notes. psychology class is crazy hard… it’s more than 2 hours straight of hard notes. i just type away non-stop, and i try my best to remember what the professor is saying because the pace is so fast. the cool thing is, i can download the professor’s powerpoint in the class so i can follow along, but the powerpoint content is so brief that i can’t rely on it. i need to add so many notes, and the prof just goes on and on. the only breather is when someone asks a question. meanwhile, in my literature class, i’m the only freshman. everyone else is in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year, so i definitely feel inferior. it seems like everyone knows more than me (which is probably true), and the prof spouts out all these british authors and writing styles. i’m completely lost, and everyone is asking smart questions and nodding as if it were primary school and the teacher was teaching the ABCs. summer classes are not going to be easy at all, which is what i wanted, but now i’m wondering if i’ll be able to pass. from what i hear, the average score for the first psychology exam is in the 30s, and after the first exam, most of the class drops out. so forget As, i’m aiming to pass this thing.

the great thing is, i’ve got time on my hands to study extra-hard. that would mean less free time, and i may have to scrap some of my summer plans, but my priority is getting my summer credit. in a little bit, i’m going to have some rest and relaxation by watching a basketball game at a high school friend’s house. it turns out howard (for those of you in hong kong who know him) is staying here for the summer to take summer courses, and we’ve got the exact same schedule. so we’ll probably be hanging out a bit, eating dinner between classes and stuff like that. anyway, im heading off to his place now, i’ll write more later!

looks like a haunted house, but it’s only the italian embassy