Things I Wish I Knew Before Choosing TRU

I hope you've enjoyed your long weekend! With another semester coming to an end, it has made me think about my overall experience at Thompson Rivers University and things I wish I knew in my first semester here. Below are the top four things I wish I knew. If you choose to read on, I hope you enjoy!

1) Residence on campus is a school itself

I'm not a complete introvert or a complete extrovert, but living at TRU New Res made me much more of an extrovert. This was actually a good thing, because I got out of my comfort zone and met so many friendly and unique people, and with some of them came such amazing friendships. If you decide to live in any residence building on your college's campus, just know that you'll spend most of your day in classrooms, and then go home towards the end of the day to more teenagers... which brings drama, constant socialization, and possibly a lack of quiet alone time. I wasn't a fan of hearing people's drama and experiencing drama, but when you live in a residence building at college, it's definitely common. If you consider yourself an introvert, in my opinion, I would suggest picking a two bedroom dorm/suite! Everyone's experience living on campus is different, but it definitely helps to take into consideration other people's experience to help you make a decision.

2) There is lots to do at school, but not much in the city

When I toured TRU I was drawn to how beautiful the campus was and how friendly the people were. I loved seeing the big lecture halls that reminded me of what college is like in the movies, seeing my potential room that I could decorate and call home, and how fun it would be to take courses in my degree. When I got accepted into the school, I made the decision to go to TRU within a matter of seconds. What I didn't take into consideration, and what I suggest you take into consideration, is what the city your college is in has to offer. Are there a variety of restaurants? Are there things to do such as go bowling, watch a movie, watch a sports game, go swimming, go skating, and so on? You will be spending a majority of your days at your school taking classes and doing homework, but when you've got days off or the weekend approaches, what are some fun things you can do?

3) Thinking of transferring for the last half of your degree...don't bother

Before starting my third year here at TRU, I considered transferring to a different school to complete my degree. I think the campus is beautiful, but I was wanting a change in environment. I thought that I'd be completely content with staying at the same school for four years, but four years is a long time! Everyone's different, but if you think you will want to transfer during your degree... look into what schools you would be able to transfer to. Some schools will have courses that will easily transfer to a variety of schools, and some schools won't have any transferrable courses.

4) People really do come from all over the country, continent and world

Like most high schools, the students come from similar elementary or middle schools, so there isn't much diversity in life experiences, backgrounds, and maybe even interests and hobbies. TRU was an adjustment for me, because I met people from cities in my own province that I didn't even know existed. Along with people from different provinces and different countries. I knew that there would be different people at university, but I never knew it would be so diverse! In my opinion, this is something that should be a good experience to you. So although it was a big shock to me, it definitely was a good one!

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