Honest Review on Thompson Rivers University

For those of you who do not know me personally or are new to my blog, I spent the last three years at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. I am originally from Metro Vancouver and decided to attend the university immediately after high school to work towards my bachelor's degree. The university is located four hours away from my home. As a result, I was able to have the "college experience" and learn things along the way. I hope you enjoy my honest review on the university!

Moving away from home and not knowing what to expect in university is nerve-racking. Despite that, Thompson Rivers University did a great job in making me feel welcomed. There was assistance for me and other freshmen moving into the dorms, an orientation that was informational and allowed me to meet new people, and countless activities within a few weeks of move-in day. It really makes a difference when a university shows it's excitement to welcome thousands of freshmen! If this review was made at the end of my first-year of university, the school would be rated exceptionally. However, as a student that has been at the school for almost a whole degree's worth... a lot has changed. To make it as easy to read as possible, I have written out, in point-form, the reasons as to why I am FOR and AGAINST the school. Let's take a look!

FOR

✔ Thompson Rivers University offers programs and courses that not a lot of other schools offer! (ex. Elementary Education, Journalism, Natural Resource Science, Tourism, and Social Work)

✔ Although it is hard to determine if TRU is a small- or medium-sized school, it offers classroom sizes similar to a small school and facilities and activities similar to a medium/large-sized school

✔ TRU's small classrooms means that you really get to know your professors and can ask questions immediately!

✔ TRU Wolfpack teams gave me the opportunity to experience watching and cheering on sports teams! As weird as it sounds, attending a school with sports teams was essential for me because I love watching sports and it's something I can enjoy on the weekends!

✔ TRU attracts students from all over the globe, which has given me the opportunity to meet new people not just from British Columbia and Canada in general, but from everywhere!

AGAINST

✘ TRU Residence (11-storey student residence) provides very well-maintained suites for students. It is safe and has policies for residents to follow to maintain that safeness throughout the year. All of those aspects considered, it's still too pricey and is only getting more and more expensive each year. Spending close to $1,000 a person for rent raises the question... is it worth it?

✘ Even though TRU's student body consists partly of residents from Kamloops, there are still over 14,000 students total that attend TRU. Being a student for three years, the problem of lack of parking has always been an issue. There needs to be more parking spots available for students and that's that.

✘ It is true what people say... professors can make or break a class for you. I have experienced some amazing professors, but also professors that I purposely avoid taking classes with again. It should be mandatory for all professors to take a course on teaching before they start teaching.

✘ Cliquey, cliquey, cliquey. TRU has it's advantages of being a smaller school, however, the downside of TRU being smaller is that it's easy to form "groups" and for it to feel like high school again. If you are thinking of attending a small or medium-sized school for a specialized program, there will be less students enrolled which comes which results in this problem.

✘ A lot of changes and decisions can occur in a person's life. With that being said, TRU should have more options of transferability to schools across British Columbia.

Overall, I do not regret attending TRU for my bachelor's degree. Attending the school allowed me to develop skills in order to live on my own and be independent. Academically, TRU's introduction to marketing class made me discover my passion in marketing and has made me work towards a career in it. Being a student at TRU did not always go hand-in-hand with having a great experience, but it did bring me a lot of aspects of my life that have truly impacted me in a positive way.