Same school, different programs!
You know what your student experience has been like. But do you ever wonder how other students from different programs feel about their student experience?
Have you ever walked around campus at Humber Polytechnic or University of Guelph-Humber and seen a wave of faces that you don’t recognize?
I know for myself that making friends in my program was the easy part; venturing out of my smaller ecosystem was much more difficult.
Here, we highlight two students from different faculties and get to know what their experiences have been like in their own programs.
How do they differ? How are they the same? This is a fun student-versus-student piece, where there are no losers!
Luke Tyler, Faculty of Business
Luke Tyler is a student in the Longo Faculty of Business. This faculty is home to a number of different programs, including the Business Management – Financial Services diploma, which is the program that he is currently taking. We sat down with Luke for a one-on-one interview:
Tell us a little bit about the culture of your program.
“This program is basically a sum of learning about entrepreneurship, business management and the financial sector of Canada, including the top five banks. The culture is unique because it’s people from all over the world coming together to represent Canada’s financial systems.”
How do you find your classmates to be?
“Students tend to be very serious about the work that they do, because it’s a very competitive program and it’s a very competitive job market. I like to say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
How has your student experience been?
“My personal experience in the program has been mind-blowing, eye-opening and amazing! It’s also been very challenging, but nothing I can’t handle.”
What is a commonality with your program and other business students?
“I’ve connected with people from other programs within business, and a common trait amongst all of us is that we all hate accounting!”
Steven Edogun, Faculty of Media, Creative Arts & Design
Steven Edogun is in the Faculty of Media, Creative Arts, and Design, currently in the Bachelor of Public Relations program. Let’s see what Steven’s experience has been like:
Tell us a little bit about the culture of your program.
“People from my program are diverse and students are creative but also very serious. We work well together as a group; in fact, we have a ton of group projects that we collaborate on.”
How do you find your classmates and professors to be?
“We have some strong leaders coming up in our program right now. The professors in our program are very strong and they go out of their way to make sure our work is good and we are on the right track. They send us opportunities about various work-related experiences and they are genuine in wanting to help us.”
How has your student experience been?
“My writing is way better than when I came in, and I am now confident with APA/CP style. I had to overcome some challenges, like public speaking. I was scared and shy coming in whenever I had to speak or do a presentation. Coming into this program helped me get out of my comfort zone. I gained confidence and built up my public speaking skills.”
What is a commonality with your program and other business students?
I feel like public relations is growing and our opportunities will be strong after graduation. Our program includes some aspects of other programs such as journalism, marketing, finance and digital communications.”
Different paths, one goal
As you can see, both students have their own unique voice and experience, but they share a common goal: sharing, learning and growing.
We all have different strengths and weaknesses, but working together allows each of us to shine. Similarities breed connections, and connections breed friendships.
Use your program as a nurturing ground to grow, but be open to meeting people from other programs you might not otherwise come across. Staying in your own personal bubble means fewer opportunities to network and less opportunities to grow.
At IGNITE, we employ students from all programs and faculty with the collective goal of helping students.
Who do you feel best represents your own student experience? Let us know in our socials @shareignite!
Picture image courtesy of Naassom Azevedo via Unsplash.
Are you interested in more articles about meeting new people? Check out how old friendships can change over time and new ones can form!
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