Navigating First Year, Both Online and In-Person

With the school year finally wrapping up and final exams approaching, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how my school year went. It was an interesting one, to say the least – being online for all of the first semester, barely getting interaction with classmates or professors, and doing classes from the comfort of my own room. Definitely not what my fifteen-year-old self was expecting for my first year of university. First semester went well – I met some friends and was able to form connections with a few professors through Zoom, but it wasn’t the same as in person. 

Being in a very hands-on program like Sport Media, I knew the experience wasn’t going to be the same, and sometimes it was quite difficult to navigate the new softwares, tools, and websites for the first time. The professors and technical support were extremely helpful and able to assist me if I had any struggles or questions (I did). I am not the most technologically-savvy person but the way these classes were taught and with the tutorials available, it was very easy to get help and successfully use the softwares, I learned a lot. 

The feedback on my assignments was always detailed, supportive, and helpful, which motivated me to do better next time. Having interactive Zoom sessions and breakout rooms helped with the social aspect and I was able to meet friends and connect with people. Overall, the semester online was a difficult transition and tough to socialize but I still enjoyed it. Being able to deal with the workload on my own time without the hour commute helped a ton with time management and working on assignments. 

Looking forward to in-person classes all of the first semester was what kept me going. As soon as Omicron hit, I was not expecting to step foot on campus until September 2022 and believed the rest of the year would be online. I was disappointed, to say the least, but understood it for the safety of everyone due to this extremely contagious variant. When I heard that classes would be in person starting in Feb/March, I was surprised, super excited, and most of all, nervous. 

I didn’t know what to expect and didn’t know where any of my class buildings were. Campus being so big and in the middle of all the action that the heart of Downtown Toronto holds, I knew it would be difficult to find my way around. I went to campus before the first week of classes to map out all of my buildings and how far they were from each other. This was a great idea for me as it would make the transition and first week less stressful and more comfortable. I have loved in-person classes so far, being able to talk to classmates and friends, walk and explore Downtown as well as use the nice campus amenities has made my first-year experience a lot more enjoyable. Being in sports media, producing, and using the studios the university has to offer has been fun and super informative. It helps all of us students gain real experience and look toward our future career goals.