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Gabriela: My biggest surprise was how big my university is. It is so big you barely know anyone, as opposed to high school when you are familiar with almost everyone. Due to this, I’ve had to make an effort to talk to everyone I meet and try to create relationships with them.
Trent: It was a really big change from having 400 kids in the Upper School to nearly 15,000 students at Georgia Tech. You don't meet people in the same way you meet friends in high school. At TASIS England we were generally in the same classes as everyone, so it was easier to meet people. When I went into the freshman lecture hall there were 200 to 300 students and I didn't know any of them. I recommend that when students arrive they to talk to as many people as possible in the first couple of weeks, because everyone is in the same boat and everyone wants someone to talk to. The best thing you can do is to talk to and get to know as many people as possible. I am involved with club rugby and BOPSOP, an organization which tutors and mentors inner-city kids.
Thomas: The biggest surprise for me was the difference in community, coming from such a small tight-knit community here at TASIS England to a massive state school. It is challenging to meet people because you see so many people every day. But at the same time it is pretty cool to go to whole-school events like football games in the large stadium, where everyone is there. My advice to students who are heading to big universities in the US is to stay optimistic and have an open mind. I have become involved with club rugby.
Alyssa: Up until now I had never lived away from my family and in dorms, so transitioning into dorm life and being in another country from my family was something that took a while to get used to. I was also surprised by the amount of free time you get in college and how few classes you have every week. Because of this, I felt like I had a lot of free time on my hands, in between classes during the day or even in the mornings when my classes started late. I had to learn to manage my time well because there is a lot of work from each class that can not be put off for the last minute.
Manae: My university is international, but there are mostly British students. The culture is different to what I was used to here at TASIS England. The class style is different as well. Mainly I have practical lessons and then two lectures. I have joined the cheerleading squad at my university. It is a competitive sport and we have a competition coming up in March 2017. It is fun to meet people from different majors and different year levels. University is more fun than I was expecting. I enjoy the classes and assessments.
Philip: Going to NYU is a different college experience from what I have heard about from friends at other universities. There isn't a campus where all college students are doing the same thing. At NYU you are in the city mixed with everyone who lives there. Personally I love that. I walk out my front door and I am on the streets of Manhattan, which I think is great. I have found that the personal connection with people in classes isn't like TASIS England. To get to know people, I have learned that it is important to go out of my way to talk to people in my classes and dorm because that is where I have met my friends. My advice is to avoid sitting back and not making an effort, otherwise I think it would be more of a struggle to get to know people. It makes for a better experience when you have friends and start building relationships. I have joined club rugby and continue to do my photography.
Francesca: Although everyone in high school warns you that in university nobody will push you anymore, often you have to experience it yourself first in order to believe it. If you don’t do your work on time, or don’t do the required reading, or don’t participate during the seminars, or don’t listen during the lecture, nobody cares. University is much more about yourself. People don’t easily share their work and everyone "fights for themselves." I experienced that myself when I just started. I was kind of waiting for some instructions or a prompt to do something outside of class, but you were just expected to do it from day one. After a while, I realized the six hours personal study time that are expected outside of contact time are there for a reason, and I had to catch up on some things I missed in the beginning. Everything is going well now, and I started fully motivated and aware into the next term. This differs from university to university, but I was also pretty surprised about the large number of group assessments we received. Some of my friends had very few things to do, as they have exams in January and most of their grade is based on that, whereas I had to constantly complete coursework (15 assignments between September and December) as I don’t have January exams. That put a lot of pressure on me, since you have to organize your own time to complete all of this, and find time for all the different group meetings. But hey, it’s not like TASIS England was easy.