a glimpse of sharon world...

big school, little school.

i'm taking a course at the university of toronto this summer as a visiting student from wilfrid laurier university. oh me oh my, i can't even begin to tell you how different these two school are from each other. here are some observations i've made (they're pretty obvious, but i thought i'd put them in anyway):

- size: UT is massive, Laurier is tiny. (anyone could told you that. :P) for the first time, i actually feel like i'm in a "real" university. hahaha. sad, but true.
- buildings: UT has some really nice historical-looking buildings. laurier on the other hand...i think that the john aird overpass thing has been compared to a firestation, or hospital. either way, that overpass is ugly. some of the newer buildings are nice, but...they're new so they can't really be compared to the old buildings with the ornate architecture and historical value. but i guess laurier itself (est. 1911) isn't even old enough for ANY of the buildings to be considered historic anyway.
- cultural diversity: this is the first time in my whole university career where i haven't been one of the few chinese people in my class. in fact, the majority of my class in chinese. it's kinda refreshing in a wierd way...
- class size: well, it's a summer course so i'm thinking that during the year most classes at UT are bigger than the number of people in my class (there are maybe about 50, maybe a little more?). at laurier (in my year), there are 6 of us (including me) in the music therapy PROGRAM. hahah. enough said.
- the commute: it's a hassle. i like that i live 5 mins (walking) away from campus at laurier. when i leave, i know how long it will take me to get where i'm going. the commute sucks because you're at the mercy of traffic and subway delays...not to mention, walking from the subway stop TO the building you need to go to would probably take at least 5 minutes in itself.

at the end of the day, they are both great respective universities that are each good in their own way; one is a more established, sophisticated and a little cut-throat, while the other more is community centred and small-town-ish...i'll let you decide which one is which. ;)

in any case, education is education and i'm happy for the opportunity to be at either. :)