Around this time of year, it’s easy to get sucked into the I-hate-school frame of mind.
With midterms around the corner, winter still in full blast and what seems like a forever amount of time until April 30, a lot of students, including myself, are dealing with some mid-semester blues.
But it’s not the school’s fault we feel this way.
Even if we all went to different colleges and universities, we would still have these struggles.
Honestly, I love UDM, for a lot of reasons.
I know the majority of my professors genuinely care about my success and wellbeing.
I have had few professors here that I felt were unapproachable or unfriendly.
My largest class has 15 students.
This is such a perk, specific to UDM.
Small classes mean more discussion, specific attention and, in my opinion, more learning.
I love that nearly all of my classes are discussion based rather than straight lectures.
Because classes are so small and professors are so caring, we can coordinate trips outside of the classroom for an even deeper look at things or just for fun.
I love that I can really get to know my classmates during class.
Whether through group discussions, presentations or general class chats, I feel as if I have gotten to know a lot of new people over the semesters.
Even administration and staff get to know students on occasion.
I can’t count how many people have approached me or emailed me to tell me that they liked one of my news stories or one of my columns.
They don’t have to do that, but they choose to.
Some students use the slogan “Great things” sarcastically on occasion, but there are quite a few people at this university who really do want great things for us.
Of course, nothing is perfect, but there are a lot of hard working and dedicated people here, students included, and that is all I can ask for.
Your time here is what you make of it.
There are amazing opportunities but you have to be willing to find them and embrace them.
Mid-terms and finals are always the hardest parts of the semester, but the rest is generally pretty good.
So keep on keeping on, fellow peers.
We are going to come out on top one day, and be able to say we achieved all the “Great things.”
Daniel is VN news editor
