Choosing your university and looking back with new wisdom

The right decision isn’t always the obvious one

Now is a time of heightened school stress—not just for university students, but also for those hopeful high school students who are waiting for their letters of acceptance.

Looking back, it is easy to say that we—the community of people who are already in university—made the right decision in the school we chose. However, not that long ago, we were all in the same shoes as those 12th grade students.

The pressure probably does not seem that big, but it is one of the biggest decisions many young people need to make. Getting accepted to a school and picking the right one for you is a decision that will impact not just the next four years of your life, but a much larger portion of it.

As much as it is a tough decision to pick a school and, potentially your future career, some people have it completely figured out—or at least they think they do.

I think we all remember those ninth graders who stuck to the same plan and path all the way throughout high school and beyond. For those of us who were not so sure, this was probably the most frustrating thing to see. This is because other people’s certainties usually emphasize our own uncertainties and heighten our sense of anxiety.

However, even the people who seem so certain often wonder later on if they made the right choice and whether or not it lives up to their personal expectations or goals. It may actually be more terrifying for these people to pick a school, because there is the devastating possibility that their lifelong dreams won’t live up to the images they had in their head. They are then left with having to make a new decision for the first time in their life.

So many of the decisions we make regarding schools are based solely on one short campus tour. Most decisions, at least in my opinion, should not be made on such quick judgments. University is a major investment in both time and money, but there can sometimes be pressure from a variety of angles to make a quick decision. Therefore, some of us might end up basing our decision on how good the cafeteria food looks.

Maybe this is just my personal experience, but the choice I made regarding my education is not one I think of often. During exam season, students are stressed and doing everything in their power to just finish that last assignment, study one more hour, or get off Netflix so you can actually start studying.

However, does the school you pick determine the levels of stress you experience and whether or not different situations really matter? Maybe the classes would have been different at that other school. Maybe the program at another school would have been better. Many of us will never really know.

The only people who can really know the differences between schools are the people who transfer, and even these students can be left with a multitude of questions over what would happen if they had stayed and stuck it out at the first choice of school.

Uncertainty is always a factor and, in the realm of higher education, there are multiple roads to take. There are roads that we choose without thinking. There are roads that we contemplate all night and inevitably end up picking the one we hate the least.

There is no formula to picking the perfect situation, just like there is no formula to picking the perfect school for you, but every now and then, during exams or assignment season, our minds often wander to the decisions we made as young and hopeful high school students.

Maybe it is not the situation or school that actually matters, but what we make of it.

Photo by Mariah Bridgeman/The Ontario.