Snivel Some More

I don't know if anyone remembers that video Professor Radney played for us called "The Visions of Students Today." If you do, you probably will remember that it was done at Kansas State. Because of that, student life is significantly different than TRU. Personally, I feel that those kids need to grow up and stop the sniveling. Am I the only one who thinks this?

Anyways, the video starts out complaining about the big class sizes and small work space for the students. I have had a class in the clock tower with a similar atmosphere. My solution is to bring a notebook and leave your bulky binder at home. Although I must admit, I am very happy TRU does not have this problem.

One quote in the video said, "You have lost my attention after 20 minutes."  Is that in any way the students responsibility? In the real world, are you going to let your boss know that when he or she doesn't capture your attention? Of course not. This is because you are suppose to be a professional. Last I heard, university was preparation for the real workplace.

Another quote, "Nothing worth knowing can be taught" which they took from Oscar Wilde. I quickly googled him and found out that he was an Irish writer and poet in the late 1800's...

I'm sorry I am not living my life by his words. Maybe something more like, If we were never taught anything, how much would we know?

I agree that not everything we learn will be valuable. But the trick is to get the most out of our education. We might not retain everything that is being taught to us, but we will benefit from the other stuff we have learned. Being a student that took four years off, I understand the opportunity cost of going to university. I also understand the debt it brings. Many of my friends bought trucks worth my student future student loan. I'm guessing it will be somewhere around $40,000. The difference is their trucks will depreciate and my degree will be my own investment. Ten years from now those trucks will be long gone. In contrast, I do not have a problem paying for my university education. Maybe you can find a similar example for your own motivation?






                          

Follow Up on Pros and Cons

Ever since I started my blog about the Pros and Cons for TRU, I find myself analyzing our school in greater detail. Unfortunately the last few things have been negative. Maybe I am just too critical?

The first is that I believe our washrooms are rather disgusting... If your not in there before 9:00, you don't want to in there at all.

The other thing,why can we not have quite computer labs. For the most part, I go to the computer lab to finish assignments. If I'm not finishing assignments, I'm probably reading. Personally these take twice as long if I'm distracted. It seems  it is quite only at the end of the semester. Could we not designate half the computer labs to have noise restrictions? I'm sure we can all benefit from this.

These are my recent issues. Anyone agree? And what can we do about it?

Do Most Students Enjoy TRU?

Hi

My name is John and this is my second year at Thompson Rivers University. I am from Calgary and I did not personally experience University of Calgary. Although I had many friends that did. Almost everyone of them hated it. Here in Kamloops I have recognized that many people like to complain about our school. That brings up an important question...Is TRU an underachieving school? Or do those people just need something to complain about?

Truthfully, Without question the good outweighs the bad. Here is my list of Pros and Cons. I would like to hear from anyone if I have left anything out.

Pros

Cheaper that most schools.
Example. Application cost for UofC is $100. TRU $25

Smaller class sizes.
Professor knows your name! More attention is focused on each individual. Presentations will done more often and to smaller group making it much easier for the students to learn that skill. The list goes on...

Professors are very considerate and helpful.
As a student, it seems like the professors are always trying to be better instructors each semester. It almost seems as that they are rewarded with bonuses, in reflection of their student evaluation. That's just my opinion.

Smaller campus.
Less time walking, but at the same time,  we have everything we need to succeed.

Smaller city.
A smaller city means that there is less time to commute every morning to class. We can use this extra time for more sleep, homework, or whatever else you like to do in your spare time.

Acceptance rate way higher than other schools.
I will make one more comparison to Calgary. When i was in high school the average you needed to apply was 72.0 average. After you pay your one hundred dollars to apply you then find out that 72 percent entry turns into 82 for general studies due to the number of applicants. Now that is just general studies... To get into the business school it ended up being low 90's. TRU allows those students a chance to get their education.

I have also heard that TRU has a good reputation for how they treat our international students... Any truth to that???

Cons

Parking
This is a big one... There is not enough parking. Hopefully this could be fixed sometime soon. On the bright side , our cost is a fraction of most schools.

Small City
I have this as a pro and a con. Only because it depends on the person.

TRU not as recognized as bigger schools
Because of this, TRU offers a more affordable and helpful intuition. We are getting more attention each year which is a positive thing.

This is my list of pros and cons. After some responses we can all re-evaluate our school and decide what areas TRU needs to work on, and what areas they are succeeding in.I would like to hear if anyone disagrees or can add to my list. Thanks.

John