Not a number: how i discovering that university is about exploring options and following your dreams


I've always made plans. I like to know how things are going, I want to have a strategy. The university is no different from me. The choice was "what" was easy to learn. I loved biology, and I thought I'd study it

After the reflection lot, I picked Leukheeden as my "where." When I came to Lakeked, I was going to study biology. I was going to be a biologist. Then I took the geology in my first year, and (to my surprise) I liked it. The teaching of this course has such a passion for geology, that when she talks about it, you can't help, but you want to love geology just like her. I thought it was so fascinating. We wrote our midterm exam in early October, and when those notes came back, I would have answered the wrong question. Completely shameless, I asked my professor if I could come to her office and take a look at my test to find out where I made the mistake. She said she would, of course, arrange a meeting the next day. When I got to my office, she'd already run the test, open the page. After we talked about my test, she asked me how my other classes were going. I said they were amazing. I told her that geology is my favorite class, but I wasn't sure what I could do with geology. She started talking about what she did, telling me the stories of her career

One meeting has become big, with my professor, and with others in the geology department. During the second semester, I was officially a geologist. Without these first elections and the professors who taught me in my first year, I would never find my passion for geology. The Lakehead is unique because people have chosen Lakhead, unique. My professor has taken enough interest to see something I haven't yet discovered

My professor has taken enough interest to see something I haven't yet discovered

I don't think you often find that kind of environment. In Lakeje, every professor I've had so far is devoted to teaching. They're interesting to their students. They'll know your name. At Lakhead, you are not on a sheet of paper. You are a unique individual. Your education is a priority. And I promise you, you won't find it anywhere

For the first time, it wasn't easy for me to leave the house. I moved about 1,700 kilometers from the house. I lived in the same house all my life in a small village in the southern province of Ontario. But I could be at the university, and I was too scared. I worry that I won't like living in the (relatively) big city, that I won't be friends and that I may have made the wrong choice. Now I realize that I may not have been alone in these feelings

During my second week of the university (ever!) I was invited to visit the 50th Anniversary of Lakedhead as a guest lecturer. Then they told me it was a black tie, and I could bring a date. And it was in a week. I was so overworked. I mentioned it to a few people I lived with at the House of Residence, and they all came together to help me. Tyler helped me write a speech, planted some good stories out of me, and help me decide what to say. Samantha and Holly helped me find a dress. Libby is my haircut, and Alissa made my makeup. Evan came with me to Gala, and he gave me the confidence that I had a friend. Now that I'm writing this, it seems that this is the most natural phenomenon in the world, because these people are my friends, and it may seem trivial. But at the same time, during our second week, we didn' t know each other. We weren't friends yet, but it didn' t matter. Everyone was for me

As the year passed, we all look after each other. If you need help on appointment, you can always ask someone. If you need a shoulder to cry on, a friend has always been there. If you want to skate on lake Tamblin (right on our student wings) at midnight, there have always been half a dozen people who could come with you

The people you meet in Leicede are your new family. We rely on each other. We look out for each other

Most people in Leicede are moving away from their homes and their families, including me. It's not a random house this weekend. In many cases, this is all the way to the province. For this reason, the people you meet at Lakedee become your new family. And it's not just the people you live with. These are people in your program (classes are minor, so you know everyone), people in your league against the league, and the person you're always sitting next to the library. You two have dinner together, and it's always one of your friends who makes you a birthday cake. We rely on each other. We're looking for each other. I think that's the most important thing

Lakehead is anything but normal. It's obvious, even from the moment you visit the campus for the first time. There's something about Lakedee, who has always felt like a home for me. I liked the idea of the student-first education, education on my own terms. I've never seen myself as a nurse or engineer or a helicopter pilot, or something with a neat name and a neat description. I don't know what's gonna happen after I graduate. When I choose the university, I would like to be in a school where I would be able to grow up, and where I would be questioned to realize my potential. I chose Leikhedov because I wanted to be induced to risk. I'd like to make a leap of faith and discover something that I love. In Lakeheda, they offered me these opportunities. And also

People tell me all the time: you could go anywhere. Maybe it's true, I could go anywhere. People who often do not understand are the valuable knowledge and experience offered by the University of Lucehead. I don't want to say that you'll get better or worse education than anywhere else, because I don't know that. I know I chose Leikhedov because it's the school that put me in the first school. And that's what I tell people when they ask

Lakehead is the place where you want, above all, and your training takes place on your own terms. This does not belong to the top level category with your classmates, or it is written multiple choice with 500 other students

The greatest success I have found in Lakeheda is that he is able to take my own decisions and receive an education on my own terms

The greatest success I have found in Lakeheda is that he is able to take my own decisions and get education on my own terms to have a relationship with my teachers and find a family in my classmates. I firmly believe that success is never an individual case, that is, you are never fully responsible for your own success. Besides, there are always people who help you: a professor who allows you to examine your examination so that you do not make the same mistake twice; your neighbour who has prepared your dinner when you are too busy to do it; my classmate who spends hours in the lab with you; a friend who knows that you will spend some time on yourself, from time to time, and then a woman in a café who always asks you how your day is when she fills your cup. Each of these people plays an important role in your success, no matter how large and small. These are the people I found in Lakeheda and they have contributed to my success here, for example, in the real world

The choice of the Lakehead is the best I've ever done for myself. People say to me, "You could have gone anywhere," but they don't understand that I'm motive to challenge me at Lakeheda to give me the tools to go anywhere and wherever I want to go. He will carry me to places where I can't even imagine

Nanziba Tasem Tasnem of East York C.I., you won $1,000 for training. Congratulations!

The university can get world-class education with experience in life. At the University of Lekesha, open your horizons and start your journey at a university that is far from normal. With two campuses in Thunder Bay and Orlia, Ontario, we offer personal experience in which you can actually realize your potential. More than 8000 students study our complete set of programs for undergraduate and graduate students, along with the applications that really care about your academic growth and success. For the second year in a row, Lakedead was classified as "1" for students who studied in Canada. Starting in the first year and after that, we offer you the opportunity to explore and develop something new through advanced research that allows you as a whole to positively influence the world around us

From the moment you get out of our campus, you'll find that it's not a regular university. Find out more

* Views expressed in respect of the author, and not necessarily for the "Student life" or their partners

Ruth Orot-Goodison

Ruth is the second year of HBSc training in Lakehead University and recipient of the Presidential Scholarship