Ah UTM; that U of T campus located in the middle of a forest. The one where the deer roam free and finding a spot in the library during exams is impossible after 10 a.m. Good ol’ UTM. Whether you’ve just started here or are as ancient as some of the executives on UTMSU, our experiences are UTM-specific and there are certain ones that you are guaranteed to have in your time here.
You know you go to UTM when:
- You Google “UTM” and it thinks you’re talking about the University of Tennessee at Martin.
- You go to a commuter campus, which is both a blessing and a curse.
- The 110N around 5 p.m. is basically every man for himself and has made you feel like a sardine in a can.
- Seeing a deer is just as normal as seeing a dog because…
- You feel like you study in a freakin’ forest.
- There’s no such thing as bird courses, and…
- You realize that credit/no credit will make or break your undergrad.
- You’re 10 minutes late for everything because you’re running on UTM time.
- There is “Portal maintenance” at the most crucial times.
- All of your friends are on fall reading week while you’re grinding it out in midterm season, and…
- THERE’S ONLY ONE READING WEEK.
- People at other universities tell you they’re getting straight As and you don’t even remember the last time you got an A.
- A bell curve means your mark is going down.
- You’re expected to be in class no matter what the weather conditions are.
- You spend most of your life looking for a table in the library.
- You know that dogs to pet in the library are a motivator to study in the library during exam season…
- As are free mini massages.
- You’re hungry, but campus food sucks…
- So you survive on coffee, tea, energy drinks, and Awake Chocolate.
- Speaking of bad decisions, you put your education before your health and it bites you in the derrière. Every. Single. Year.
- You have discovered the blessed coffees and teas at Deerfield.
- You have thoroughly questioned the name Deerfield Hall for a building.
- You know that Davis and South are the same thing.
- You have located the Speech Bubble artwork and asked yourself what it means.
- The RAWC stairs have made you out of breath. You have cursed them or thanked them for the exercise.
- You have been a participant in arguments over the million-dollar rock (Did you know it’s supposed to represent tectonic plates?).
- Whether you call the rock statue the Stonehenge of Idiots or the rock bottom, it still cost us all 1 million dollars… and no, you haven’t gotten over it.
- Most university students spend their extra money on alcohol, but you spend yours on deregulated tuition fees.
- You get spotted at UTM.
- The majority of clubs are ethnicity-based.
- When you know Mississauga better than your hometown (yes, I got lost once in
Brampton, where I’ve lived for four years, but I know the entire Square One area). - You never took ECO100 but you know exactly who Professor Bailey is.
Special thanks
to:
Christine Sharma, Candace Ramlall and Meg Sharpley for this list.
