Allow me to be blunt with you: I hated UTM when I started here.
The constant construction, the unseen community of clubs and groups, the unattended pub nights, the commuter-campus vibe—I literally hated almost everything about UTM.
But looking back, I don’t think I had an accurate perception of this school. In fact, I think a lot of it was skewed by my own negative mindset and refusal to accept change (except the construction—ugh!).
We are sitting next to you in lecture. We are in line behind you at the Blind Duck. We are ordering coffee at the cash next to you at Tims. We are studying near you in the library until our last bus leaves campus.
We are commuters. We have #commuterproblems. And we are all over campus.
Allow me to make a general statement: UTM is informally known as a commuter campus. The majority of students on campus seem to commute—that is, take some form of public transport to and from school.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard of some faraway lands that our peers commute from: Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon, Markham, Woodbridge, Toronto, Scarborough, Milton—a whole bunch of places in and around the GTA. Think about it: the person sitting next to you in lecture might’ve woken up three or more hours ago to commute.