Winter at UTM

By Andrew Mortimer, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada

As nice as it would be to skip them, whilst doing a year abroad, you still have to take and pass your exams. At UofT this can be pretty challenging, because the standards of the other students are very high, and their near-total focus on academics and maintaining a high GPA has the obvious benefits and drawbacks. Building up to those then, I was spending more time in the various libraries, but I still managed to enjoy the lectures and all the extra activities outside of university. For example, I was lucky enough to have a fancy meal at the top of the CN Tower, which is worth the extra cost if you were already planning on going to the top for the spectacular view, in my opinion.

Attending a CONCACAF fixture was also great, as I could witness the different atmosphere/culture around football games in the UK versus North America firsthand, which was very interesting. A few days after that, I went to a Canadian cinema for the first time and couldn’t believe how big and comfortable the cheapest available seats at a typical chain cinema could be, so I would definitely recommend checking one out. It was not long after this that I went to the Royal Ontario Museum before having a Christmas potluck with some of my exchange friends, almost all of whom were only in Canada for half a year and would therefore sadly leave soon after.

The end of semester exams, which were in December, were broadly similar to those in Manchester, with a couple of differences. At UofT, there is a higher tendency to have more exams with lower weighting. Some courses I have taken at Manchester are similar, but the typical weighting I’ve come across at UoM would have a midterm worth 33% and a final worth 67%. This would be very rare at UofT; my housemate was surprised that my finance course had a final exam worth even 50%, for example. Another difference is the final grade. In the UK, a score above 70 is very good, but equivalent to a score around 90 there (I would estimate). I think this is because they give out more marks for easier questions—the top level of difficulty is very similar.

Their exam period being in Christmas, rather than in January, meant the holidays were freed up. I decided to stay out in Canada over the Christmas holidays, but I think I would have been better off going home so that I could spend that time with my family. Regardless, it was nice to have a stress-free break that involved a lot of Mario Party with a couple of friends and even hearing New Order whilst walking past a nearby ice rink, which reminded me of home. Although the NYE fireworks were definitely not as eye-catching as London’s, it was nice to see them after I had FaceTimed my friends as the UK clocks reached midnight several hours before. I was looking forward to starting the new year in an increasingly familiar place, having reached the halfway point of my time abroad.