One of the biggest adjustments for me in maneuvering the University of Ottawa (UOttawa) schedule for the first time was realizing the classes will not take place in the same room, at the same time, on a “Monday/Wednesday,” or “Tuesday/Thursday” manner. It is completely opposite to the way DU schedules and conducts its classes. UOttawa may hold the certain course on two different days, at two different times, and in two different places. None of my classes are in two different places, however, all my classes that separated into two days occur among different days occur at different times.
Why go into so much detail about my schedule? Well, it’s context for this post. More specifically, the fact that my class were at two different times caused me to mix them up mistakingly! Today , class started at 11:30a.m. instead of 1:00p.m., like it does on the other day it is scheduled. I only realized this maybe four minutes before the class actually started. Upon realizing my grave mistake, I bolted from my chair, grabbed my backpack, and literally ran out the door.
I briskly walked three blocks from my apartment on campus to Wilbrod Hall, the home of my first class ever at UOttawa. I hurried past people and glided up the cement staircase. I opened the doorknob gently and scampered inside, closing the door softly behind me. I quickly and quietly found an open chair and sat down trying to compose myself. Tardiness, of any sort, makes my anxiety go stir-crazy!
The class I was late for was my “Topics in Book History” course, a fairly new course the UOttawa English department created around the up and coming interdisciplinary field, but I’ll save talking about this specific class for another post. The professor of this course is super kind. Instead of reprimanding me for my two minutes of lateness, she smiled thoughtfully toward me and handed me the syllabus. I am so incredibly grateful for that gesture and it boosted my confidence during the rest of the remaining block.
What is the main takeaway? When you study abroad, you are bound to make mistakes. I guarantee you’ll make a mistake at some point in your study abroad journey. You may be late trying to find a classroom, accidentally switch up places and buildings, forget to do a reading or an assignment, something along those lines. Mistakes will happen, whether you want them to or not. Would have I liked to have been late today? Absolutely not. In fact, I would like to consider myself an optimistic person. I assumed that I would have perfect attendance on the stay abroad. Guess what? That didn’t happen and I was checkmated on that assumption my first day of class!
Making mistakes is human nature and learning from those mistakes is vital to your study abroad experience. Will I just assume my “Topics in Book History” class is at 1:00p.m. again? Nope. I even made a schedule and pinned it to my bulletin board on my desk to double check the correct timing of my classes. Case in point: you will tumble over some hurdles, which is okay, but eventually you need to get back up and keep going. The race of the study abroad journey will be over before you know it and nothing should stop you in your way.
Until next time!
being out of your comfort zone. Everything you are accustomed to seemingly no longer exists. You find yourself in a foreign environment surrounded by an entirely new culture, political system, and overall way of life. It can be overwhelming and sometimes frightening, but the best way to learn and grow as an individual is to put yourself in these situations where nothing is familiar.
DU Abroad 