The admission seekers and the freshers come to university with a lot of hope, dreams and expectations. Some of them seem cheesy, some are realistic while some nothing more than fiction. Regardless of what your expectations are, here is a reality check for you. 

These are based on real experiences and written in hopes that you might prepare yourself for the next few years which will be the defining years of your life. 

Expectation: Fun and games, hangouts and just chill, a lot of friends

Reality: I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but University life is not just “chill and hangouts”. And even though you might hangout with a group of 15 people in your first year, these friendships will not last more than a year. By the time you are in second year, fun and games will be very limited. Your friend circle will shrink down into a handful of people at most and hangouts will be less frequent. 

For one thing, you can’t just hangout all the time and for another, there a lot of things to do. From studying on your own to part time jobs, tuitions and other engagements, trust me you will be busy. Not all your friends will be available all the time either. Some will live in the dorms. Others will have to commute; making hangouts even more difficult. 

Expectations: Bumping into that one girl and falling in love

Reality: Let’s face it. Bumping into another person looks only cute in slow-motion and thanks to some Bangla movies, a lot of young people has got the notion that this will catapult your otherwise stationary romantic life to the sky. But it doesn’t happen that way. Incase you didn’t know this- most people will be very annoyed if you bump into them.

So, unless you are intentionally trying to bump into someone, the only thing you are going to bump into during your university years are a huge list of to-read books that will hold you down on earth so tightly that you won’t get the chance to get up. And that is just the basic reading materials. And if you are aiming for a good grade or want to learn something in depth, you will need reference books and believe me when I tell you those books are way too heavy. Literally and figuratively. 

Expectation: Dramatically dancing in the rain with a sweet background music

Reality: The loud noise of car horns and the bells of rickshaws will be your only background music and the rain will get all your books wet, along with that one notebook which is actually the only notebook you carry to each class. And if you are one of those adventurous ones and jump in the rain nonetheless, chances are you will catch a cold.

And did I mention the uncomfortable ride back home or to your dorm room in those wet clothes? 

Expectation: Late night guitar chorus

Reality: You will be up late that’s for sure. But not for fun. Chances are, you will be up till 4am, trying to finish that assignment which is due tomorrow along with a PowerPoint presentation. You will have to recite that slide like a poem during a presentation Infront of the whole class. It might be a group project and there might be a whole month to finish it but let’s be real, you will be putting it off for the last possible moment anyway. 

And as all things done in the last possible moment, it will be ‘just good enough’ to save your neck this time. You will promise yourself that this will not happen ever again but trust me; this will happen again. And again. And again- till you finish university. 

Expectation: Learning a lot from good teachers

Reality: If you are fortunate enough to get a good teacher then you are one of the lucky few. As hard as it may be to believe, the number of teachers with a PhD and little to no teaching ability is very common in the universities. Somehow the authorities fail to understand that having a lot of fancy degrees and being able to teach are two completely different things. And the victims are the students. 

Teachers who just recite a PowerPoint slide that they downloaded from the internet are a common sight in universities and chances are, sooner or later you will encounter one such teacher. So, if you find a good teacher, appreciate them before it is too late. 

Of course, different people will experience university life differently and experiences will vary. Some will become sweet stories for the grandkids and others will be a tale of regret. But we value them both. What’s your expectation vs reality story at your university?