We all know that university is expensive, just one class costs a lot of money let alone a full course load, residence and meal hall costs. It's challenging. The classes you take and the degree that you’re working toward is not meant to be simple. But, there are so many opportunities such as choosing which degree to follow or gaining work experience through internships and working closely with professors.  

So, how can you make the most of your degree and your time at university? (Besides working hard).  

Try a variety of classes from different disciplines. Mount Allison has worked opportunities for branching out into your degree, the distribution courses are a simple way to, as they say, "test the waters" and find out if maybe another degree is a better fit. If not, no harm done, you’ve added a couple more check marks to your degree audit form! (I’d really recommend filling one out, they’re super helpful!) 

Really focus on what you like learning about, it’s your degree. You may as well enjoy as much of it as you can. When I was in high school, there was such a negative culture surrounding what “success” was supposed to look like. More often than not, I was told that a degree outside of the hard sciences was never going to get me anywhere (they’re wrong). This really got into my head and affected all of my courses choices for almost the first two years of my time at MtA. But, it forced me to take a step back and realize that the mediocre grades were a product of disliking the courses I was taking. Of course, we’re not going to like all of the courses that we have to take, but you shouldn’t hate every single one. Take courses that interest you as a part of a degree that you like, regardless of other’s opinions.  

Lean into the opportunities, especially at a small campus like Mount Allison there are so many chances to get involved in the university community or in the field you’re interested in, opportunities to shape your degree in any way that you want. Finding all of these chances and connections can be confusing sometimes, but there are so many amazing resources that will be happy to point you in the right direction. 

Choosing a degree is a big decision, but focusing on what your strengths are and which topics interest you are great jumping off points. It can be so easy to fall into whatever path you think is expected of you, and it can be difficult to know if a discipline is going to be a fit until you try it. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the distribution courses, you could end up finding a degree that you love.