Cegep and our Great Expectations

By Jessica Fragias

It is that the time of year,  where high school students from Quebec start applying to CEGEP. However, many of them don’t really know what they’re getting into.

Most, if not, all students have certain expectations for what CEGEP will be like but not many know how it really is.

A lot of students are convinced that they can party every weekend and still have time for their class work. If you truly believe that you can pull that off, you have another thing coming. CEGEP professors don’t care about your weekend plan or whether or not you’ll have time to do their assignments, they barely care if you even show up for their class. This isn’t high school anymore; you aren’t forced to be here. So if you choose to go to CEGEP, be prepared to work.

Many high school students believe they will keep the friends they have now, forever. Fortunately, this does happen in some cases but for the most part, you probably won’t see them very often. People grow, schedules don’t match up, assignments get in the way, and you may only be able to see your friends when the semester is over.

People usually try to befriend the people they have in their classes but this only works every so often because of how you’ve personalized your schedule. Many programs offer choices when it comes to choosing your classes so this means you won’t see the same people in every class.

It’s not like it was in high school where you have five classes with your friends and you spend lunch together. You’ll probably have classes at different times and you might not have the same break hours. If you are really meant to stay friends, you will understand that school is important and you will have to spend time with them when it’s less chaotic. Friends who get through CEGEP together, usually stay together.

New CEGEP students often think they are the only ones who aren’t sure about their program but in reality, most of the people there are in the same position. Just because you may not have figured out what you want to take, doesn’t mean you’ll never work it out. I personally know people who have switched from 4-5 different programs and it’s perfectly normal to do so. It takes time to figure out what you want to do and it’s okay to take your time. Start off in a program you are interested in and find your way from there. If it turns out that it doesn’t interest you anymore, you can switch programs as many times as you want.

How you spend your money also comes with its expectations. A lot of students think that they can just spend their money freely and not have to worry about budgeting because their parents will just reimburse them. Unfortunately for you, I doubt your parents are willing to give you a surplus of spending money on top of paying for all of your books and fees. This means that the fruitful, carefree experience you were expecting to have in CEGEP might not become a reality.

CEGEP is the beginning of the rest of your life. It truly is a great experience and you will make so many amazing memories and friends. It’ll be challenging at first but eventually, you’ll get the hang of it. So to all my soon-to-be-CEGEP-students, work hard but don’t forget to have fun.