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引言：这是我二女儿在多伦多大学获得生物及药剂系两学位后继续在多大就读医学院的一些学习心得，她用英文写的，我将其译成中文，供同学及家长参考。

我在多伦多大学的学习经验

My University of Toronto Experience

When I first started at the University of Toronto as an undergraduate student back in 2002, I never imagined that I would end up staying for the next 12 years. I completed my undergraduate degree here at U of T with a double major in human biology and zoology. The undergraduate science program at U of T is a very large one, and rather competitive. First year science classes can hold up to 2000 students, many of whom are competing to get into medical school. I would say that the undergraduate experience at U of T for me, was a confusing one, mainly because it took me 4 years to establish decent study habits and time management skills. Because the class sizes are so large, many exams were multiple choice exams, and very difficult multiple choice exams. In fact, many of these exams were aimed to achieve a 60% average, so marks were either belled up or down to achieve this, which often proved very frustrating.

When I graduated from my undergraduate program and went on to complete my pharmacy degree at the University of Toronto, I found a different academic environment. As a professional program with a much smaller class size of 240, I found the pharmacy program to be a friendlier atmosphere and much less competitive. Exams were still challenging but there was less of an attitude of aiming for low averages, but rather seeing students understand the material and excel. Because I entered pharmacy with 4 years of undergraduate experience, I had developed some good study habits by this time, which served me well.

Now, as I enter the first year of the medical program at the University of Toronto, I feel a sense of familiarity with the university and its expectations. Through good and bad experiences, I also have a stronger understanding of what my interests are, what I’m good at and what I could improve upon. From my experience, there is one main thing that is required to succeed in university, be it the University of Toronto or any other academic institution. The one thing you need to do is to not compare yourself to anyone else. Instead, figure out how you learn best, and to do that. Doing well in university is not difficult and is not designed only for the brightest or those with the highest IQs. It undoubtedly requires work and it requires time management, but most importantly, it takes knowing yourself and knowing how you study best. Everyone is a different type of learner—for example, some people learn best attending lectures, some learn best reading a textbook, some learn best by making notes for themselves, some just need to read their notes once to learn it. Everyone is different and one way is not better than another. It is your job to find out how you learn and to use that method. And you may find that you adjust that method as time goes on, but it is important to be conscious of it.

My last piece of advice is that while I think it is important to acquire good marks in university, I think what is more important is exploring the career options available because that is the whole reason you pursue education—to hopefully one day, acquire a career that will fulfill you for a lifetime. This is not an easy task, but I think it is a worthwhile one to spend time on if your goal is to find a career that is satisfying for you, and gives you what you want out of your life.

当我在2002年进入多大学习时，我绝对不会想到今后会在此学习12年。我完成了第一个学位，主修生物学及动物学。理学院是非常大的学院，而且竞争比较激烈。

第一年理学院的教室学生人数最高可达2000人，许多人都是为了进入医学院而进来的。

我要说的是读本科时对未来有些茫然，花了四年的时间主要培养良好的学习习惯及时间管理技巧。由于是大班制，考试都是多重选择题，非常难的多重选择题。事实上很多人都是以60分作为目标。分数的评价是采取正态分布，这种方式让人感到挫折！

当我从本科毕业后，继续在多大完成了药剂系的学位及考试。我发觉这是一个不同学习的环境。作为一个需要“执照”的专业，班级人数只有240人。药剂系的气氛比较友善，竞争并不激烈。考试仍然具有挑战，同学们仍然希望得到高分，在学习时争取最好的表现。由于先前我已有一个学位，所以原来学习习惯帮了我不少。

如今我进入多大医学院的第一年学习，我感觉是一种熟悉及期待。虽然有些好或不好的经验，但我已经非常了解我的兴趣、优点及需要改进的地方。

根据我的经验，不论你在任何大学，要想在大学成功有一件主要的事情就是不要去和别人比，一定要知道自己如何能学习好，而且就这样做。在大学学习并不困难，而且它不是为最聪明或智商最高的人设置的，它毫无疑问需要努力及需要时间管理。但是最重要的还是要了解自己及知道你如何能学习好。每个人都是不同的学习者。举例来说，有些人能从听课中学好，有些人能从课本中学好，有些人能从别人的笔记中学好。每个人都不同，不是那一个方法比另一个强。你的任务是找出最好的方法。也许你会随着时间而调整方法，但重要的是要对此要有认识。

我最后的建议是虽然在大学获得好的成绩很重要，但是我认为更重要的是找出自己未来的就业方向，因为这是你为什么受教育的原因。希望有一天，能找到你一生都受用的职业，这不是一件容易的事，但是它值得为你今后找一个满意的职业以及你生命中所追求的目标。