Countless proverbs remind us that the people we surround ourselves with can shape our destinies. Indeed, individuals influence one another—often without realizing it—for better or for worse. This is precisely why it matters to seek out positive, motivated, and forward-thinking peers. The University of Toronto excels not only through rigorous academics, but also through the diverse skills, knowledge, and experiences of its remarkable students.

At the Scarborough campus, learners from around the globe gather in an environment that fosters critical thinking, open inquiry, and the free exchange of ideas. Here, students and faculty alike strive to make the world a better place. In this interview-based article, we hear from five UTSC students whose journeys showcase how different interests and complementary goals can flourish in a community committed to innovation and understanding. Through their stories, we gain honest insight into the vibrant campus culture and the power of shared ambition in shaping both personal success and collective growth.

Meet the Students: Journeys and Areas of Study

I was born in Boston, with my father’s side of the family being there forever, and my mother being an Afghan refugee who lived in Canada. As my parents ended up coming back to Canada due to certain family circumstances, I got enrolled in the Journalism Specialist program at the University of Toronto. My current aim is to go to law school after finishing my Bachelors at UofT, so we'll see from there. In the meantime, I'm working between my family's company as well as running as the People's Party candidate for Thornhill in the upcoming federal election. That experience has been very interesting, and has grown far larger than I imagined. I'm speaking very confined within the lines of a nondisclosure agreement, but I can say that, I had not expected to have had the opportunity to join the youth wing, helping the party to grow and foster a more unorthodox approach to how we expand the youth wing.

The most significant factor in favour of journalism was my experience of communicating with

lawyers that I knew, who said that journalism was an exceptional way to get into law school as lawyering requires many skills that could be acquired during a Journalism degree. But for the other reason, I would say it's having a general interest in news, reporting, and sharing information. I've always found that interesting, and having the opportunity to go up close and personal has been something attractive to me.

I would also mention that the University of Toronto having the Centennial College program is something that's very attractive. In my opinion it's great to be able to get that certificate from Centennial College as well as a degree from the University of Toronto in it.

I was born and raised in Mongolia. And later, my family moved to Australia, and we lived there until I finished high school. Then during COVID, I came back to Mongolia and spent my gap year there as the pandemic was disrupting societies and economies. I was not even planning to come to Canada, and I made the decision to come to U of T very, very late, considering the fact that U of T was the only school that I applied to.

When I came to UofT I started off with a Specialist (Co-Operative) Program in International Development and later switched it to a regular major because I thought it would be a little too risky. It takes an entire year abroad in a developing country, and as I already had a gap year, I didn't want to take any more time. As International Development is a very broad subject, during my second year at UofT, I added city studies as another major and a minor in Geographic Information Systems to narrow down my speciality.

My train of thought was that these disciplines would allow me to travel and be involved in dynamic projects, working with international companies and partners, which seems very exciting.

I grew up here in the Toronto area, but it was recently that I came back to Scarborough. Before I lived in the town called Caledonia, a Hallmark kind of town outside of Hamilton. But background wise, I am Caribbean, born here in Canada.

So currently here at UTSC, I am majoring in Political Science, and double minor in Public Law and English-Chinese translation. Hobbies wise, I really love learning languages. I'm studying Chinese, which I made part of my minor. It has been hard. It has been really hard, but, honestly, it's worth it. I feel like everyone should at least know one foreign language as the more languages you know, the more opportunities come your way. So I'm on that journey to know as many languages as I can. Additionally, I'm trying to learn French. Because as a Canadian, I feel like it's important to know some French.

In terms of my choice of subjects, I've always wanted to be a lawyer. That has always been my passion. I love the law. I love history. So when I was choosing programs for school, like, it's either I do a history major or I do a political science major.

Some would say that you don't actually need a political science major to get into law school. It could just be anything. But me, personally, I felt that I shouldn't at least have some sort of background in law, politics, and comprehending what's going on in the world before I actually get to law school, so I'm not completely blank on what they're telling me.

I grew up in a relatively small town, in Halton, called Acton, with a population of about 15,000 people. I lived there with my family, for my whole life up until I was around 20-21 years old. Most of my life revolved around the convenience store that we own as a family business. And then I briefly moved to Oakville, and then I'm here now for studies. Even though I predominantly lived with the Korean part of my family, I would consider myself thoroughly westernized in a sense. However, Korean culture impacted me considerably in terms of my values of family and work ethic.

I am currently majoring in public policy, and minoring in political science and history. It's always been something of an interest of mine. I would say that my grandfather is my biggest influence in that part because we will watch the History Channel together, which then led to a considerable amount of research and readings in my own time.

My parents are originally from New Jersey. They moved to Mississauga in Ontario, Canada in 02/2008 when the financial crisis had occurred. So I was in Mississauga from kindergarten until grade one, then in grade two, I was in Saskatchewan, and then from grade three up until now, I'm in Milton, which is on the extreme West End of the Greater Toronto Area.

I'm also a student at University of Toronto Scarborough. Originally, I was majoring in Accounting and Finance for my first year, and now I am a Political Science Specialist. Being an Accounting and Finance student, I felt like I enjoyed writing style courses, while accounting and finance was too math heavy and tedious. Hence, as I have always been interested in politics and its components; political science, research, and maybe some statistics, I saw the perspective working at a think tank or being a lawyer if I switch my major to Political science.

Impressions of U of T: Expectations vs. Reality

"My father used to teach at the Rotman School of Management. Therefore, I went to the University of Toronto with him to a few of his lectures when I was a kid. So I always found the school fascinating.

I didn't actually know that it was a very highly esteemed school, until I actually started applying to universities. When I got accepted to the University of Toronto, I actually wasn't impressed, thinking University of Toronto was just a city school that didn't really matter. And then I realized it's better than one of the Ivy League schools. So that's when the reality of the school accepting me really became apparent”. Amir

“I applied to UofT solely because I thought it was gonna look good on my resume, due to UofT's status as the most prestigious university in Canada. Ironically, what also frightened me the most was its prestige! I was expecting the grading standards to be exceptionally high. But I accepted the offer because I cannot let negative thoughts affect my life in such major ways. So far I've enjoyed myself. The grade level is as hard as I was expecting and it takes hard work, but I like the challenge, I must say!”. Renee

“My family motivated me to go in this direction. I have had family members also graduating from the University of Toronto, so it is a family legacy”. Tristan

“I think the University of Toronto has lived up to many of my standards. The only concern left is it feels less like a community, and more as a purely academic institution. I think that the quality of education in some of the programs is absolutely profound, and that's reflected in the students that go to them. There are very, very intelligent people that go to the University of Toronto. On our campus, the Scarborough campus, I've met many people that are taking the STEM courses, and these are genuinely brilliant people, as well as some people in the humanities courses that are getting so much experience and an amazing education.

However, the University of Toronto is notorious to many people and has a dead social life. This is an observation I've heard from many and that's something I've also seen here. When I was younger, I saw, funny enough, right beside my grandmother's church there were frat houses for the University of Toronto right outside with the Greek lettering on it. So I thought that it would be similar to the stereotypical university experience. I haven't got that here, unfortunately, and a lot of people I know just haven't got it. UofT is often perceived as an office”. Amir

“I think the biggest expectation I had was probably talented and connected professors, which I definitely got. Pretty much every professor I've had has been very skillful and passionate about their subject. They always had really interesting areas of expertise and you could look up their work online. Many of them value continuous education and improvement, always looking to expand their career, which is extremely inspiring to see. Besides their great teaching, many professors conduct webinars and research opportunities, where I have been invited”. Khizer

“During my first couple of weeks at UofT I was a little bit intimidated because it's been a while since I've been in school, so readjusting to the academic schedule was difficult.

But then I realized how much autonomy UofT students are given! There's a lot of flexibility here and I can pursue my studies and whatever I see fit”. Tristan

Evolving Academic Passions and Ambitions

“I'm in my second year, and I'm still very much on that path if I decide to keep pursuing my goal to study law. But I've had a bit of a revelation recently, and it's come as a part of working in politics, getting a moment to observe and think critically, analyse…

Being a candidate, you start seeing things very differently because you get in touch with every part of your community, which really opens your eyes to things outside. I would say because of that, I've been changing my mind on whether or not I intend to go to law school. Although I'm projected to, I don't think that would satisfy certain things I want.

I've really come to appreciate this love that I have for writing stories. I'd love to go into film making. As I've spoken with people on this campus and outside that do work in the creative industries, and they've all highly suggested that I kind of live a “double life”. I’ve been suggested to work in my family business, while doing my writing on the side. So maybe I will, maybe I won't”. Amir

“Since I was fresh out of high school I had no idea what to expect from university life. Especially when you start living by yourself you get hit in the face with reality. When applying, the perception of my major was a little blurry. My academic goals changed from conceptual to more grounded, I guess. Now thinking about the future is a lot more serious. I started looking for jobs and leaning towards technical skills as well. University life pushes you to learn about your discipline more concisely and understand what exactly you wanna do”. Odna

Favorite Classes

“Oh, that's tricky. This semester specifically, I think my favorite class so far has been our constitution class (The Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights). Although sometimes the class could feel like it's been lasting forever, I enjoy learning what each section of the constitution actually says. I enjoy the fact that I could apply knowledge of my and governmental rights in real life.

I often encounter that when someone complains about politics, it's more due to the lack of knowledge, rather than the actual presence of a problem. For instance, when people try to complain about the actions of the federal government, realistically speaking, it's actually the provincial government that's hindering their life in whatever way, and vice versa. Some people don't understand that the federal government and the provincial government are two different bodies of government which have different responsibilities. I like to relay that message to the community, so that people could approach problem solving more logically”. Renee

“I took a course called “The Changing World of Business- Government Relations”. It was a great contrast to other political science courses that I took in the past, due to its emphasis on lobbying and the disaffection that the economy can go through due to business intervention”. Khizer

“Honestly, “Introduction to Anthropology”, I had with Professor Dahl. It helped me with my transition into university life. She had a very gentle hand with giving us assignments and assessments. In another life, I would have done anthropology, but I want a job…” Tristan

Memorable Moments

“For me it's most of the courses that I've taken, which allowed me to look at things from various viewpoints. For example, my study focus is international development, but my education so far has been very interdisciplinary; I had a chance to look at International Development from the perspective of international, economy, politics, sustainability”. Odna

“The most memorable opportunity I've had here so far is being a part of the PSSC (Political Science Student Association), specifically being First Year Representative. It was my responsibility to relate the concerns and questions of other first year political science students, so some changes could be implemented. I really enjoyed it!” Renee

“This one was really crazy. I was offered to be interviewed for a magazine!” Khizer

Finding Community: Challenges and Connections

“At Scarborough Campus everyone is so to themselves and don't really socialise. I spoke to many people who have been here for two-three years and still don't have friends.

That is very sad because you're in a school with all of these people and the majority of the time you're trying to achieve the same goals. If you share the same goals, why not grow together? If you surround yourself with good people that have the same goals as you, 9 times out of 10, you're going to learn something that will benefit your life. Anyone that I see that has a goal and they're actually on the path of achieving it, those are the kind of people that I want in my corner. I want us to grow together. I want us to live and achieve that life that we see for ourselves. But I find that here a lot of people don't. They're just stuck in this little bubble and think they have to do everything on their own when it's okay to get a little help.

When it comes to social anxiety it's something that you could definitely break out of. I know it might be scary and you're scared, but at the end of the day you could come out of that mindset if it's something that you really want. Your wants should always override your doubts and fears over things. Because if your fears are at the top, then you're just you're not gonna get anywhere. And that's how I really see it. It's important to keep in mind that you could still achieve your goal if you just make it your main priority instead of thinking about the fears and the worst possible outcomes”. Renee

“I think everybody knows the prestige of UofT. So in one way, all students are on an equal level of, rising on top of the clouds. Due to its academic prestige, there is a party- homework balance or probably weighing homework higher. At Uoft people value their academic status.

Otherwise, it's just like any other university.. Maybe much more diverse compared to other ones, especially compared to lBrock or Trent University, which are a lot wider and more reflective of the Canadian population in those areas. UofT is a lot more international!” Khizer

Looking Ahead: Future Goals

“I always thought that I couldn't have options in life, that I needed to know one thing that I wanted to do and just stick with it. But then being a student at UofT made me realize that it's okay to have different options, venture out and dip your toes in different waters. It's just been a really big eye opener because at first, I wanted to do family law. I was set on family law since I was 16. But then taking a variety of classes, listening to many upperclassmen, made me realise there's more than just family law. I could venture off and just see what path is actually right for me”. Renee

“Short term, I would say continue to network and make a lot of friends. One huge goal is to leave university with some friends. Long term, becoming a lawyer, so, law school, master's, working in Ottawa, a city I find very attractive in terms of political events and opportunities”. Khizer

“As I mentioned, I'm very, very long term oriented in this as well. I think very often about what a mirror is going to look like in the year 02/1956. Well, that's how I try to live my life with that direction of the angle at the end of the tunnel. My mother came to this country. My grandfather came to this country as a refugee with his wife, three daughters, and $20 cash. While that may be worth a little bit more today, still under $50 Canadian, He was able to, under extraordinarily difficult circumstances with his family, all of them had managed to get out of the very crime infested area that they had lived in, a very difficult economically depressed area. They had been able to get an education. They're all to different degrees successful. My mother has worked herself basically to death to provide my brother and I with something that she never had, the option to do what we want. She had to claw for everything forever. Why wouldn't I want to do the same to my kids?

So why not work to death my whole life as well, grow the business, enter different industries, development, maybe expand into the American market, expand into import and export, real estate. And that's why I would say the end goal. Something I'd love to see is those very wealthy families, whether it be Rothschilds, Kennedys, Rockefellers, Vanderbilt's when they had money, they might have different areas of expertise but they had the same sense of community, sense of loving, that sense of wanting to expand and progress as ourselves. I think that if many more people did that, I think that we'd be dealing with a lot less issues such as people,

And therefore, my goal would be whatever it is, whatever it is that gets my children a start better than I had it. Very simple. What also I'd love to do is to make films. If I can make films every day in my life, I'd be more than happy to!” Amir

“Especially for our generation, there has been so much political, economic and environmental instability. Therefore, I am thinking about contributing to sustainable city planning and international development projects. I do have very strong opinions about how the world is evolving nowadays; I think humanity is losing touch with everything that is natural- such as actual real food, for example. So, one thing that I do want to do within my lifetime is to bring in new ways of agriculture. It is being highly industrialized- growing food in labs, etc. but there are many sustainable ways to grow crops and food, which do not receive enough funding. So I want to advocate against the overuse of technology in that sense”. Odna

Making a Difference: Personal Visions for Change

“Honestly, I just want to make people more united! I noticed there's always two sides to something, while there's never a common ground. I want everybody to just live in a society where they just focus on themselves instead of worrying about other people's perspectives. I want people to live for themselves, but also find a way to live with each other and actually care about each other and not put each other down. There just needs to be more self awareness”. Renee

“I think that people need to be a little bit more tolerant of each other, be able to get out of echo chambers, and see opposing views. Our system of education needs to be changed and adapted to the current realities of creating more conscious and critical thinkers.

Moreover, the world has changed a lot in the last fifty years with the advent of, like, social media and other technologies. Hence, it would be extremely important to incorporate some degree of education about such platforms onto younger individuals”. Tristan