Punx2
By Punpun
May 15, 2026
So I just finished my third year at U of T and I'm gonna recap it.
This year as a whole was a lot less basic and introductory compared to my first two years. I got to do a lot of deeper things that I'm actually interested in. In fact, I think most of my classes ended up being quite enjoyable.
I will say that a lot of my classes felt stats heavy. I took eleven classes in total this year and three of them are actual stats classes. I took two econ classes and they give a lot of mentions from time to time about probability and statistics. Additionally, my mathematical finance class and machine learning class are deeply connected to statistics. So in a lot of my classes it felt like I was basically relearning stats in a different context. Not necessarily saying it's good or bad but it's definitely a thing.
Although I would say I learned a lot this year, I wouldn't say this is a very fulfilling year academically. Ideally, I would like to feel like I'm ready to graduate by now, but my classes leave a lot left to be desired. A lot of them don't give me that much applicable skills and feel too basic for a third year class.
I wish to put out a blog in the future going into deeper dives of things I did/learn in my classes this year. Maybe if or when I do that I'll link some of those blogs here.
I have a bittersweet relationship with the club work I did. On one hand, I genuinely enjoyed the clubs that I joined. I love contributing to clubs and don't regret doing so. On the other hand though, I feel that I was too busy this year to make the most from the clubs I was a part of. Club work felt a lot like something I'd do to fill up my free time. It was like my third job.
That being said, I loved the clubs I was a part of. Shout out to University of Toronto's Thai Student Association (UTTSA), IEEE UofT, and the Statistics Student Union. I love them all and I don't necessarily regret joining these. Just wish I had more disposable free time that I could comfortably invest in these activities.
This year marked my second year being a First year Learning Community Peer Mentor. It somehow was even more enjoyable than my first year on the job.
The group of students we ended up having were a great bunch. They were enjoyable to talk to and were curious and academically driven. Me and my co peer mentor (shout out to Henry) managed to try a lot of new things this year. We had a lot of fun trying out different activities and coming up with fun ways to make math fun for out students. Overall, very rewarding experience.
I'm realizing that this is likely one of my last few years I'll ever be in school. I am extremely saddened by this. I had a remarkable time hanging out in Toronto. I got to meet a bunch of wonderful people this year and I know I'm gonna miss them all after we part ways.
Overall, this third year has been quite bittersweet. Some part of me wished I did more. Some part of me wished I did less and gave myself more free time. I feel sad that the university life as I know it is about to end soon. At the same time, I feel extremely grateful that it happened.