School System cultural shock

I am no writer so please bear with me.....

I moved to Canada when I was 16 years old(2016). As someone who grew up in the city, was exposed to western cultures and as someone who spoke good English adopting was not hard. (well ofc except leaving most of my family and my friends) .

The first biggest cultural shock I would say is the school system where students move around between classes unlike back home where students stay in one class room and teachers make the dropping in from one class to another. At first it did not seem too bad; well it did not seem too bad 5 years after when I attended collage for 2.5 years, before finally deciding to change my academic life(if you are wondering I am still a student you don't just drop out of collage when you are African).

Back home where students stay in class room leaving the teachers to move around it was highly possible to sit next to one person the entire year, yes the ENTIRE year maybe even the next and the one after. In a class room of 20-24 students where you are practically stuck with eachother you are bound to develop very strong bond, even when you are not exactly friends, even when you speak once a month there is that familiarity that you can not explain.

I currently started my new program where I am working towards getting my Commercial pilot License as well as my academic diploma right along with it I find myself back to the school system I knew my whole life. In this post secondary program we are not meant to jump from one class room/faculty to another instead we stay in one when attending our academic part of the program and that is when It suddenly hit me.

In mainstream collage where I switched from one class to another, where we barely aknowledged eachother and spoke only when necessary. It is no wonder I did't manage to have a bond that lasted. Which made me think that maybe I grew too old to make friends seeing that I am still connected and close to the friends I had since the age of 5 I blamed it all on “being an adult”. I assumed "falling out" once your semester ended was just the way of life, but wait my best friend the one I knew for 10 years, the one I haven't seen in 5 years is still my best friend despite the distance and lack of communication we have a bond that never seems to decrease.

Now being in my new program(consisting of 24 students), seeing the same people every day I relized how much I have missed it. It seems our bond is stronger, we engage in converations not just because we have an assignment to finish. It only took us two days to fall into a comfortable routine which involved us switching seats everyday so we get to work with different people as our learning required some interactions, lunch time routines and all the things you find in friendships. The familiarity is just naturally there without being forced, communication comes so eas, we work together, there is a big support system, and it feels so good to have that ease with my peers. Finding a study partner has become so easy, there is laughter, genuine support....it all feels so good. I did not relize how lonely it felt not to have those things or more like not having those things for more than a couple months before I have to do it over and over again. Which lead to simply burning out and not wanting to communicate with people at all, because after sometime there just is not enough energy.

I understand that is not a system that works for everyone but it got me wondering how many people felt that they can't seem to make frienships to last in these places? Because even when we have friends outside these institutions it is great to have people around that you can relate to in so many ways.