For those of you unfamiliar with how Canada does higher education, students in Canada do not attend college.  To Canadians, college is the same as High School is here in the United States.  In Canada, students attend university.

In Canada students receive a university diploma instead of a college diploma here in the U.S.  If you are 22 and tell a Canadian you just got your college diploma, they will look at you weird as most high school students should be done by 18.  A friend of mine once went to a store in Canada looking for a college diploma frame and the store keeper gave her a weird look when she said it was for her.  My friend was 31 at the time.  Of course, after explaining she was from the U.S., the storekeeper understood.

It is amazing how different phrases have different meanings in other countries.  For instance, if you went to Britain you have probably heard cigarettes called “fags.”  One of my friends stayed in London for a while and the first time someone asked her if she was “going out for a fag,” her friend became upset.  In America, that word is used as a slur to homosexuals.  Over there, it’s a cigarette.

Sometimes the culture of another country can lead to some interesting and even humorous situations.  That’s just another thing that makes life interesting.

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Back in the days when getting an education meant either joining a college where your peers were more interested in beer drenched frat parties or popularity contests than actually learning anything, or signing up for a distance learning course where all your course material arrived by mail, there weren’t too many opportunities for a person who wanted a high quality education without having to be restricted to a particular campus.

Then, when the internet began to mature, online colleges began to appear.  Initially, these weren’t trusted, even though they offered well structured programs that led to college degrees in a number of fields.  Times have changed since then, and how. Online education is an accepted part of the education spectrum now, and the number of fields that you can obtain degrees in, is huge.  From online bachelor’s degrees, to online doctoral programs, people are realizing that there is more than one way to get that coveted degree you’ve always wanted.  You get to set your own study timings, and can take days off from study whenever you need to, instead of having to wait till spring break rolls around!

Besides, in the comfort of your own home, you’re spared that incessant campus politicking that goes on at college these days.  With so many advantages to getting a college degree online, no wonder that more and more people are choosing to join the virtual college.

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