If you are in your 2^nd or 3^rd year of university, you probably realize by now that your school is made up of very diverse groups of students. That’s normal, since people in university come from all kinds of backgrounds, cultures and schools. Social life here is a different ball game from that in your high school where the population is more or less homogenous.  As you meet the 5 groups yourself, sometimes you will find it frustrating to be with them, sometimes it is funny. One thing for sure, by introducing you to the 5 main groups of people in university, you will be in for less of a culture shock when you encounter them.

Muggers

They form the biggest group of people in university. They are all around you- canteens, classrooms, corridors and most apparently, libraries. They can be further broken down into 2 sub-groups: the warriors and the ninjas. The first group consists of those that do it in bright daylight and the second are those that conceal themselves in the dark. The warriors will blatantly and apologetically turn down all social invitations, requests or obligations, in the name of studying. They are mostly geeks or nerds but there has been no proven correlation between being a nerd and a warrior mugger as yet.

For the 2^nd group, it is unlikely that you know that they are muggers, let alone ninja muggers. It is the reason why you grossly underestimate the percentage of muggers in your school. They go out for social events as usual but with their highly polished stealthy techniques, they will slip off halfway during the session to return home swiftly to carry out mugging without anyone noticing. They are the ones who end up obtaining superbly high marks with peers wondering how they did it. Ninjas will then attribute it to intelligence and have you deceived. In fact, it is believed that they mug harder and longer than even the warriors. They are also said to have mastered the art  of  studying smart . Kudos to them.

CCA Addict

They are either recruiting, organizing, interviewing or canvassing(who knows what’s that), it makes you wonder if they are full time students or full time CCA-ers. One common denominator of all CCA addicts is that they have at least 3 CCAs but it doesn’t seem to be enough for them. Conversation with them revolves around the topic of the latest event they just organized. After class, they will disappear into thin air, much like warrior muggers do. However, you will spot them not in the libraries, but in the canteens with their CCA mates discussing about the next big project to organize. If only they are as enthusiastic in your class project as they are in their CCA project.   You can’t really blame them though, they need the points for securing their halls for next year(that’s what they will tell you).

Straight-A’s students

These people tend to cluster together for all modules. They share notes, tips and secrets with their elite group which requires a GPA of 4.9 and above for admittance. They simply cannot afford to end up in a project group with a Straight-Bs student; this will ruin their transcript. If you happen to be in the same project group as them, be prepared to slog it out. They will require multiple revisions in your work until it becomes perfect.

Straight-As students is the most visible group in university and they are extremely easy to spot; they are the ones staying back after class to bombard the prof with 101 questions. This results in a twofold benefit of eliciting exam tips and creating a good impression with prof. In class, they will raise their hands relentlessly as they cannot afford to even miss out on a single class participation mark.

If you are lucky enough to befriend them in class, you will have access to loads of exclusive study tips and exam secrets. What’s more, you can count on them to alert you on the latest assignment to submit for this week. Sounds like a good deal ? Only if you can maintain your GPA above 4.9.

Future CEOs

Don’t be surprised when someone hands you a name card in class and shakes your hand to introduce himself. You lower your head to read the content of the namecard and it says: Director , manager or CEO. It can be of a club or a company. Meet the future CEO. They go to every conceivable networking event held in the school from Google’s recruitment talk to the student union welcome day. Missing out on an opportunity to reach out to prospective employers or clients is simply not an option to them. When you chat with them, they will start talking at length about their big dreams and the purpose of their life- either to build the next Facebook or to eliminate world poverty(or racial discrimination).

 In–their-own worlds

The final group of people is always in their own world. They are missing for lectures, absent for tutorials and practically non-existent during project meetings. It is not surprising that they don’t even turn up for convocation. The reason for their disappearance is unknown and will never be known. They could be ninja muggers, CCA addicts of future CEOs busy with their own pursuits, but the key is that no one ever knows. What is even more mysterious is that, in the rare occasion that they go for class, they are physically but not spiritually present. Whether their spirits have the ability to leave the body to conduct their own affairs is again unknown.  If you happen to befriend them in class, they will be messaging you every now and then asking about what to submit this week.  In other words, they are the total opposite of straight-As students.

 Now that you have been introduced to the 5 main groups in university, you are fully equipped to navigate the social life in school. If you want to hit the deans list, you know who to hang out with. If you want to get notified about the latest event happening in school, you have an idea of who to count on. Perhaps you are getting philosophical and need someone to lecture you about life, you discern the best person to ask. What’s more important, you also know who to avoid.

Is there any group of people in university other than the 5 groups being introduced above? Feel free to comment below to tell us.