The first day back to school is always memorable: pre-planning your outfit, getting your books and pencils ready – and planning the best route to avoid that infamous early morning traffic at Conestoga College.
First-year public health student Damaris Middleton said she didn’t mind the traffic: “As long as I get a spot.”
Middleton comes from Manitoulin Island, a six hour drive plus a ferry ride away from Conestoga, and made the trek down due to lack of other options closer to home. “It’s only offered at Ryerson [University] and Conestoga,” she said of the public health program. Middleton said her first week was a success, and is looking forward to the upcoming months.
First-year animation student Sam Ash-Vanderloo said her orientation day would be something to remember. “ I lost my ID and that meant I couldn’t get my one card,” she said of the card used by students to access basic campus resources.
Along with misplacing the card, Ash-Vanderloo took a two hour bus ride to school; trying to find her card in time seemed like an alarming task. However, she said the initial frets and jitters of the first week have subsided and she’s settling into the program.
It’s not just first-year students that have stress about starting the school workload again at the Doon campus. Second-year broadcast radio student Seth Leis was excited to get back into the swing of things, but feels the energy shift of leaving first-year behind. “It’s busy but not overwhelming.”
He added that he has been travelling from the Tavistock area to come to Conestoga for 5 a.m. to cover the morning news anchor shift at CJIQ, the school’s radio station. While the position adds more work to his growing amount of assignments, it’s a highlight that he enjoys.
When asked about how things are for the first week, Leis said: “So far, so good.”
