With September finished, the 2024/25 school year is officially in full swing. Here’s what students have to say about the new term.
Making it through the first month of a new year at university is no small accomplishment, whether this is your first, second, fourth or tenth time doing so.
For first-year students, the jump from high school to university can be steep, with more specialized courses, independence and responsibilities for students. Fortunately, many students that the Brock Press spoke to around campus were up to the challenge.
Samantha and Gabriella, first-year Child Health and Medical Sciences majors respectively, spoke about the additional stress they’ve been feeling as the workload ramps up.
“Every class by itself is fine, but altogether everything’s due at the same time on the same days,” said Gabriella. “Now I have to figure out how to do four assignments all due Monday, so it’s a lot.”
Samantha said her favourite part of university was “having time between classes to do what you want” and not being “stuck in a classroom for eight hours.”
At the same time, she spoke about university being a “different environment” than high school, especially because she doesn’t know her teachers on a personal level. What’s more, she’s found the importance placed on academic integrity to be a source of stress:
“In high school, I could ask my friends for help […] but now I don’t know what is crossing the line,” said Samantha regarding academic integrity. For her, the independence of schoolwork is intimidating, especially with the omnipresent threats of the consequences one can incur in cases of academic misconduct.
Maxine, a first-year Biomedical Sciences major, echoed Samantha’s words when she said, “they’re scaring us for no reason.”
Still, despite the immense workload, which keeps her from attending on-campus events, Maxine said that everyone at Brock is quite friendly, smiling at her in the halls and being generally kind.
Julia, a first-year student in the general humanities, said that she’s having a “really fun” time at Brock, citing the Glow Party as her favourite event so far. “It’s a lot of reading,” she admitted. “I wasn’t prepared for this much reading, but other than that, you have a lot of free time to do it.”
On her newfound independence, Julia said, “I like it, I miss my family a lot though. I’m really close with my family, so I miss them a lot, but I like the freedom, not having to be around all my siblings all of the time.”
Owen, a first-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), found that despite the workload being a leap from high school, it wasn’t too much to handle:
“They challenge you, but not too much, so it makes you think and gets you involved, but it’s not to where you’re sitting there stressing over classes, and I’d say I’m enjoying them so far,” he said. “To people who are thinking about first year, don’t be afraid. It’s a lot to take in at first, but it’s very fun and honestly, very engaging.”
Hearing responses like Owen’s are a positive sign. This school year is the fourth at Brock since the global shutdowns that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Brock and other campus organizations have worked hard to return the university experience to its heights before March 2020.
Of course, first-year students may not fully realize the extent of how much the university experience has changed because of COVID-19, but noticing friendly faces in the hall, engaging classes and positive experiences is a good sign.
Bradley, a third-year BBA student said that he was enjoying the new term, meeting old friends and seeing the improvements the university has made to the campus:
“I think the school has definitely done a lot more in terms of increasing opportunities for [student networking] because I think one thing that’s common is the loneliness that is felt by a lot of the new students.”
Fouad, a third-year Business Communication student and member of the Brock University Black Students’ Association (BLSA) alongside Bradley, said that clubs provide a sense of interconnectedness and shared campus knowledge between students, and help new students “get through easier” than when he started at Brock.
“It’s always nicer to get more direction as a student,” said Fouad.
Bradley described how the BSLA is a positive resource “for international students, especially those who are from the Black community” and that it’s “a place they can go to and feel safe among people that feel like home.”
“It’s always nice when we get all those first years; we meet a lot of these young guys [who are] very coachable. They come to us and ask us for advice on how they can thrive in their university lives, so it’s always nice to have that relationship with the newer guys […] It’s always nice to be in that sense of community; it’s great, it goes a long way,” said Bradley.
Sophia and Daud, fourth-year students in Public Health and Medical Sciences respectively, have seen first-hand how Brock’s changed over these past few years.
“There are a lot more students getting involved, with different clubs and the fairs,” said Sophia. “I remember in first year, it wasn’t cool to go to the fairs, it was just odd, but now everyone’s really getting involved with the Brock spirit.”
Furthermore, she noted the increased dining options in the cafeteria for students with dietary restrictions and the increased accommodations from professors: “They understand mental health better than in first year,” she said.
Despite their differences in housing, Sophia having lived on-campus and Daud off-campus in their first years, both commented on the relationships they’ve been able to make over their four years at Brock, and both noted feeling anxious and excited about their impending graduations.
“I’m excited to graduate, but I’m worried about the future and employment,” said Daud.
Sophia noted that she wasn’t sure what her plans post-graduation entailed, whether they be further education or a full-time job, but that Brock is providing her resources to help her make that decision:
“Now in fourth year, there are more courses that help you to try and find a job, but in first and second and even third year, I had no idea what I was going to do. There aren’t a lot of opportunities that I took advantage of, but now I am.”
Brock has worked hard to restore its campus to pre-COVID levels of participation and engagement, and it seems like their efforts are paying off. What’s more, it seems like not only is the university stepping up, but the students themselves are also working to help each other out and support one another in this journey.
Press did speak to some students who were having negative experiences, but they preferred not to be featured in this story. Still, the student reception was overly positive.
Whether you’re in your first year or fourth year, there’s always something to learn from others about school, life, communities and more. Brock is an adaptive and reflexive environment, and you can get much out of it simply by engaging with it.