Nadine Ramrattan talks with first year students at the University of Western Ontario.GEOFF ROBINS
This fall has been full of change for University of Alberta first-year student Tina Liang — a new school, new friends and new academic challenges.
One thing that has not changed is the place she calls home. When it came to picking universities, Ms. Liang decided she wanted the support — and home cooking — that living with her family brings.
"When I was younger I thought, university, I am so going to go somewhere else. But when it came time to decide, I didn't feel like I was ready," explains Ms. Liang, an honours student who is majoring in science. "I think I'll wait a couple of years before I do that."
Leaving home for the first time is a big part of the university experience for many students. Indeed, some argue that learning to get by without mom and dad is as much a part of higher education as the material covered in lecture halls or labs. At many schools, first-year students are strongly encouraged to live on campus because it helps foster stronger ties with their school and makes it easier for them to be involved.
But for students who live in major cities, staying at home can be an attractive option, especially if cost is a concern. A room in a university dormitory can cost anywhere from about $2,000 at Memorial University in St. John's to more than $8,000 at Montreal's McGill University. Staying at home also allows students to keep existing jobs and enjoy the comforts of home while they adjust to university life. About 46 per cent of first-year students live with their parents, according to the most recent numbers compiled by universities. That number has been fairly consistent but could rise as costs increase and the profile of university students changes with the growth of urban centres and immigration.
Whatever the reasons, deciding whether university will bring with it a change of address is often one of the biggest decisions university applicants will have to make.
That's certainly been the case for Rebecca Gill, a first year student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. Just before Labour Day, Ms. Gill packed her bags and made the big move from Abbotsford, B.C., with her mother and her aunt in tow.
Now that they have left, Ms. Gill, 18, is bracing for a few bouts of homesickness before she gets to see her family again at Christmas break. "It's kind of scary, I have to say," she says. "I have a good phone plan."
Going away to university was always Ms. Gill's plan. She narrowed her options to two schools, the University of British Columbia and Queen's, both selected because of their reputation and programs. When Queen's offered her a large scholarship, Ms. Gill said she felt it was an opportunity she could not turn down. Still, she confesses she got cold feet this spring when it came time to formally accept the offer.
"I think it is important for everyone to go outside their comfort zone," she says. "In the end I didn't want to have regrets. I wanted to take the risk."
Dilmini Peiris can relate to that. As an international student from Sri Lanka, she says she did a lot of growing up during her first year at Queen's. "The first year was quite a culture shock," remembers Ms. Peiris, a fourth year student in biomedical engineering. "I think the biggest change was that all at once you are an individual, responsible for your own actions."
Ms. Peiris is working now to help other first-year students make the transition. For the second year she is a residence don, a job that involves keeping a watchful eye on the 40 or so students on her floor while they get used to their new freedom.
"Most of them need time to mature," says Ms. Peiris, 22, who last year witnessed roommate troubles, excessive drinking, exam stress and even anxiety for the dog left at home. "I felt like I lived 44 lives," she says. "But I also watched them change. It was beautiful."
Staff and student advisers work to establish "responsible freedom" among new students at the University of Western Ontario in London, says Peggy Wakabayashi, the director of residence life.
Some behaviours are not tolerated, she says, but the dons and residence advisers try to guide new students to make the right choices. When they don't, the first response is to talk about the consequences of their actions rather than resort right away to punitive measures.
"We are trying to build responsibility at the individual level," she says. "It would be easier to make decisions for them, but instead we try to put the optimal conditions in place and provide them with a safety net if they run into trouble."
Western, along with other universities, is also offering students more choices in residence. That includes a variety of dorm layouts including suites with shared common areas and single rooms as well as the traditional two- and three-bed rooms with communal washrooms down the hall.
Western also offers quiet and alcohol-free floors as well as women-only floors, Ms. Wakabayashi says. There is no demand, she added, for a guys-only option.
Most universities also have stepped up efforts to persuade students living at home or off campus to stick around when their classes are over and get involved in other aspects of university life.
Even if they move away, most Canadian university students stick pretty close to home, says Sean Junor, a manager at the Educational Policy Institute, an independent think tank. "Most Canadian students are comfortable being within a laundry line of home," Mr. Junor says. "About 200 kilometres. Close enough to take your laundry and eat on the weekends with your parents, but still enough distance that they don't meddle in your affairs on a day-to-day basis. It's a fine balance."
Back in Alberta, Ms. Liang says her first consideration in selecting a school was the quality of the education. An only child who arrived in Canada from China when she was 10, she says the decision to stay home was not culturally based. Her parents encouraged her to look at other major Canadian universities, and as a prize-winning student her marks could have opened plenty of doors. But after spending a summer working on the University of Alberta campus Ms. Liang decided there was no need for her to go elsewhere, even before receiving a top scholarship offer.
"This is definitely a new chapter in my life," she says. "But I like that I can come home and have a talk with my parents every night."