THUNDER BAY – The start of the new school year is bringing new beginnings on campus at Confederation College.
The college officially launched its academic year on Tuesday, welcoming students for an orientation session to help prepare for the start of classes later this week.
Student union president Vignesh Viswanathan said the orientation helps introduce the students to resources that are available to help them succeed.
“It provides an opportunity for them because it’s overwhelming for many students who are coming from different places to come to a different environment,” Viswanathan said.
“It’s important they have a heads up on how their classmates are going to be, who their professors are and how the college environment is going to be.”
Upwards of 1,000 students were expected to gather for the outdoor event, which was given an appreciated reprieve from looming rain. They were treated to a free lunch, as well as games and a college services fair.
Brandon Kocuiba, a 19-year-old from Fort Frances who moved to Thunder Bay to take the electrical engineering program, said the orientation was a chance to meet new people.
“It’s been good. Everyone is so friendly here. It’ll be a good school year,” he said. “It’s been quite stressful for the first couple of days but with all the classmates and everything it will go by fine.”
While the day was meant to welcome new students to campus, it also represented a fresh start for new college president Kathleen Lynch, who marked her first official day on the job after succeeding former president Jim Madder.
“It’s an exciting day for me too and the energy is great here,” Lynch said.
Lynch said she spent part of her first day providing directions to students still trying to get their bearings.
“I think it’s very important for students to know how much we look forward to having them here and welcome them, but also to have them know that success in life depends on an education and finishing your education is so important,” Lynch said.
“We want to set the tone right off the bat that we’re here for students and here to support them.”
Lynch said student enrolment is on track to be the same as last year, though the number of international students has grown substantially.
“We have a strong international student representation with almost 1,000 students from 13 different countries,” Lynch said.
“I think it really helps all of us to grow. In Thunder Bay we haven’t had a strong international representation as a community. We can see the difference in the community from the international students that come here and to Lakehead and I think it improves our community and increases the overall diversity.”
