Students tour U of G to gain knowledge of life on campus
From March 14 to 18, 2016, students congregated at the University of Guelph for the annual March break campus tours. It is estimated that nearly 2,500 prospective students toured the University of Guelph during this year’s event.
Many post-secondary institutions offer campus tours as a way of providing insight on the facilities, academics, and resources that are made available to the students. These tours are traditionally provided by upper year students who are currently enrolled at the school to ensure that the tours are providing both accurate and relevant information to the participants.
However, sometimes things happen on campus that can’t quite be explained by tour guides, regardless of how hard we may try. One example of this was the state of campus surrounding the festivities of St. Patrick’s Day—a day that many students devote to skipping class and partying. While many of the University of Guelph employees were trying desperately to control the situation, some scenes were difficult to ignore.
Picture anxious parents and flippant teenagers being bombarded by crowds decked out in every shade of green, plastic hats, and necklaces that doubled as shot-glasses. Many of these students had been drinking since the early hours of the day and were in quite an excitable state by the time that the tours were in full swing. This was especially true when passing by the bus loop where students were travelling to off-campus parties and the like.
Some particularly festive individuals took the liberty of informing my group that they had
“awesome cocaine” when we passed under their residence window. I spent the next ten minutes explaining to parents that the University of Guelph does not have a cocaine problem and that we do not promote drug use on campus. After many apologies and attempted cheesy jokes, my tour group was quickly ushered back towards central campus.
Before touring campuses, many students picture what they see in movies when imagining post-secondary education: intense parties, excessive drinking, and very little academia. In fact, some of the most common concerns that parents have when sending their children off to post-secondary education are about excessive drinking on campus. While we try to assure parents that the university promotes things like a dry orientation week and safe drinking habits for students who are of age, we must always remind them that students are treated as adults and are responsible for making their own decisions.
Tour guides have the incredulously difficult job of mediating between the fantasy and the reality of the university experience. While some of the expectations surrounding university are true (mostly homesickness and the freshman 15), there are some expectations that largely exaggerate and idealize the idea partying in post-secondary education. There will always be instances where students let the festivities get the best of them, but this is not an accurate representation of Guelph or of post secondary education on a whole.
So, what do you say when parents show signs of concern? Ultimately we must tell them the truth: People who want to partake in these kinds of events will always find a way if they are so inclined. This is true whether they decide to pursue post-secondary education or not.
At the end of the day, Guelph is one of the safest and most respectful schools that they could choose, and that is what makes it a smart choice for any prospective student. We should all be proud to share our community (flaws and all) with incoming students.