Bogdan Izdebski misses the students. It always takes a few days for the proprietor of Bob’s Dogs on the University of Guelph campus to adjust at the end of an academic year.
“I still have the squirrels and the birds, but it’s never the same,” Izdebski said on Tuesday, as the lull period between academic years settled in. “I play music with them, talk and sing, so when they leave it’s a pretty empty spot.”
The walls of his little shed are lined with pictures of smiling student faces, and those faces keep him company over the summer, he added.
For Brenda Whiteside, associate vice-president (student affairs), the end of a school year comes as a momentary breath of relief. The year past has always been an exhausting one.
“And then, within a day, it’s like, where are all the students?” she said. “Campus just has that really quiet feeling. But it is a good time to pause and plan, and get energized with new ideas.”
The university grounds, normally overrun by the multitudes, is nearly void of students now, as the 2016-17 has come to an end. It was a difficult year for the university, one in which the entire campus community grieved tragic losses.
The latter half of the year was characterized by an effort to enhance mental health services and awareness on campus. That work continues, said Whiteside.
“It was a tough year, for sure,” she said. “But at the same time those tough moments hide some of the good stuff that happens. You start to reflect and put things back in perspective, and see that we actually did a lot of good stuff this year, too. It’s a really reflective time for us.”
Student Saahi Katari was on campus early Tuesday morning. The fourth-year psychology student said campus is a “really empty and a bit spooky” at the end of a year. The energy of the bustling student body is drained out of the place.
“I kind of miss that,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it clears out the way it does.”
As a psych student, Katari said she is keenly interested in matters related to mental health. The tragedies of the past year have affected her and everyone else at U of G. Four students committed suicide during the year.
“I can’t imagine what those close to those students must be feeling,” Katari said. “My heart goes out to them.”
She hopes the university’s mental health awareness campaign continues throughout the summer and into the 2017-18 academic year. Students need to know that is OK to speak openly about mental health, and to seek help when challenges arise.
“Going from high school to university is a difficult transition,” she said. “Entering first year, you don’t know what to expect. You are trying to figure out who you are, and suddenly you’ve got five courses, you’re trying to manage on your own for the first time, make friends, and maybe looking for a job to support yourself. It’s a really difficult transition.”
But it gets easier after the first year, Katari said. First year students need to know that.
As soon as the year ended, Central Student Association began an overhaul and renovation of its headquarters in University Centre. Offices are being moved, and services shuffled and expanded, said Emily Vance, vice-president, student experience.
She said that while campus may be quiet now, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to get really for an onslaught of summer students.
“There is a lot to do, even if there are not as many students,” Vance said.
The CSA is there for students, she said, and is eager to improve its services and supports for them so “they can succeed in their academic life, and in their everyday life.”
