Welcome, incoming commuters!
Balancing academics, extracurriculars, and social activities as a university student can be difficult. Add a long commute to and from school, and the experience can be draining and sometimes isolating. Luckily, Victoria College has many great resources for commuter students to make their day-to-day commutes more convenient and to help them find their place on the campus social scene.
Important resources for commuters are provided by campus organizations dedicated to serving commuter interests. The Victoria Off Campus Association (VOCA) is one of the key groups representing commuters.
Emilia De Fabritiis, VUSAC’s Commuter Commissioner, describes VOCA’s role on campus and the various services it offers: “VOCA is the official VUSAC Commuter Commission and we offer a variety of social events for commuter students. Our most widely known event is our weekly free pancake brunch in the Cat’s Eye. This year, I am making an effort to collaborate with one residence don every month for an event where residence and commuter students can mingle. VOCA hosts other events such as Home for the Holidays (a holiday semi-formal) and movie nights. Through VOCA, students are able to rent out free lockers for a semester. Lockers are located in the second basement of the Goldring Student Centre.”
Tabina Ahmed, the VOCA Co-Chair, also weighed in: “Overall, our mission at VOCA is to facilitate the everyday hustle of the commuter student body at Vic U, and to create a bridge between non-commuters and commuters in order to promote an accepting and fun environment for everyone!”
The resources provided by VOCA make commuting easier by offering on-campus accommodations, and by providing venues for commuters to access the campus social scene, which can be particularly difficult when you aren’t living in residence. Being a commuter can often seem isolating, and it’s important that students know what they can do to feel socially engaged and involved on their campus.
“Personally, I really tried to make an active effort to get involved,” says De Fabritiis. “Of course, not everyone is like me and it also helps that I’m very connected to social media so I always stay in the loop. I also went to Commuter Orientation in my first year which helped me […] meet a lot of new people and upper years who really made me feel wanted.”
Although commuting can feel tiring and tedious, it is reassuring to know that Victoria College has such a welcoming atmosphere that makes it much easier to participate in campus social life and culture. By making use of the support systems available to Victoria commuter students, and with just a little bit of active engagement in campus life, commuters can make their time at Vic much more rewarding and find their place in a community that has so much to offer.
Comments are closed.