I’ve been at Camosun for one year. I completed my first three terms from September through August, and I’ve seen changes and growth in my short time here, but it’s made me wonder: how does one find community at Camosun?
I’m in a transfer program studying toward a combined computer science and psychology degree and looking to minor in entrepreneurship. When I tell people what I study, the most common response is, “interesting, such different fields!” This response is not wrong, but it gets me wondering about how I’ve spent my time at Camosun: I’m in a wide variety of courses, and still at a loss as to where I should be looking for my community.
Camosun offers an array of programs and fields of study—as any good institution should—built of different cohorts of students from trades, technology, business, health, arts and science, or maths. It makes me wonder, do these students ever really cross paths beyond the classroom? Do we ever feel like part of the nursing students’ community when we’re standing on the Interurban campus? Do we feel like we can sit next to trades students and have commonality under the mutual banner of “Camosun student”? Can a student whose primary classes are health, business, trades, or technology at Interurban step onto Lansdowne and feel like they belong amongst the humanities students?
What I’m trying to hint at is this: with separate locations, specific cohorts, and students from all over the world, what is it that builds community at Camosun College?
I’ve been fortunate to study on both Lansdowne and Interurban campuses, being exposed to numerous Camosun features and benefits. The one thing I’ve noticed with my swath of courses is that I sometimes feel like the community aspect is lacking. Is just being on campus, attending classes, and wearing a branded shirt or sweater enough to classify as being part of a community?
I think community must be more than just being in a specific place or part of a larger group of individuals; I think community is more of a feeling, a state of mind, however that may present for you individually.
As for me, I try to understand my own feelings toward being part of this place and the larger group. I’m a transfer student, working toward my own education goals and may be here for a transient period of time; I’m in different classes, meeting new people, but may never have common classes with a lot of my like-minded peers. I bought myself a spiffy blue Camosun hoodie and I take pride in wearing it, but I still have the lingering doubt in the back of my mind about whether this is enough.
As students of Camosun, our time is limited here. Whether for a two-year run, as is my path, or five years for a degree, we are on our own paths, but we still want to be part of a community. We all have that desire to connect and be part of something bigger than ourselves, and I wonder what more we can do as individuals. Even more to the point: what can Camosun do to facilitate that community feeling with the 14,000 students attending classes every year? As the college continues to change, it also needs to keep community and connections in mind.