While having friends on campus contributes to a great university experience, there are a multitude of benefits to maintaining long distance friendships across universities
The pandemic greatly impacted how students make friendships during their university careers. According to Reddit user u/Bbso1229, “COVID took that friendship building experience away from me and everyone else in my first year.” They further elaborated that although extroverted, they have difficulty creating friendships due to pre-established friend groups formed during the pandemic.
Some McMaster students have noticed the similar struggles that are faced by commuter students and have created the McMaster Society for Off-Campus Students. This society aims to cater to the needs of commuter students and helps them feel included within the McMaster community. McMaster SOCS aims to help commuter students form friendships with those who can relate to their experiences.
Unfortunately, for commuter students or individuals who choose to live off-campus during their first year, the experience of u/Bbso1229 is much more commonly shared than you may think. It is difficult for individuals to make friends during a time of limited social interaction. It proves even more complicated when most of the individuals they interact with on campus have their own established friend groups.
As a former commuter student myself, it has been difficult to make friends with peers during undergrad. This especially rings true if you are attending a different university than your high school peers. On a positive note, the difficulty of making new friendships during the pandemic has lead to some creating stronger bonds within pre-existing friendships. Many individuals, including myself, have turned to childhood friendships for support.
As a former commuter student myself, it has been difficult for students such as myself to make friends with peers during undergrad.
Though distance may make it seem difficult to maintain old friendships, one of the largest benefits of possessing a friendship with a student who attends another university is the professional opportunities, such as research opportunities or jobs, that it could expose you. While McMaster is a research-intensive institute, it could sometimes be difficult for students to secure a position due to the popularity of student-sought research opportunities.
Fortunately, expanding your friend group can also expand your network; your friends could introduce you to their network, thus giving you access to more connections.
Fortunately, expanding your friend group can also expand your network; your friends could introduce you to their network, thus giving you access to more connections.
With an expanded network, students have many more opportunities to connect with individuals who are researching or working in the student’s subject of interest. Although this may sound difficult to accomplish since you do not attend that university, your friend’s own network is now shared with you, allowing you to also explore the potential connections within their network.
Additionally, inter-university friendships do not necessarily result in the same degree of competition between friends and instead spark encouragement due to the lack of similarity in work. Since courses are not structured identically across universities, the variance in coursework downregulates a competitive nature in students. It can be difficult to compare yourself to your friend when you are following a different course breakdown.
It can be difficult to compare yourself to your friend when you are following a different course breakdown.
Although having a friend group at your university can better integrate you into the community and make you feel at home where you study, it certainly does not hurt to expand your network to different universities. With the numerous benefits of having friends living far from you, it may be best to rekindle the childhood friendships that may have fell apart since beginning university.
To those of you in the latter half of your undergraduate degree, what do you remember about the end of high school?
I can tell you that I don’t remember much of Grade 12. I think I enjoyed myself a little bit, but I was also the head of three clubs, applying to university and grappling with the idea of moving away from home. I wish I could say I have a fountain of memories of lazy spring evenings or poorly-planned adventures, but most of what I remember is staying up until 2 a.m. writing essays or studying for the calculus class I was almost failing.
Maybe I’m just getting nostalgic as I inch closer to graduation (or, more realistically, panicky as I careen closer to my thesis presentation), but I wish that I had more exciting or interesting or even sappy memories about that time. And even though it feels like I don’t have time to breathe sometimes, there are some things I’m trying to keep in mind as I work through the next month and a half.
I realize how cheesy this sounds, but I remember the end of high school and how busy I was, and how I felt like I was fumbling for whatever small memories I could catch and hold onto for the future. I forgot to have a little fun while I was there, and despite being almost as swept-off-my-feet busy now, I’m trying to not let that happen again.
It’s hard to do, but I’m trying to savour fleeting, seemingly inconsequential moments. I’m taking mental pictures of my friends laughing at ridiculous jokes. Or bottling the way the sun looks on my bedroom wall during that golden post-sunrise time. Or relishing the chilly air during a late-night walk home from an evening out.
I’m also doing my best to not blame myself for everything that happens around me. This one is tough; I am accountable for all my own actions, but I’m working to accept that there are factors that may be out of my control in so many situations. Sometimes the rug will be yanked out from under you and, as upsetting as that is, remember that it’s not the end of the world. I’m trying.
An old fake proverb from Mad Magazine states: “may you do various things and may other various things happen to you”. Words to live by. And it’s hard to accept that some things are out of my hands, but I’m realizing how important that is to acknowledge.
I don’t want to remember my last year of undergrad as a messy, stressful, uncertain period. And I’ve resolved that I’m not going to. I have had so many cozy nights at my favourite low-key bar. I’ve hosted my first dinner party (it was pancakes, but conceptually it was still a dinner party). I’ve achieved and earned rewards and opportunities I’ve worked my ass off for, and all of those experiences outweigh speedwriting a response paper or cramming for the GRE.
No one other than me will remember why those events are so important on a personal level. Similarly, no one will ever wholly understand why a particular outing or person or food is worth preserving in your mind. Remember that.
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On the outskirts of campus, McMaster graduates prepare a story of an apocalyptic diner to be performed at the fourteenth annual Hamilton Fringe Festival. For many of those involved, First Class preludes the next big step in pursuing a career in the local theatre industry in Hamilton and beyond.
First Class was first shown as part of the McMaster Theatre Programs’ graduating classes’ Honours Series Performances, and was selected via lottery to show alongside over 300 live performances from July 20 to July 30 at this year’s Fringe Festival.
The drama centers around three strangers trapped in a diner just days before the world ends. The three fight over the news of a spaceship, which is set to give the lucky few a first class ticket to a new, habitable planet.
McMaster Commerce graduate YiJian Zheng plays Benny, a young, gifted inventor with a villainous disdain for the poor, and who has had the privilege of having his ticket purchased for him by his parents.
Theatre program graduate Christina Stolte plays his foil. Her character, Callie, is a single mother, who is frantically finishing her application to earn a spot on the ship for her and her son.
The diner owner, Deejay, mediates the two and is played by Mohawk television and broadcasting student Funsho Elegbeleye.
The story explores themes of privilege, immigration and seeks to explore the grim question of who deserves to live or die when given the choice.
“I've always wanted to pursue a more artistic career. Singing, and [now] acting. I came to Mac mostly because my friends were here and they took commerce and my parents wanted to me have a commerce degree so that's what I chose. [But] my real passion is acting …"
YiJian Zheng
Co-writer and co-director Omobola Olarewaju was able to insert her own experience as a former international student into the characters.
“Coming from privileged background in Nigeria I was able to have both ends of the privilege [experience] … So I was privileged back home and came here and the international student life isn’t quite as [privileged] as what I came from I noticed there are a lot of limitations based on the fact that I'm not a citizen,” said Olarewaju.
“Deejay's character is kind of in the middle … I put a lot of my own experience into because he is also an international … an immigrant at the end of the world. [He] doesn’t have food ration rights, doesn’t have any of the normal things that people are entitled to, but still makes things work.”
This year, Olarewaju graduated from theatre and film and the economics programs at Mac, and like other members of the First Class team, she is immediately seeking to further her career in the theatre or film industry. She is currently working on a book, continuing her life-long practice of writing, while also seeking opportunities to work in television and film.
Unlike his fellow cast members, Zheng entered McMaster planning to pursue a career in commerce. In his third year, this changed when an extra male role needed to be filled for the McMaster School of The Arts’ production of Lady In The Red Dress.
“I've always wanted to pursue a more artistic career. Singing, and [now] acting. I came to Mac mostly because my friends were here and they took commerce and my parents wanted to me have a commerce degree so that's what I chose. [But] my real passion is acting … so when my friend told me about this opportunity with Lady in the Red Dress I took it."
Zheng resides in Richmond Hill, and currently has a full-time job to support his endeavour into a potential full time acting career. He hopes that opportunities to work in theatre, whether that’d be finally landing a role in a musical or working in the technical aspect of production, and that those opportunities present themselves close to the GTA.
The Fringe Festival is a means of showcasing the Hamilton theatre community, and it is this community that has both Stolte and Elegbeleye hoping that they can launch their careers in Hamilton specifically.
“[Hamilton] might not seem like the place to go if you were looking to be a skilled actor but I feel like it will get there, and aim hoping to be part of the people who find that, inspire that or who bring that to life ... I feel that Hamilton is going to be [my starting point]. ... it already is. People see that at the Fringe,” said Elegbeleye.
Elegbeleye has been acting in a variety of different productions since childhood, and has performed for two years at McMasters’ African Students Associations’ Afrofest. Currently, he is working a working on a web series titled Catalyst.
“[Hamilton] might not seem like the place to go if you were looking to be a skilled actor but I feel like it will get there, and aim hoping to be part of the people who find that, inspire that or who bring that to life ..."
Funsho Elegbeleye
Stolte has been part of school and community theatre productions since her childhood. Originally hailing from Burlington, she also sees Hamilton as a place for making connections with theatre industry veterans.
"Some theatre in some location is awesome, but not so much in a career sense — more in a recreational sense. In Hamilton, I have a very distinct feeling that it is very productive in a career sense where you could get a lot of really good experience ... that will then help with furthering a career in acting or anything to do with theatre really,” explained Stolte.
While this may be the last chance to see First Class, it may not be long before the names behind the production appear again in Hamilton’s theatre and independent film scene. For these artists, writers and technicians, Hamilton continues to be an increasingly attractive place to hone their craft.
First Class will be play at Mills Hardware from July 20 to July 30. Show times and more information about the Fringe can be found at http://hamiltonfringe.ca/
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