It’s a busy time at universities and colleges as thousands of students are getting back to school.
That story played out today at the University of Victoria, with families coming from near and far to see their young men and women get settled in.
For first year students, getting residency has been easy.
but others have had to pay throughout summer just to ensure they have a home in the fall.
Andy Neal has more.
A filled parking lot with license plates representing the distance so many have traveled to be at the University of Victoria.
First year students are ready to get going on a new chapter in their lives.
“I want the residents experience,” first year student Lauren Feyer said.
“I wanted to live in the little shoe-box and have everything super close and be on campus all the time so I can meet people.”
“Just the location of Victoria is a really nice place to live,” Rachel Cathro from Seattle said.
“I’m a bit nervous, but I’m overall more excited about the whole experience and being more independent,” Nicol Makarowski from Carlsbad, California said.
It’s a time of flying the coop, bringing anything that can fit.
“We filled up two cars of stuff and I’m figuring I’m going to leave with some of this stuff when she realizes it won’t all fit,” Makarowski’s father, Brian, said.
“Having a moment,” Cathro’s mom, Alison, said.
“But we’re excited for all this opportunity that presents her.”
For most of the first year students, getting a place to live on campus was mostly stress-free.
“It’s through their online registration stuff, so I just kind of went through the checklist and said what I wanted and they offered a spot,” one first year student from Smithers, BC said.
But for students living off campus, the rental shortage in the Capital has forced some to make costly decisions.
“You can either leave your place empty, which a lot of my friends did who are in second year for the summer,” Feyer said.
“But they went home and just paid the three months when they weren’t living there.”
Feyer added, “But some people move over just to really get their money’s worth I guess.”
While other out-of-town families have even bought a home here.
“We were looking for rental properties for the boys to go into and find spots for them and there was just nothing that they were interested in,” Laurence Turney said, a parent from Smithers.
“So we ended up figuring well might as well with 2 kids we can, and two more boys or two more roommates, we can actually make it work out, so we bought a house about three years ago.”
It’s a learning experience for all, soon in the classroom and living on their own.
Andy Neal
