First year memories
Mary McEwen started her studies 57 years prior to Sandreka Rowe’s first year. As you’d expect, much has changed but there are consistent themes as well. Chemistry remains to be a tough first year course and the friends you make last a lifetime.
Mary (Gilbank) McEwen
Hometown: Listowel, Ont.
Program: Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
Class: OAC Class of 1967
Why did you choose to go to university?
It never occurred to me to do anything else. My mother thought I should go to teacher’s college, and my father was certain I should go to university.
Why study agriculture?
I didn’t really think of it as “agriculture” per se at the time. I was looking to study science. I didn’t perceive I would hang my hat on being an Aggie. But I learned quickly. It was definitely something that arrived on my doorstep.
What drew you to your program?
It was a program where I didn’t have to choose my focus when entering. I wanted some sort of science, but I liked that I didn’t have to go straight into chemistry. In second year, I could make the decision. I thought I would focus on chemistry but as it turned out, I didn’t.
What residence did you live in?
Macdonald Hall. The first-year Aggie and Vet women were in residence. First- and fourth-year Mac women were in Macdonald Hall as well. The other Aggie and Vet women lived in Bursar Hall [now Drew Hall]. We had one telephone for each floor in Mac Hall, so we took turns managing the phone. We’d have to answer the phone and then go get who it was for. That was interesting!
What do you remember most about your first week of class?
There was a great program for getting us introduced to people. They had an excellent orientation put on by the administration and the student executives. That’s when we first learned of the Federated Colleges (OAC, OVC, Mac). We thought we’d graduate from the University of Toronto, and, lo and behold, we were graduating from the University of Guelph. That was a bit of a shock.
How did you make friends?
I made friends through classes, sports and residence. Intramural sports were huge. Our class executive organized our own social events and we all went to the same events. You didn’t have to be a hugely social person to be involved or included. We still do a lot of things. We had our 55th anniversary in June and we had 65 people there. We get good turnouts still.
What were you most nervous about?
I don’t remember being particularly nervous. I had been away from home to camp, so it didn’t really worry me. I think I was mostly just ready to do something new.
How many textbooks did you buy?
We had textbooks for all courses. We bought all our textbooks. We had some great big books. I still own my two volumes of Major British Writers. It seemed the administration wanted to make sure we were well-rounded students! In second year, we took Canadian literature; I think Guelph was the first college to teach Canadian literature. That was really interesting, too; I recently re-read one of those books.
What was your hardest course?
Hmmm. I don’t think I could pinpoint one.
Your favourite course?
I liked a lot of my courses. When we got the chance to choose our options for our fourth semester, I chose economics rather than chemistry. I found that first course in economics fascinating. Prof. Madden taught the third-year Economic History of Canada and the Economic History of Europe, and those were both important courses. Economics helped explain my world.
What was a key takeaway from your studies?
I’d say just generally studying economics. Obviously, it comes up all the time. It didn’t then as much as it does now. Basic economics and economic history explain so much, why places are different or why communities do things. I first worked in the Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food in statistics and economics.
Where did you spend time when not in class?
Sports. I was on the swim team in first year, and then I also played hockey. I continued with the hockey. I had never played organized hockey, just on the pond at home with my brothers and neighbours. That was a great experience. There was great intramural competition, too. There were so few women on campus, but there were always five teams in every sport. After first year, I was on the Women’s Athletic Advisory Council and the Union Athletic Advisory Board. We made decisions about what was happening in athletics.
Favourite place to eat on campus?
The cafeteria at the Phys Ed Building. Athletes could eat there because we practised there. That cafeteria was much better than Creelman. Fourth-year Mac girls, as we called them, studying to be dietitians, would do the cooking and menu planning for the cafeteria. It was just dinner but that was great.
As a female student, did you feel welcome on campus?
There were seven women in a class of about 185 but I don’t remember any issues. There were probably undercurrents that I was aware of but chose to ignore.
What current event was most impactful during your studies?
We started in September of 1963 and that November, I was swimming at U of T, and I remember going into the hotel after practising and there was a giant photo of John Kennedy with black drapes. I can still feel the shock we felt during our practice when we were told he was shot. And the second shock was seeing this huge photo. Another event that year was the Beatles appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. We had one TV in the Mac Hall common room, and we gathered around it, almost everybody in residence. It’s funny that I have such a clear memory of that. It was quite an experience.
If you could go back and give yourself advice, what would it be?
I have a grandson going off to university, so my advice to him would be “don’t get behind.” Try to keep yourself up to date with what’s happening in your courses. If you don’t understand the basics, you will really struggle later on in the course. There were a lot of evenings that I was doing stuff that I should have done earlier. It’s easy and tempting to ignore your studies and get behind in a way that is really hard to catch up on at the last minute.
Sandreka Rowe
Hometown: Brampton, Ont.
Program: Bachelor of Indigenous Environmental Science and Practice
Class: OAC Class of 2024
Why did you choose to go to university?
I guess it kind of just like seems like what I was supposed to do.
Why study the environment?
I've always been passionate about the environment. When I was in high school, I felt like people weren’t talking about the environment enough. There's so many issues and I feel like people act like it's not as big a deal as it is. I think we should all be talking about this all the time.
What drew you to your program?
I chose it based on the class that I enjoyed the most in high school. I knew I wanted to do environmental science, and I just searched for schools that offered environmental science. In high school, we didn’t learn about Indigenous environmental science, but we touched on it and I really liked it. That’s why I ended up choosing this degree.
What residence did you live in?
For the first half of my first semester, I was commuting from Brampton. I felt like I was spending a lot of time on the bus, like time that I could be spending studying, sleeping or doing other things. So I applied for residence and within a week I was in East Residence. I was in Dundas. It was great. I loved it there. Everyone in my suite was in an environmental program.
What do you remember most about your first week of class?
I got lost finding every class. I had a class that was in the Arboretum and I didn't realize how far it was from the bus stop. I spent almost the entire time walking around looking for the Arboretum. By the time I got there, there was like 10 minutes left. But my teacher was really understanding.
How did you make friends?
I feel like the first week everybody is nervous, but everybody just wants to meet people. I was just open to whoever talked to me, and the first friends that I made, I'm still friends with them. We all kind of gravitated toward each other. I feel like Guelph is a magnet for really cool people. I found a really nice group of friends.
What were you most nervous about?
Just university in general. It's such a big jump. I was nervous that my professors were going be really strict. Or the program wasn't gonna be right for me. But I had nothing to worry about.
How many textbooks did you buy?
In my first semester, I bought one textbook. Big mistake. I did not need to buy it. I used it probably for two weeks and then never looked at it again. In second semester, I bought an online textbook. I probably used it for a week and never looked at it again.
What was your hardest course?
First-year chemistry is really intense.
Your favourite course?
The classes that were designed specifically for my program were so fun. They were very focused on land-based learning. We would spend the whole period walking around the Arboretum learning how to ID plants and looking at trees and making observations of bugs and organisms. We’d learn about habitats, and how Indigenous people view the land. I feel they really let the land be the teacher.
What was a key takeaway from your studies?
As a non-Indigenous person, learning about Indigenous ways of knowing. I feel like a lot of time in Western science, we try to separate ourselves from Earth and environment. But Indigenous people, they understand we’re a part of the environment; Mother Nature is not separate from us. I think a lot of the philosophy that they have of leaving the land in a good condition for the next seven generations. It reminds you to live sustainably; the Earth isn't just gonna replenish itself magically after you're gone.
Where did you spend time when not in class?
I spent a lot of time in in my residence because I liked it a lot. East is really close to having an apartment or condo. There’s a suite and a living room and a kitchen. I could get groceries and then cook my own food. I also had my own bedroom, which was great because I value my personal space so much. I did an online orientation and for Black History Month, I did an online cooking class, which was really cool. They sent money to buy ingredients and you could do the whole cooking class from your own house. I also did an in-person BIPOC picnic on Johnston Green. There was food and picnic blankets, and different clubs were set up. It was a really nice experience.
Favourite place to eat on campus?
We went to Creelman a lot. Or the UC.
As a Black student, did you feel welcome on campus?
I didn’t feel like “You're not supposed to be here,” but I am definitely aware of the fact that I’m one of the only Black women in my classes. It didn't bother me too much. Sometimes you are just aware of the fact that you're different from the people that you're around. But I don't think it affected my studies or making friends or anything.
What current event was most impactful during your studies?
COVID, obviously, was a big thing. There were things we weren't able to do, and our professors told us that they had all these things planned, but they had to change because they wanted to keep everyone safe. So we ended up doing most of our labs outside, which I honestly feel like worked out better. Being in like a small classroom: it’s just not the way that you want to be learning, especially for environmental science. I chose Guelph in the first place because it has many outdoor spaces like the Arboretum. I feel like doing our labs in the Arboretum was a blessing in disguise.
If you could go back and give yourself advice, what would it be?
My first semester, I was following my program outline of the classes that you're supposed to take. I was taking five classes and one was chemistry and one was calculus, and it was just too much. I was really hard on myself for not keeping up in all of my classes. But I reminded myself that this was a big step. University is hard. It's OK to drop a class. I ended up dropping a class and taking it the next semester. It’s okay to give yourself some space. I want to enjoy my classes. I decided to just be nice to myself.
This article was originally published in the LIBRANNI 2023 / Vol. 5