My Experience Living on Campus and Becoming a Don

How I Chose to Live on Residence

One of the reasons I chose UTM was because it was closer to home. I attended high school in Ottawa while my family lived in Mississauga, and I always came home to visit every opportunity I got. The first time I visited the UTM campus was during my March Break in Grade 11 to visit my sister who at the time was in first year.

I loved how the campus was not too big, but not too small, the natural beauty contrasting with modern architecture; “I was definitely coming back,” I thought.

I knew that I wanted the full “university experience”: waking up on campus, participating in social clubs, having academic success, forging new friendships, and making unforgettable memories.

Being the social butterfly I am, I attended both the Residence Orientation the Student Union’s Orientation as well. I would strongly recommend putting yourself out there during your first couple weeks of school because this is where I truly made my friends still have to this day.

My Residence Experience: First-Year

In my first year, I participated in the LifeSci Living Learning Community (LLC) – a group of students with similar programs living in the same residence community alongside their upper year Peer Academic Leader (PAL) – my PAL was Alexa. She taught me how to better study, shared opportunities/resources on campus, showed me how to connect with my professors, and most importantly, became a great friend!

My Residence Experience: Becoming a Don

A Residence Don is an upper year student who is assigned 20-30 students and works hard to build a community to make their students feel at home. We focus on helping first-year students have a smooth transition into university. We do this through planning and executing social activities, creating a one-on-one relationship with each student, and providing resources to help students succeed. The positive experience I had with my LLC Pal and Residence Don, aspired me to have the same encouraging impact on other newly transitioning first-years.

Due to the pandemic, I lived at home during my second year but came back to work on campus as a Don during my third year. So far, my Don experience has been amazing; I have made new friends, fostered connections with my students, and learned how to be an effective leader. One aspect of my job is to plan bi-weekly community gatherings for my students. These sessions include playing ice breaker games, reflecting on the previous semester, creating new goals, and learning more about each other. I am looking forward to growing my relationship with the 27 students I am a Don for, and the RSS community over during this Winter semester.