Students start writing next life chapter at Georgian College

First-year students attend an academic orientation at Georgian College on Wed. Aug. 28, 2024 (Chris Garry/CTV News Barrie).

Many students started writing the next chapter of their academic careers in Barrie on Wednesday.

With less than one week to go until classes commence, Georgian College has started welcoming the freshest faces to the school community. On Wednesday, the college hosted the first two-day academic orientation for first-year students.

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"The Georgian College community is so excited to welcome all our new students, and we're excited to have another great year altogether," said Hilary Villneff, the student transition manager at Georgian College.

The day served as an icebreaker for those attending the post-secondary institution for the first time. There were various activities meant to serve as an opportunity for people to meet others, as well as campus tours.

"It helped me to know more people [and] to know a lot of things about the college and about the area," said Badr Al-Sewari, a first-year student from Yemen attending the college through World University Service of Canada's student refugee program. 

Wednesday was the first orientation day of many at the college this week. Villneff says first-year students will be welcomed with similar events at all seven Georgian College campuses throughout the week.

"The more we can frontload them with all the wonderful things that happen here at Georgian…will set them up for success so that if they are needing a bit of extra support they know where to go to find it but also just to give everybody a great start at their program," Villneff said.

Classes at Georgian College for the 2024-2025 school year commence on Tues. Sept. 3.