A place for adult students to connect

Stepping foot into a post-secondary institution for the first time can be nerve-wracking enough for an 18-year-old, but it's potentially even more stressful for a mature student.

For the most part, campus is full of 20-somethings scrambling the halls to get to their classes, and sometimes older students can feel a little lost in the shuffle. That's why Fanshawe's Counselling and Accessibility Services is here to help. New for this year they created the Adult Student Group, and it's currently accepting new members.

At Fanshawe, the title “adult student” refers to anyone who over the age of 21. The group is for adult students and is a place to come for support, resources and connection with others facing the challenges of returning to school.

“If adult students are coming here to the college and they're feeling a little bit overwhelmed or they're not finding as many of their peers in classes, in terms of the age and [life] stage that they're at, we want to be able to provide for them a place where they can connect with some other people and find some people who are facing similar concerns,” said Nikki Ross, a counsellor in Fanshawe's Counselling and Accessibility Services who is helping to run the Adult Student Group.

“It's a support and education group. We're geared towards meeting the needs of adult students as they come in. We give them a sort of a safe place to meet throughout the year,” said Ross.

Fanshawe graduate Susie Mah was a mature student when she was a student last year. She said though there are services that help, there is a lack of social life on campus for mature students. “It's not like we need something totally dedicated to us, but in terms of social life, there isn't much that's organized by the student body for mature students,” she said.

“Even if there were events that were organized with a mature student in mind, we may not necessarily feel the need to be part of the Fanshawe student body. We do have our own lives, and most of us still have families to go home to.”

As a student, Mah was a member of the Adult Social Club, a club started by mature students as a place to find students with common interests. “I tried to carry it on when the founder graduated a year ahead of me and I became president last year. But I don't think the club is carrying on anymore, and that was the only organization as a club, by students for mature students.” The Fanshawe Student Union has not received an application to restart the Adult Social Club for this school year.

But students may find the Adult Student Group a great place to find support. The Group began to meet last week, and students are welcome to show up for meetings. This semester, they meet on Mondays at 12 p.m. and on Thursdays at 10 a.m. in F2005.

For more information about the Adult Student Group, send an email to asg@fanshawec.ca.