Life at a maritime university Swimming in the Bay of Fundy, eating lobster in Charlottetown, dancing a Maritime jig or two in Halifax on any given Saturday night, learning one or two (OK, maybe all…) of Great Big Sea’s songs and surviving a true East Coast winter. What do all of these things have common? A university education in the Maritimes, of course!
When I was in my last year of high school, I was buried in a plethora of information about universities. Course calendars, yearbooks, alumni magazines, campus maps and of course those magazines that outline everything you will ever need to know about every educational institution. Personally, I was looking for uniqueness. A school that stood out from the rest. A place that would challenge and invigorate me. I found a number of these schools nestled in cozy towns through the Maritimes.
I visited a number of Ontario universities in my final year of high school and was no stranger to the campus tour and residence visit routine, which got weary after a while. I quickly discovered that things were different in the Maritimes. I found myself falling in love with every aspect of the school I was visiting and would later attend. Life at this Atlantic institution carried at a pace that was to my liking: fast enough to challenge my academic needs, but slow enough so I could enjoy four years of what this undergraduate education would offer.
As my first year whisked by, friends of mine who chose larger institutions were equally intrigued by the Maritime way of life. As we exchanged stories, it seemed to me that our experiences were entirely unique. As they lived their university life in the city surrounding their school, I lived mine in the Atlantic region as a whole, where I jumped at any opportunity to explore Maritime culture. I was astonished to hear that one of my friend’s classes had 800 people. This reality was in stark contrast to my experience of meeting a helpful professor for an hour to receive some much-needed extra help before that dreaded first university exam.
Life for the past three years in this small but caring community has been an experience to say the least. Familiar faces of friends, helpful professors and a region unlike any other is what characterizes a university education in the Maritimes. What you make of it will produce the memories to last a lifetime!
Laura Roberts, from Ottawa, Ontario, is studying international relations at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. Article provided by  View more articles | Information provided by collegeanduniversity.net |