We’re two weeks into September, a month which, for many, stands as the beginning marker of their time as a Queen’s student.
The Journal asked students and alumni to reflect on their first few weeks on Queen’s campus. Whether this is your first, or last, September in Kingston, may these stories reflect the varied experiences and shared moments that define life at Queen’s.
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“The morning after being dropped off at Vic Hall, I awoke to the sounds of Gaels and Frecs banging pots and yelling, ‘Your mommy can’t save you now!’
What outsiders saw as cruelty towards first years, we saw as fun activities designed to make us feel like we were part of something, and we loved it.
That first month, adjusting to residence life with floor crawls, impromptu room parties and instant new best friends, is something I look back at with joy. Unlike high school, I felt as if I belonged at Queen’s.
When the dust settled on Orientation Week, so did the realization that my life was now entirely different. I was homesick and wondered if I’d made the right choice.
I had.
Once classes began, and the leaves started to fall, I walked into the most positively transformative time of my life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re normal. And, yes, you made the right choice. Cha Gheill!”
—Karryn Ransom, ArtSci ’94
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“My first few weeks at Queen’s could be described in a number of ways, none of them typical.
It was a time I’d been eagerly anticipating for what felt like an eternity. When it finally arrived, it defied all expectations I’d previously held, just not in a way I could’ve expected.
In the second week of September, after an injury in a lacrosse game, a deck without a railing, and a few hard falls, I broke my back.
The university experience I’d dreamed of was stripped from me in an instant, and I spent my first couple weeks in a Kingston hospital bed rather than in class.
While it took a long road for me to recover, by my second year, I did. I began to play lacrosse again, I ed a club where I learned to fully express myself, and I grew as a person. I finally got to enjoy the university experience I yearned for.
This is all to say, your first few weeks may never go to plan, and that’s okay. Your future will still be bright.”
—Aidan Haggerty, ArtSci ’25
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“I went to high school in Kingston before I started at Queen’s. I lived on Beverley St., a block away from the residences, so I had seen—and heard—Orientation Week well before I’d experienced it myself.
This made me not particularly excited about ing in the wide range of O-Week activities when I started my degree in 1996.
Basically, I opted out of all group activities, which meant I did everything on my own.
In those days, registration for classes happened in person at Jock Harty Arena, and we all had to line up around the block waiting for our turn. Everyone except for me had been sorted into an orientation group and was ing the time with chants and games.
I spent the time wishing everyone would disappear so I could choose my classes and go home without having to listen to any more songs or chants. Eventually, we all got through, and everyone managed to get the courses they wanted.
I’ve always wondered what I missed by opting out, but I don’t know that I could’ve looked myself in the face as a Kingston resident if I’d fully ed in.”
—Brandon Christopher, ArtSci ’00, MA ’01, PhD ’08
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“My first month at Queen’s was defined by single-mindedness and determined resolve.
I’d come to Kingston with one goal and one goal only: to perform in a big musical theatre production. Robin Willams said to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life and that was exactly what I was going to do. Carpe Diem.
I marched into the clubs fair and scoured the room looking for theatre nerds humming show tunes. Within a few weeks, I had an audition for Queen’s Musical Theatre’s (QMT) production of The Wizard of Oz.
A few days later, I was cast as Dorothy.
Just kidding! I played a flying monkey and the jitterbug puppet’s head, and it was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
This show set the stage for four of the best years of my life and set me on a course to 20 years of working professionally in arts istration. Thank you, QMT.”
—Kate Hodgert-Fennell, ArtSci ’03
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“My first few weeks at Queen’s can be best described as a whirlwind.
I came midway through the semester during fall reading week. I’m an international student and there were a couple delays with the visa office. So, when I finally got my permit, I left, eager to get to university as soon as I possibly could.
I arrived to a very empty campus, the stark opposite to what Queen’s looks like at the beginning of the school year. But it was still exciting.
Two cute boys helped me find my room and move all my luggage. My lovely roommate had left some chocolates by my desk and a note with a promise of a meal at the Lazy Scholar when she was back at the end of the week.
The view of the pier from my room in Gord Brock was instantly my favourite thing—I spent a lot of my first few weeks taking walks there in the evening.
I came to university with my best friend who I’ve known since we were in diapers. She’d arrived before me, so she showed me around campus while we caught up about what university life was like. I met the friends she’d made, and I met a boy in my dorm who became my best friend that year.
Homecoming and Halloween were my first introductions to campus culture. I learned all about the cursed fire alarms every weekend and stolen exit signs. I also saw someone get wheeled to Kingston General Hospital (KGH) for drinking too much, which felt like a core Queen’s experience. I learned how to use Google Maps to navigate properly and began identifying my favourite spots on campus (hi, CoGro).
I think overall I would describe my first weeks on campus as chaotic, crazy, wholesome, fun, and fully a whirlwind.”
—Mannat Mehra, ArtSci ’26
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“While my memories of my first week at Queen’s are a little patchy, I very clearly the kindness of my hall mates on the second floor of Morris Hall.
I also a philosophy professor who removed his shoes before he ed out our syllabus, as though that was the obvious thing to do.
And I lining up to buy my books. I hadn’t owned a lot of books before starting at Queen’s, but that changed overnight.
Most of those books are long gone but I still own four of the books I carried back to my room that first week. They’re a paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice, a poetry collection by Michael Ondaatje, and a pair of secondhand Norton Anthologies: chunky, clothbound volumes whose thin pages were annotated by previous owners.
These four books—and John Pierce, the gifted professor who assigned them—changed my life.
By the end of the semester, I’d abandoned my plan to study economics and decided to become an English major. I kept coming back to the Department of English at Queen’s and now I teach it at the university level.
I feel very lucky to be part of the first weeks of my own students. And, for now at least, I’m opting to keep my shoes on.”
—Vanessa Warne, ArtSci ’95, MA ’96, PhD ’01
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