First year is one of the most exciting and stressful times of a university student”s life.
Students are under pressure to do well in school while maintaining a social life, participating in clubs, and holding a part-time job, all while getting used to university.
It is by no means an easy feat for even the most well-adjusted student.
That”s where Carleton”s Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities (PMC) comes in.
According to Bruce Hamm, PMC”s student services administrator, the centre is responsible for co-ordinating academic accommodations and support services for students with disabilities, as well as providing mentors to students who request them.
“We evaluate accommodation requests on an individual basis while maintaining academic standards. We liaise with faculty and other student service departments to ensure that studentsí needs are met. We also provide a variety of support services for students with disabilities,” Hamm said.
PMC’s disabilities co-ordinator Sonia Tanguay said students need to be good self-advocates and to develop a support network on campus and in the community in order to balance life, school, and work in order to manage stressors effectively.
“Incoming students are advised to register with the PMC as early as possible so accommodations and learning supports can be put in place for the start of the fall term,” she said.
Many students talk about the benefits of seeking out help as they start university life.
Kelsae Harding, a second-year international business student at Carleton said she sought out the services offered by PMC in her first year.
Harding said she struggled with an anxiety disorder for most of her teenage life and began seeing a psychologist at the age of 16.
“[My mom and I] agreed before I went to university that it would be worthwhile to go and see someone from the disabilities centre to see what accommodations and help they could provide me.
I met with a co-ordinator from the PMC, and we set up some accommodations,” Harding said.
Harding said her accommodations included a quiet room to write tests and exams in as well as extra time to complete them.
“It was a huge help in my first year, even if I didn’t use all of the extra time, having it reduced my anxiety a lot . . . the quiet room was also a huge help, as there were no extra noises to distract me from my work, and fewer students in the room,” Harding said.
She said her experience with the PMC was positive—her co-ordinator was friendly, and approachable, and she knew she could always call her if she was having a crisis.”
“If I could give future students some advice, itwould be to ask for help when you need it. No one can tell you how you feel or what you need except you, and no one can help you if you don’t tell them what’s wrong,” Harding said.
