Being thousands of kilometres away from home is a challenge many international students face when they decide to come to Carleton.
Most fly back home to visit their families during the holiday break, but there is an alternative for students who aren’t able to head home over the holidays.
According to the department of housing, the residence complex will be closed and Campus Card access to security doors deactivated at 4 pm on Dec. 22, 2014 to noon on Jan. 4, 2015.
“We do give the option to International students who can’t go home to stay on residence,” said Suzanne Blanchard, Associate Vice-President (Students and Enrolment).
Laura Storey, Director of Housing and Residence Life, said students are informed ahead of time which buildings remain open during the break and can submit an application if they need to stay.
Students can submit the application form until Dec. 12.
“When students indicated that they required residence over the break we assigned them to those buildings which will remain open,” she said.
The buildings designated to remain accessible for this period are Leeds, Prescott, Frontenac, Russell, Grenville, and Lennox and Addington.
The last meal served in the Residence Dining Hall is lunch on Dec. 22, 2014 and the first meal served after the holiday is dinner on Jan. 4, 2015.
“Students staying over the break will be provided with access to a kitchen space in order to do their own cooking,” Storey said. “We have also hired some residence fellows to stay over the holidays to provide support and programming to students living in residence.”
“The team of housing services has done a fantastic job of getting things set up,” said John Nelson, International Student Services Office (ISSO) manager.
The ISSO considered the idea of having people hosting students over the holidays but chose a different approach to the issue.
“We left it up to our international students. What we do during the term is try to give them as many of the skills to start building those connections as possible. In the end, they’re usually in a position where they can actually get those experiences out for themselves,” Nelson said.
The ISSO will be highlighting a variety of activities for students staying in Ottawa on their website.
“The great thing about staying for the holidays is the fact that you have time,” he said. “This is the time when international students have the time to explore the city.”
