Tour of Lambton College

So Parent Night started at 6PM. I wanted to make sure we were there in lots of time, just in case I had trouble finding the place, so we left home about 4:30PM. I was pretty sure I knew where London Road was, but was not exactly sure of the location of Lambton College. Well, heck, it's right there. I drive almost by i (kinda sorta) when we go to Lambton Mall! It is actually in a very convenient spot if the kids at the school are looking for some work while they are going to school. It is right across the street from the mall and the movie theatre - what more could any student want!?? I kept threatening Jade that I was gonna embarrass her all night - it's one of my secret pleasures!!! but I think I did okay! She wouldn't let me do a cartwheel down the hall! (wish is probably a good thing.....cause with all the weight I am carrying around right now....my wrists would probably crumble under the pressure of my arse being up in the air). So we went into the room prepared for the presentation and there was a young man and a young woman who greeted you as you walked in...I must say.....if a choice of colleges was made on how the young man looked.....I'd be going back to Lambton!!!! He was such a nice looking guy and pleasant and knowledgeable. He answered every question we had and was very willing to help. He was a cutie patootie for sure! And he told me to call him when we left! (actually.....if I were to tell the truth....he told everyone that the number on the back of the book would get to his office so he could help or direct our call to the specific person we needed to speak with!) When the presentation started we heard from the cutie - his name was Justin - and he spoke just about the college experience and why some people choose Lambton. I knew it was a smaller school, but I wasn't sure how small. They have 3400 students - which for a college is quite small. But, that has it's benefits as well - smaller class size, more one on one and the chance to get to know people a little better than just being "student 49762". He spoke about residence and the food plan which sounds like a good deal. Then Mickey got up and talked about the parents role when their kids go off to college. He let us know that when they go there, they are now considered adults - which means according to privacy laws, we cannot call the school to see if they are attending classes etc. They will not give out any information about them at all. He also spoke about his office which is for counselling - for whatever the kids may need. It's nice to know they have somewhere to go and someone to talk to if they need that. Karen spoke about her department which is employment services. There are a number of jobs available at the school and these are paid jobs while you are attending the college. There are two types - work study and EBAT - Work study you have a job during the school year and EBAT (employment between academic terms) you work during the summer. She also told us about the Grad Report, which is a survey that is done 6 months after you graduate from your program, you provide feedback to the college so they can see how successful the school is in preparing their students for the "real" world. They proudly display that Lambton College graduates have a 96% satisfaction rate with employers. Meaning the employers are happy with their work and what they learned to get them ready and working in their chosen career. A young woman told her story of how she chose Lambton College and it was interesting to hear that she went through 5 years of University and still was not happy with her choices and picked Lambton because of it's smaller size. We then had a tour of the school, which really is a nice small, community type atmosphere. There is a fitness centre, which provides free membership to students, a book store to get hooked up with all of Lambton College's swag. There are opportunities to play lots of inter-mural sports (even dodge ball!!) and right now the varsity sports are basketball and soccer. These sports change as the interest of the students changes. We toured the residence, which used to be a hotel. Each room is for two people with their own bathroom, fridge, and microwave. Wifi is available in residence as well as all through the college. There are large common rooms and large study areas in residence and throughout the college. The student lounge has nice comfy couches with big pillows. It is just before you go down to the Lion's Den which is the "pub" area. There is laundry at the college as well as a kitchen where you can make a home cooked meal if you want. I was also pleased to find out that Lambton guarantees a percentage of students who take one course in hopes to get into another course. So for those people who take Pre-Health Nursing - they guarantee 60% of those students will get into the BScN program. This was nice to hear. It's nice that they want their students to succeed, not just get their money and throw them to the wolves. So all in all, I like the school. I think it would be a good fit for Jade and it's easy to get to! (not too far from home). But we have another school to tour as well, so we'll see after we tour that one.
Chow for now,
Jacqui