Students Migrating Back to UPEI
At a time when many young people are leaving PEI to pursue their education elsewhere, or to take jobs out west, it is refreshing to hear about the ones who come back. And according to Vianne Timmons, Acting Registrar at UPEI, they're coming back at a greater rate than ever before. "It is due to the fact that UPEI now has the lowest tuition rate in the Maritimes, with the recent 10 per cent cut in tuition. And it is also because of our growing reputation as a quality school. It's fabulous to see our students coming back, reversing the trend of out-migration, with transfers up over 30 per cent from last year."
Emily Campbell and Sara MacPhail are two such students. Both grew up in Prince Edward Island, and both felt the need to get away from home. But now they're back. And glad to be here, too.
Emily Campbell graduated from Colonel Gray in 2005. She attended UPEI in first year and studied English. "But so many students get in the mindset of leaving. They thinkand#151;for whatever reasonand#151;that they have to get off the Island," she says. "I was no different. I left for Ontario after first year, thinking I'd be away for a number of years. But I soon realized how much I missed PEI. I missed it for the very reasons that I left: home, family, friends. In March I made the decision to come back."
Daughter of Gordon and Barb Campbell of Charlottetown, Emily grew up quite aware of politics and has a passion for it. She says she's interested in pursuing a law degree when she graduates. "I liked English," she says, "but I love political studies, and I love learning about it. I'd taken some political studies summer courses here, so I know a few of the professors and look forward to being in their classes this fall."
Often when students switch universities they tend to lose a credit or two. Emily says, "I had no problem at all transferring the credit back. UPEI was very accommodating. And because I took some summer courses, I'm ahead on the number of courses I'll need to graduate."
"After being at university with close to 18,000 students, I'm looking forward to small class sizes," she says. "It was quite shocking to go into a lecture theatre with hundreds of students. Here I know I'll have more of a relationship with my professors."
Sara MacPhail graduated from Bluefield in 2003. She, too, attended UPEI for a year, then headed to Nova Scotia to pursue agricultural studies. "I'm from a farming family and I knew I wanted to do something in agriculture," she says, "but I wasn't ready to spend the extra money to leave and then find I didn't like it." She took science at UPEI, before making the decision to follow her brother and cousin to Nova Scotia, where she studied animal science.
She says she really enjoyed her course work and profs, but decided that she really wanted to come back home. "The expense was one of the reasons. This year it's $100 less per course than what I was paying. Plus it was hard to find a part-time job and I didn't really like the location. Here I can live at home and save a lot of money, plus there's more to do here."
Sara adds that some of her friends wonder why she's coming back. "Many of them want to leave. But sometimes you just have to go away to realize what you're missing." She's now registered in the biology program, and hopes to pursue veterinary medicine when she graduates, with the ultimate goal of working in agriculture, like her parents Linda and Allan MacPhail, and her brother Brandon.
"I'm so excited to start school in the fall," she says. "I'm looking forward to meeting new people, and seeing old friends. And I thinkand#151;I hope!and#151;that my folks are glad to have me back home, too!"
