Report: 50% of Ryerson students have no idea where they’re going

By Karly Benson

A new report suggests 50 per cent of Ryerson students have absolutely no idea where they are going on campus, as scores of clueless first and second-years enter an already chaotic campus for the first time this fall. For first-year students, navigating downtown is always an adjustment. However, they’re joined this year by second-years, who have also never been on campus.

The report, conducted by The Rams Inquirer, obtained its data from a collection of students anxiously clutching tote bags whilst standing outside the Ryerson Student Centre.

With its many outdated buildings and endless staircases to nowhere, Ryerson challenges its students’ navigational abilities more than their readiness to enter the working world. Senior students say they feel as though they’re in high school again, watching ninth graders struggle to find classrooms and eating their lunch in the bathroom.

“If one more business major with an iPad Pro asks me where TRSM is before giving me their elevator pitch for their new pyramid scheme, I’ll lose my mind,” said fourth-year student Noah Paciense.

The ten-minute “Ryerson time” grace period has proven insufficient to travel across campus, especially as mounds of new students are walking around with their faces buried in campus maps. Delays are compounded by navigational mishaps; upper-year students have already noticed an overwhelming increase of volume at the Victoria Street Tim Hortons and odd corners of Kerr Hall.

“We’re looking into putting cow bells in everyone’s orientation goodie bags”

“I just kept turning left and left and left,” said first-year student Manny Ragrets about his first time attempting to find his popular culture course in Kerr Hall. Ragrets, like many new students, turned left all the way through his first lecture of the semester.

The struggle is real for second-years as well. After a year of making online friends and complaining about professors they’ve never met, they’re doing it all again in-person.

“I ran into this girl at the SLC who was my partner for a biology lab last year,” said second-year engineering student Mel Onhead. “I didn’t recognize her until she asked if I ended up going on a date with this guy who was ghosting me last semester.”

The complications of downtown Toronto also pose a challenge to students. Unlike other schools, Ryerson prides itself on being a city within a campus, TTC delays and all. Compared to the Zoom University routine of waking up 30 seconds before class starts, commuters now must spare several extra hours for travel time.

Latesa Allways, a second-year English student who usually only commutes from her bedroom to her kitchen, spent half her first lecture “on the train at Sherbourne station” instead of getting off at Yonge and Dundas.

However, there’s some hope for new students thanks to Ryerson’s orientation leaders. “We created a TikTok with videos on how to not end up in the Eaton Centre on your way to Pitman Hall and finding a textbook in the Campus Store,” said fourth-year leader Eric Moore.

The orientation leaders also set up a booth on the sixth floor of the SLC with several resources, including campus diagrams and “Help! I’m lost!” stickers. However, few supplies have been picked up, as students are struggling to locate the booth.

“There’s really only so much we can do,” said Moore. “But we’re looking into putting cow bells in everyone’s orientation goodie bags so we can herd them to where they need to be.”