The transition from high school to postsecondary education has felt like a “big jump,” for first-year student Renée Ferroni.
“I felt really motivated and really excited for school. I’ve never felt that excited for school,” Ferroni said.
Humber Polytechnic says its North Campus is home to more than 19,000 full-time students. Ferroni is one of many students spending their first semester this fall at Humber Polytechnic.
Ferroni, 18, graduated from St. Joan of Arc Catholic Academy in Scarborough and started the Media Communications program in September.
Shei said she felt excited to start school because media has been a long-standing passion.
“It’s something I’m really passionate about because this type of stuff is my life’s passion and I want to do it like forever,” she said.
Ferroni said she wakes up at 5 a.m. to take Line 2 from Kennedy Station to Kipling Station before taking the 927 bus to Humber.
She said she has used public transit since she was young and feels comfortable travelling on her own.
Ferroni said she feels sympathy for people experiencing homelessness on public transit because she believes some have nowhere else to go.
“They sleep on the train because it’s the only place they have to sleep,” she said.
Ferroni said her two-hour commute on the packed 927 bus did not take away from her excitement about reaching campus.
“I felt like a sardine in a can that, like, lived and popped out and, like, swam upstream,” she said.
Ferroni said she always feels relieved when she finally arrives.
“I felt so good. It was so good to be free finally,” she said.
Ferroni said she arrived early on the first day of school for her 8:55 a.m. class and a general idea of where she needed to go.
But she said she became nervous after realizing her classroom was farther down the hall than she expected.
“I was a bit nervous because I didn’t, well, I knew where my classes were kind of, but I didn’t, I didn’t know it was all the way at the end of the hall, so I almost walked into the wrong class,” Ferroni said.
She said she had attended Meet Your Faculty before her first day.
Humber says its orientation programs help new students find their classes, connect with faculty, and learn about student support.
Ferroni said her orientation focused mainly on her program rather than a campus tour.
“They didn’t take us around the school or anything,” she said.
Ferroni said she mainly learned about her program during the session.
“They just talked to us about the program with the program coordinator,” she said.
Ferroni said Humber could place more orientation staff around the campus to help new students.
“I feel like they could have had more orientation people around like the food court and stuff because it was just at the front at LRC,” she said.
Ferroni said she eventually found the room for her first digital imaging class.
Jeff Stephenson teaches in Humber’s Creative Photography and Media Communications programs and has taught there for 10 years.
Stephenson said students and faculty getting to know each other helps everyone learn better.
“I think the most important thing is I want them to get to know me and I want to get to know them,” he said.
Stephenson said he used an icebreaker during Ferroni’s first digital imaging class to learn about students’ photography experience and interests.
He said learning about students’ interests helps him understand how to work with them throughout the semester.
Ferroni said the activity gave her a chance to talk about her favourite type of photography.
“We did like an icebreaker talking about your favourite genre of photography, and I talked about how I really liked nature photography,” she said.
Stephenson said he sees himself as both a professor and a coach who works with students based on their needs and interests.
“I try to be sensitive to their struggles and their needs and their interests,” he said.
Ferroni said that approach has shaped how she views her professors.
She said she was impressed by the knowledge and support she received from her professors.
“If you don’t know something, they’ll tell you until you get it,” she said.
Ferroni said her classroom experience was only one part of her first semester.
She said she started conversations with classmates because she considered herself an extrovert.
“And then I started talking to the people beside me because I’m a really extroverted person and I got to know a lot of people in like the first week,” Ferroni said.
She said she was surprised by how quickly she found a friend group in her program.
Ferroni said people at Humber were friendlier than she expected.
“I was like so shocked by how easy it is to make friends here. People were way friendlier than I thought,” she said.
Ferroni said she also tries to include quieter students in conversations.
“I’m always talking to somebody, so I’ll try and include, like, other people in the conversations if they’re quiet,” she said.
Ferroni said she spent a two-hour break between classes exploring campus with her new friends.
She said the group visited the arboretum after her friend Isaac Ferreira offered to show them around campus.
“We really got to know each other and we became friends like super quick,” Ferroni said.
The financial side of college has also become part of Ferroni’s first-semester experience.
Ontario says the Ontario Student Assistance Program provides eligible students with grants and loans to help pay for postsecondary education.
Ontario says OSAP can help cover costs such as tuition, books, equipment, school fees and living expenses.
Ontario says the provincial portion of OSAP changed for students beginning programs on or after Aug. 1, 2026, with more funding provided as loans rather than grants.
Ferroni said she receives almost $7,000 in OSAP funding, with about $1,400 going toward her first semester and another $2,000 expected next semester.
She said most of her funding comes through grants rather than loans.
Ferroni said her program recommends having a MacBook and a camera for classes, but her funding covered only a refurbished MacBook.
“It was just enough to buy my MacBook. I couldn’t even buy a camera,” she said.
Ferroni said the cost of commuting has made residence more appealing.
She said she would consider living in residence if she received more OSAP funding because residence could make attending Humber easier than commuting from home.
“Now I know why people do res. Next semester, I’m thinking actually about doing res when the applications open in October,” she said.
Ferroni said she chose Media Communications because she wanted to develop a range of media skills.
She said she wanted to learn video, photography and graphic design instead of focusing on one area.
“When you know only one thing you’re like a one-trick pony, when you have multiple tricks, you’re a blue-ribbon-winning point,” Ferroni said.
She said she chose college over university because she wanted more hands-on experience.
“I don’t want to go to university for it because it feels like I could do way more hands-on stuff at college,” Ferroni said.
She said the cost of university also influences her decision.
“I don’t have to pay the humongous price tag of university,” Ferroni said.
Ferroni said her first weeks at Humber have given her an early look at the experience she wanted.
Ferroni said her passion for media keeps her interested in her schoolwork.
“It doesn’t feel like work to me. It’s fun,” she said.
Ferroni said she feels more stressed now than she did during her first week because her workload has increased.
She said she sees the stress as part of the college experience.
“I feel like that’s just part of a college experience,” Ferroni said.
She said her Humber experience feels different from high school.
She said the transition has been a major change.
“It’s way different from high school,” she said. “Such a big jump.”
Ferroni said her first semester has given her more than technical skills.
She said her Humber experience is also about her friendships, professors and passion for media.
“Just being able to be close with my friends at Humber, seeing my teachers at Humber. Doing what I love here and learning about what I love,” she said.
