Home away from home

STORY BY JAIME POLMATEER
PHOTO BY JAIME POLMATEER

As long as you’re not a picky eater, it is possible to live on less than $20 a week.

It’s no secret that the cost of living for students is high. With tuition, books, food and rent, many have to resort to loans and balancing school with part-time jobs.

According to ontariocolleges.ca, the average diploma program is $2,400 a year, while the average bachelor’s degree is around $6,100. Not exactly peanuts to a student fresh out of high school. If a student could afford only tuition, books and food, could they find alternative lodgings in their school?

The Sheridan Sun recently put the idea to the test, spending a night in the Sun newsroom, S209, then moving on to G202 and finally G205.

Busier students stay behind quite late, populating the arts department and Learning Commons. “Some of them are in the classrooms doing assignments or whatever work needs to be done,” said Semao De’Souza, a custodian who has been working at Sheridan for four years. “Others go home.”

The college offers late-night access to students so they can use the facilities after hours. But could they possibly stay at the school for an extended period of time?

There are lounges in the numerous hallways, some equipped with couches, but students who would be bold enough to try to sleep on one overnight may face issues.

“They woke them up and said they have to be working or go home and sleep,” said Rob Green, a second-year student of the Youth Worker program. Green was speaking of students he’d seen confronted by security for trying to sleep in the lounge across from the Learning Commons.

Sleeping out in the open is out of the question and most of the classrooms are locked at night, with the exceptions of rooms that can be accessed via a oneCARD. But if a student walked the halls and checked the door handles, it is possible to find open rooms. When equipped with a sleeping bag, all one has to do is lay behind a table or anywhere else out of eyeshot, and they’re good for the night.

If a student walked the halls at night and checked the door handles, it is possible to find open rooms

The school has many washrooms in each wing so finding a sink to freshen up and brush teeth is no problem. For a student hard on their luck, and who isn’t into the idea of bird bathing in the washroom sink, there are also showers in the athletics building.

With microwaves situated in a few locations, like the hallway in the SCAET wing, heating prepared food is also possible. As long as you’re not a picky eater, it is possible to live on under $20 a week. Peanut butter sandwiches, Mr. Noodle and maybe a piece of fruit a day to ward off scurvy is workable on a tight budget.

Laundry, however, would be a problem. The only way around this is to suck it up and go to a laundromat. The closest one to Sheridan seems to be a Spinz Coin Laundry on Elmwood Dr., just off Kerr St. This is about $3 to $5 per load so that, along with bus fare, would have to be worked into one’s budget.

In theory, a struggling student could get away with living in the college. All it takes is a sneaky mindset and the ability to live without certain comforts like home cooked meals and a soft mattress.

Check out a related video here.