Chapter 3: “One Lazy Day Would Cause Everything to Come Crashing Down”: Stories From Underrepresented Students on Becoming a University Student

For most Canadian children and young people, seeing oneself as a “student” is commonplace. Once they reach their late teen years, however, many start to reconsider their learning trajectories and their future place in the world, and make important life decisions: whether to transition directly from high school to the work force; to pursue a higher education at a community college or university; or to pursue a trade. Our qualitative pilot study (funded by a Social Science & Humanities Research Council Small Research Grant) focussed on students who enrolled in a university located in a medium-sized working class city located one hour outside of one of Canada’s largest urban centers. Demographically, these students tend to have lower entrance grades, be required to work and/or seek loans to attend university, come from immigrant or lower socioeconomic status families, be visible minorities, and commute to campus. This chapter will focus on what students say about choosing to pursue postsecondary studies, their experiences at university, and their perceptions of themselves as successful learners. We argue that part of this identity formation occurs when a student has a sense of belonging to an academic community.