Algonquin students reflect on the year of the strike

The 2017-18 school year ended this past weekend for many students at Algonquin College, and for a lot of them, it will be remembered as the year of the five-week strike.

Hallie Cotnam of CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning caught up with students last week as they prepared for their finals, and here's what they had to say.

"I think it definitely impacted how we performed last semester," said 23-year-old Sarah Min, a business marketing student who returned to class following the strike only to face "back-to-back" exams and projects.

Thankfully, she said instructors were sympathetic.

"I think they're a little bit more understanding with our grades this year," Min said.

'Stress kind of got to everyone'

Matthias Gardiman, a 24-year-old business marketing student, said the "overall stress kind of got to everyone. You were just wondering even if we were going to get back into school or not."

Brianna Perry, a massage therapy student, said her workload was heavier, but that students in her program benefited from registered massage therapist tutors on weekends.

"Luckily we didn't have to pay for it. I guess that was one bonus to the strike, they had more money for tutoring," Perry said.

For 24-year-old Jacob Burns, a refrigeration student, the strike delayed his course for a full term.

"It pushed me back in my whole apprenticeship, actually, so I won't be licensed until later. I won't be getting a raise, I won't be advancing until I pass this course. I just worked a little bit longer as a fifth-year apprentice," Burns said.

"For my employer to get another apprentice, I have to be signed off as a mechanic. So he can't hire another guy until I finish. It sets him back a little bit, too."

'After the strike, I broke'

Samar Al-Harthi, a 35-year-old international business student sponsored by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia

"It wasn't easy on me. To be honest, after the strike, I broke," she said.

"After the strike, all [the instructors] ... asked us to do everything, everything, in, let's say, two or three weeks. Everything. It's unbelievable," she said.

The compressed workload was almost too much for Al-Harthi, who is also a single mother with three children.

To her knowledge, she is one of only three students in her program who will graduate as planned. Other students will have to come back to earn the required number of credits.