University

Université de Sherbrooke: student life on campus

An insider’s guide to the best campus food, place to study and more

The 411

If I wrote the school motto:
“Live, learn, network”
Best cheap lunch:
Rima. A shish taouk plate including salad, rice and garlic potatoes for $10.
Best hangover breakfast:
Allô! Mon Coco
Best place to study:
Le Faro on Wellington St.
Best pizza:
Pizza Hut
Best campus events:
The 5@11 (5 to 11 p.m.), Hallowe’en edition. Huge crowd. Awesome DJs and entertainers. They had fire-eaters once.
Best campus food:
The pho at the main cafeteria
Best bar for hanging out:
The King Hall
Best place to live:
Le Montagnais apartment buildings. They’re on a hill next to the main campus. You can get a view of the city from your living room.
Best place to nap:
The couches in the FLSH’s basement
Weirdest campus tradition:
The FEUS carnival in January. People actually play outside when its -15 °—with wind chill—in their bathing suits. I mean . . . really?
The thing that surprised me most about the school:
How much time teachers take to give us feedback. They really want us to improve.
If I could change one thing about the school:
Hiring more professors. More teaching staff, more courses, more choices.

PROFILE: Université de Sherbrooke | Sherbrooke, Que. | Founded 1954

When I decided to go back to school, I wanted to live without the hassle of a big city, costly rent and a long commute. When you choose a university, you also choose its city. I chose Sherbrooke first, the Université of Sherbrooke second. The former for its scenic landscape and affordable housing, the latter for its unique student-centred approach.

Only two hours from Montreal, the Université de Sherbrooke’s main campus sits on top of a hill in the Mont-Bellevue neighbourhood. It’s big enough for you to get lost in the tunnels—I did—and small enough for the teachers to remember your name.

After Class
Many students live in the dorms on campus, others in apartments or houses near campus. As the area’s name suggests—belle vue means beautiful view in French—there’s a good view of the city from everywhere in the neighbourhood because of the many sloped streets. Bikers love it for the challenge and walkers for the squats. Walking to and from school becomes your daily workout.

The U of S is also a big cultural melting pot. Most of the students come from outside of Sherbrooke, and many are from Europe and West Africa. If you thought about working on your French, you might as well pick up a few palabras in German or Swahili by the tempo you graduate. Ça fait-tu du sens?

Opportunities to socialize are endless: from the weekly 5@8’s (5 to 8 p.m.) to carpooling to Montreal, you won’t miss a chance to start or end an awkward conversation, grab a beer and break the school-work-study cycle.

Let’s not forget student involvement opportunities. Those with acting skills can shine among the Mille Feux drama crew. They stage plays every year; some of them are written by students. Also, people of all faculties can share their poems and stories at the VinArt (wine art), an open-mic night event every semester.

Local Vibe
In the city itself, there are many outdoor activities, such as hiking the Mont-Bellevue and kayaking on the Magog river. There are literally no excuses to get fat on poutine (except the poutine, of course). In the summer semester, you can catch a show at one of the festivals in town like the Sherblues festival or the Fête du Lac des Nations, during which fireworks light up the sky every night for a week. It’s a must-see!

My guilty pleasure: an evening at the Strom Spa Nordique after finals.

More Info
Most of the students rely on the group Facebook page Communauté étudiante UdeS (“student community U of S”) to ask questions about important dates and promote activities. It also turns out to be a wonderful lost and found.

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