Campus

Roddy-James Rodriguez is just one of the hundreds of students on campus, who give up on life each year, and attempt suicide. The mental health crisis isn't new, and it isn't going away. And while schools are scrambling to beef up their support staff and resources, the reality is, the system is failing students. Roddy's struggle with depression is rooted in years of neglect, abandonment, and self-hate. Throughout his entire life, he was failed by pretty much everyone -- his schools, his community, and even his own family.

Wake Island is many things - to some, it’s a band. To others, it’s a place. But for Phil Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal, it’s the culmination of the immigrant experience. One that was shaped by culture shock, and capped with a newfound understanding of themselves, and the two places they call home.

Mohammad Al Masalma's country was ripped apart during his time in university. After a revolution erupted in Syria, he joined anti-government protests to fight for his freedom. It led to his arrest and detainment by the Syrian regime. He was thrown in prison, where he was tortured, and nearly killed.

Mohammad Al Masalma's country was ripped apart during his time in university. After a revolution erupted in Syria, he joined anti-government protests to fight for his freedom. It led to his arrest and detainment by the Syrian regime. He was thrown in prison, where he was tortured, and nearly killed.

William dedicated 22 years of his life to Mormonism, before he committed a serious sin. And after being unable to get past that guilt, he not only abandoned the faith, he tried to completely erase it from his past. But, religion was sown so deep into who he was, he couldn’t escape it.

April 16th 2017 marks 10 years since the Virginia Tech massacre where 32 innocent lives were lost. In part two of our special two-part story, survivors share the physical and psychological aftermath of that shooting rampage. Kevin Sterne and Kristina Anderson, do their best to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives, but the ghosts from that day continue to haunt them.

Sunday April 16th, 2017 marks 10 years since the Virginia Tech massacre when 32 lives were brutally lost. In part 1 of a special two-part story, survivors of the Virginia Tech shootings bravely recount the emotional and disturbing events of the fateful day that transformed their lives forever.

After robbing a store to feed his crack cocaine addiction, Jesse Thistle gets thrown in jail. While locked up, Jesse reflected on his life and oddly enough, he thought about education. He wanted to do better for himself, so he started by picking up a few books. Slowly he began to turn his addiction to crack to an addiction to higher learning.

How an Indigenous homeless crack addict turned his life around to becoming one of the most decorated PhD students in Canada. In part 1 of a special two-part story, Jesse Thistle details his upbringing in a broken family, a heavy addiction to crack cocaine, and a decade living on the streets.

After years of suffering with Crohn's disease, Brittany Ferreira was forced to have her colon removed. At just 23, she wore an ostomy bag. Now, she's dealing with mounting insecurity about her body, as she figures out how to embrace it.

Steve Keating has always been deeply curious about the world around him. His relentless curiosity is the driving force behind everything he does. It’s who he is. But it also led him down a frightening path that changed him forever. In this story, you’ll hear all about Steve’s unique fight with brain cancer, and how his constant sense of curiosity ultimately helped save his life.

Phil is head over heels in love. The fourth year student is about to experience his first Valentine's Day just a few weeks after losing his virginity to Amelia. He has his rose, his card, and his heart on his sleeve...but he's about to find out, he's not the only one.

Getting adjusted to college life is no easy feat. The pressure of fitting in and finding your feet during first year is huge. One of the biggest roadblocks to acceptance, strangely enough, is sex. Hear how Phil Leung's quest to lose his virginity led to a search for self-confidence.

In a special edition of Campus from Washington -- looking at the changing face of feminism in the aftermath of the now historic Women's March. Campus followed three Canadian university students, each with unique personal backgrounds, to dig into why there's such a strong sense that women's rights are now at a tipping point.

Hear the story of Harrison Browne’s long, hard-fought road to self-discovery, and how he became the first openly transgender pro hockey player.

Campus chats with CBC investigative reporter Connie Walker about dedicating her career to the Indigenous community, and how the pressure and responsibility are all worth it.

Her worth and identity have always been under the microscope, but now Canada's first indigenous forensic pathologist is facing even more pressure from her own community.

Health economist Laura Derksen talks about how the fear of stigma may actually be causing an increase in spreading HIV.

A young woman harboured a lifelong secret - that she was HIV positive. She distanced herself from the world, living a life of rejection, fear, and self-hatred. Hear how she rose to find the inner strength, confidence, and freedom to fight back against the HIV virus - the slow killer.

Death is not easy to deal with. We have an odd sense of uneasiness that falls upon us when we learn of someone passing… it’s something that can be really difficult to unpack. Dr. Darcy Harris has devoted her career to dealing with this. She specializes in Thanatology, the study of death. And is the Thanatology program coordinator at King’s College in Southwestern Ontario. It is the only undergraduate program of its kind in the world.

A straight 'A' student, raised in a rough neighbourhood, chose books over guns.

With Donald Trump headed to the White House, Americans are preparing for the touted wall along the U.S. Mexico border, one that will continue to separate families. It is a massive setback for immigration reform. But for a small yet mighty human rights group in El Paso, Texas, this is just another round in the life-long fight to reunite fractured families.

They're known as "Dreamers" and in this U.S. election, they just might have the most to lose. As the issue of immigration looms, countless undocumented college students are caught in a cycle of uncertainty. Hear what's at stake for three college students who face the serious threat of deportation.

After hearing stories of the infamous ghost that lurks Michigan's Ferris State University, the Campus crew camps out overnight in the basement of the Alumni building to try and meet the entity known as Michael.

Things go bump in the night on Campus. Students tend to avoid the creepiest parts of Michigan's Ferris State University. But the staff have no choice but to confront the school’s haunted history head on.

In our last episode, you heard the story of Daniel Friedman - a grad student who suffered from lead poisoning and lost all ability to read and write. When Daniel eventually picked up the pieces, he redefined his life by opening up a tailoring company called Bindle & Keep. Although the shop welcomes people of all shapes and sizes, Daniel’s work has resonated with the transgender community. One of his clients, and a good friend of Daniel’s, Everett Arthur, speaks about how getting his very first custom-fitted suit changed his life.

Just months before finishing grad school, Daniel Friedman suddenly lost the ability to read and write. The aspiring architect was writing an essay one night when the words on his computer screen began to scramble. Hear how Daniel’s life changed overnight, and how his struggle to redefine himself almost cost him everything.

Sonia Pruitt, a police Lieutenant from Maryland, reacts to our story of the near-fatal beating of Alex Landau. She gets candid and speaks personally about the current race crisis gripping America.

A black student is nearly beaten to death by three white police officers during a routine traffic stop. For Alex Landau, that horrific night was a brutal awakening about what it means to be black in America.

Albert recommends the new CBC original podcast Love Me.

Part 2 of our season finale deals with the physical and psychological aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. Two survivors, Kevin Sterne and Kristina Anderson, do their best to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives, but the ghosts from that day continue to haunt them. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder began seeping into their psyches. Both would become consumed by a wide-range of emotions. Over time, Kristina would become so gripped with fear, a simple shower became impossible. Meanwhile, Kevin suffered with unexplainable fits of rage. His temperament would ebb and flow in waves that were never a part of his personality.

In part one of our two-part season finale, two survivors of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre bravely recount the emotional and disturbing events of the fateful day that transformed their lives. That morning, Kevin Sterne was in German class, and Kristina Anderson was in a nearby French class when a gunman chained the doors of Norris Hall, walked up to the second floor, and suddenly opened fire in their classrooms. Following a terrifying shooting rampage in several other classrooms, the gunman finally shot himself, ending the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Kristina lay helplessly on her classroom floor, anxiously waiting for help to arrive after being shot three times, including twice in her back. Kevin never thought he would make it out of his classroom alive after a bullet tore through his femoral artery. Both of them courageously held on in the final moments waiting to be rescued.

On the morning of April 16, 2007, a gunman worked his way through the Virginia Tech campus, claiming the lives of 32 people and wounding 17 others before turning a gun on himself. It remains the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. In preparation for our upcoming two-part season finale, the Campus crew visits the university town of Blacksburg, Virginia. We'll bring you the haunting first-person stories of two students who were shot in the Virginia Tech massacre. This is a preview of what's to come.

What happens when elite athletes are forced to give up the dream of playing the game they love? After devoting such a huge chunk of their lives to one goal, how do they find a new sense of purpose and carve out a new identity for themselves? We talk to a renowned sports psychologist about how to coach athletes to move on and to dream again.

Isaiah Austin was one of the best college basketball players on the planet. But five days before his name would be called in the NBA Draft, his dream was taken away from him. This is the story of Isaiah’s struggle to pick up the pieces of a shattered dream, and his search to redefine his life.

This week on Campus we put conventional education under the microscope and talk about why so many talented students are falling through the cracks of the current system. Listen to this chat with Gavin Sheppard, a leader in alternative learning, and find out why it’s time we remixed education once and for all.

This is the story of Shigeto’s remarkable journey to becoming the world-renowned electronic musician he is today. For as long as he can remember, Zach “Shigeto” Saginaw’s only dream was to become a famous jazz musician in New York City. But the dream would become a rude awakening on his first day of college.

We chat with relationship expert Dr. Kimberly Moffit about why we struggle to navigate through all the confusing facets of the dating world. In our last episode, we met Dillon and Charlotte -- a couple that went from being wishy-washy-friends-with-benefits, to committed long-term lovers who are now three years strong. Dr. Moffit gives some insight into the couple's relationship and details the science behind the laws of attraction.

This is a story of an unlikely couple that started out as friends-with-benefits who evolved and became long-term lovers. As we all know, relationships can be wonderful, but extremely complicated all at once. Sometimes, they take on strange, unexpected forms that create blurred lines. What does it mean to be exclusive, but not an official couple? And when does hooking up turn into a friends-with-benefits scenario? This is the awkward love story of Dillon and Charlotte. They met in their first-year of university, a time when neither of them wanted to be in a relationship. But their initial attraction to one another turned a platonic friendship into a budding romance. After a few months of dating, Charlotte wanted to put a label on the relationship. But Dillon was still scared of the thought of being tied down in a committed relationship. Find out how the two ended up together despite wanting completely different things.

An important conversation about why eating disorders are being forgotten in the medical world, despite the fact that they cause the most deaths among all mental illnesses. In our last episode, we met Meredith Healey, a young woman who battled with anorexia and anxiety in her first year of university. But there’s one part of Meredith’s story that really stands out for us. While she was gripped by her first panic attack, she went to the hospital thinking she was having a heart attack. An ER doctor helped by asking her to breathe into a paper bag. When Meredith eventually calmed down, the doctor simply sent her home. At this point, Meredith was 100 pounds. She was skinny and frail, yet the ER doctor didn’t pick up on any physical signs pointing to a mental illness. Where is the disconnect when it comes to recognition by healthcare professionals? For more insight we asked Dr. Brian Goldman, an ER doctor and host of CBC Radio’s White Coat, Black Art, to join us for a chat.

This is the story of a young woman’s descent down a dark and dangerous path of anorexia and anxiety. Body image can be a focal point for so many students starting out in university. But too often it can become an obsession. And in Meredith Healey’s case, it turned into a hunger game that threatened her life. It all started out as an innocent attempt at avoiding the Freshman 15. You know, those inevitable 15 pounds you gain during first year of university or college, thanks to bad eating habits and excessive drinking. In Meredith’s case, this notion quickly sparked an infatuation with weight-loss, fueled by fashion magazines. Without even realizing it she became anorexic. When Meredith stepped foot on campus, she was frail and weak. Her eating disorder, paired with the mounting pressure of maintaining a B+ average to stay in her program, triggered a series of never-ending panic attacks. Hear her story on this episode of Campus.

What happens when love gets caught in the middle of a clash of cultures during college? Meet Chris and Cindy, an interracial couple who are dating despite strong disapproval from their parents. Hear how keeping their relationship a secret has made their love even stronger. In our last episode, you met Maria, an emerging South Asian pop artist whose parents refused to support her dreams of pursuing a career in the arts. Long story short, Maria’s experience is one that so many children in immigrant families can relate to. These households often struggle to find a balance between maintaining their traditional values and integrating into a new culture. There’s another layer of this struggle that we didn't get into with Maria’s story. What happens when you throw love into that already stressful dynamic? We were lucky to have a candid chat with Chris and Cindy about the tensions that come with interracial relationships.