First year university is a crazy, exciting, and hectic time in a student’s life. You make friends, you make mistakes, and maybe you even make the grade. Here are some things that I learned in my first year at UBC:
- Trust me, making friends is waaaaaay easier than you expect. Everyone is just as eager to talk about where they’re from and what faculty they’re in. Don’t be shy and go introduce yourself!
- You’ll meet TONS of people in your first week at UBC. And you’ll probably never speak to half of them again. And that’s okay.
- It may be awkward to have to ask for someone’s name again, but it’s even more awkward to still not know it halfway through the year (some personal experience on this one).
- You’ll eat waaaaaay too much pizza. Dominoes and Mercante, anyone?
- As much as it may suck, it’ll benefit you in the long run to lock yourself in your room on a Friday night and catch up on your work.
- You’re not paying all that money just to walk back and forth from rez/the bus loop to your classes. Take some time to really explore the campus. Watch the sunset from Wreck Beach. Explore a building that you’ve never had a class in.
- A pro tip to making friends in class: go up to someone and ask them if the seat beside them is open. Even if you know it is, ask. It’s a super simple icebreaker to use and followed by a quick introduction, you can get the conversation rolling in no time.
- Unlike high school, chances are that you’re not the smartest person here, and no one expects you to be. Try hard, but don’t beat yourself up over it.
- Expect a drop in grades. Those high 90s won’t last you forever. It will hurt the ego to come out of high school with a 97 in Chemistry and receive a 68 on your first midterm.
- And finally, if you’re lucky, the memories that you make during your first year will change your life.
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