Hello, and welcome to UBC!

My name is Esmé, and I’m your AMS president.

You might be asking, “What the heck is the AMS?” Basically, the Alma Mater Society (AMS) is your student union.

We are here to connect students across faculties and provide part-time jobs and volunteer opportunities. We also provide services like the AMS Food Bank, Peer Support, Safewalk, Advocacy, Tutoring and the Sexual Assault Support Centre.

The AMS administers your health & dental plan, hosts parties and socials and runs the AMS Student Nest — a home base for students whenever you might want to get food, study or hang out.

We also have elections every year in March, so make sure to vote and see if you want to get involved in AMS Council, the Executive team or other roles to make decisions about where our student fees and voice go toward!

Before I started my first year, I saw some college advice that said, “Sleep more than you study, study more than you party and party as much as you possibly can.” Even if partying in the beverages and loud music sense isn’t your thing, partying can also mean getting involved in clubs, constituencies, sports teams, hanging out with classmates and groaning about the homework or whatever means fun to you!

Whatever it may be, even just studying on campus and being around other people is so important to know you’re not alone. You’re part of communities on campus, whether that’s your faculty, AMS or UBC community, and you’ve earned your spot here — I just hope you’ll remember you belong here every day that you’re with us.

I won’t lie, there are going to be some stressful times ahead, but you can mitigate how much the stress gets to you by making connections with the people around you, tutoring each other on different subjects and having somebody to talk to and feel at home with in this big university.

Honestly, just saying “hi” and exchanging names with whoever I sat down beside in any class helped me a lot, so try your best to have those little conversations and see where they take you!

University can be such a great place to make lifelong friendships as you bond through the good and bad times, and I really hope that you’ll find your people here. It’s not just about learning from our classes, but about learning from the people we meet here along the way.

If you ever need anything or just want someone to talk to and listen, I’m more than happy to help! Come by the AMS offices on the third floor of the Nest or feel free to send me an email at president@ams.ubc.ca. I’m looking forward to seeing you around and all the best for your first year and the years to come. :)