Your first year at UBC is hard — really hard. Here is a definitive list of the biggest blunders that most of you will make in your first eight months on Point Grey.
Living in Vanier/Emailing them to ask for Totem
I’m truly sorry if you live in Place Vanier as a first year (not for those in one of the newer houses that were built in this century). You deserve to see the sun and hopefully you made friends with the basement bats. And it’s just sad if you emailed them to ask for Totem Park. I mean you might as well have asked for Orchard.
Reddit failed you didn’t it?
Not knowing which classes you’re signing up for
If you’re gonna spend a four months in a class, it is worth it taking a day to really understand what you’re taking. Spending a mind-numbing day staring at ratemyprofessors.com and four-letter class codes will pay dividends in the long term. As a first-year, you’re gonna see some tired-looking person in your class who’s only there since they didn’t know they needed this class four years ago — don’t become that person.
Sleeping through a midterm
It’s hard to keep your sleep schedule healthy, especially as a student. Your work schedule is also probably no breeze. But even with all that, please, use a calendar or an alarm. In addition, if you have a midterm the next day, over four hours of sleep can’t hurt, right?
Going to Pie R Squared
Please make better choices about what you put inside your mouth. Period.
Not using resources (library, office hours)
There are people on campus working tirelessly to help students and, like children not eating their broccoli, we students adamantly refuse what is good for us. There are going to be things you spend hours fretting about that your professor can explain in ten minutes, during office hours. The libraries host valuable workshops daily and academic advising is an absolute godsend. And, although the lines are long, UBC has counsellors for a reason. If you’re going to pay tuition you might as well take advantage of all the free stuff that comes along with it.
Buying textbooks you don’t need
I live by a rule called ‘There’s no way I’m buying textbooks,' and it’s been working really well so far. If you look hard enough, you really can avoid buying all that printed paper you don’t even want to read, but you have to pay for those pretentious access codes anyway.
Choosing Engineering (and 8 a.m. courses)
Let me take a moment to say "lol." Just laugh at your misery, you’re probably regretting it, but it’s better to laugh than cry. The authors of this article may be willing to hear you rant (we accept PayPal).
Falling in love with your first lab partner
Just don’t. I mean, go for it if you feel like there might be something but, otherwise, please just don’t.
Not enjoying UBC to the fullest
You’re going to remember your time at UBC for the rest of your life. Make those memories great. Join a club. Go to that party. Take that course you think sounds cool. Jump into the fountain. Sleep in past your 8 a.m. classes. Okay, maybe don’t do that last one.
Thinking you’ll have a social life
It’s good to have dreams — they say aim for the moon and you’ll land among the stars. Well, if you aim for a good social life, you might just be able to plan studying together with friends and then you’ll get those nice, shiny grades!
Going to the wrong university/program
Many students are in a program they don’t want to be in. Many of those had pressure from their parents or were told that they weren’t good enough to do what they want. If you have to piss your parents off to get yourself out of some miserable degree, do it.
Spending all your money at Starbucks
Dear fellow students, one piece of Ubyssey advice for you: control your Starbucks addiction. I know it’s nice and it makes you not feel dead on the inside but, if you do the math right, you might be able to pay for a flight to the moon in a few years.
Promo-ing your LinkedIn at parties/aggressively plugging your Instagram
Dear Sauder people, it’s a party, come on. Okay, and others, plugging your IG is okay to an extent, but please don’t randomly add people you don’t know. It’s weird and it’s going to ruin your follower-to-likes ratio.
Buying overpriced UBC merch
After getting into a university, being eager to flex about it natural. School pride is great, but spending 65 dollars on a grey sweatshirt with ‘UBC’ on it is just not the right play. Does that UBC sticker really add ten dollars of value to your water bottle?
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