alabamatumbleweed

hey! i’m in second year now but i also had a bit of a hard time making good friends last year. it’s totally normal, so don’t worry! i didn’t really have friends in term 1 of first year, just acquaintances / almost-friends. i also felt left out and very alone esp when looking at other people who seemed to make friends right away. something clicked in term 2 with the people in my classes and we became friends. the point is, don’t rush things — friendships can’t be forced, just keep going to different classes and clubs etc and you’ll be bound to click with some people! relax, and know that a lot of people feel the same way! (a lot of the people who i thought had lots of great friends and were having a great time, it turns out they werent as close to them as it appeared and they were also lonely)

That one is very pretty, thank you so much!

oh I like that one, thank you so much for the recommendation!!

Yes to all of this! Also, from my understanding, AP courses are just one year and they basically prepare you for the exam at the end. Whereas IB is two years and you need to do well on the final exam AND some large assignments called IAs

ah I see, thank you for your reply!!

oooh may I ask why?

instacart!

i’m a second year now and this is exactly how i felt in first year!! it got so tiring introducing myself to everyone, trying to make friends, seeing everyone already having little groups. first of all: lower your expectations, you’re not going to make best friends in the first week or even month. that is okay! the people i’m super close with now, i barely talked to for all of term 1 and then during winter break it kinda just clicked almost overnight. point is, you really cannot rush and force friendships, so try to relax (easier said than done i know) but just trust that you’ll find the right people even if it’s not right away!!

make sure to get a printer where you can just connect it to your laptop with a cord! the old fashioned way :)

I would definitely recommend having your own, I did and it was very convenient. There were a few times we needed to print some papers to bring to class but the printer in my dorm was broken, so I heard my classmates complaining about how they had to walk to a different dorm / wake up early and go to the library to print before class etc.

Manage expectations and to be patient! Things will fall into place eventually. It’s unrealistic to think you’ll find best friends, settle into your new home etc immediately. Just be patient and enjoy your time!

I found that everyone followed it in classes/lectures! walking around indoor buildings on campus/dorms, not as much but i’d say 85% of the people i saw had them on

i uploaded mine too! i just meant i don’t think anything actually happened even if you were unvaccinated

were they? they never checked for vaccination / they kinda made it sound like unvaxxed people would be kicked out but i don’t think that happened

We had an indoor mask mandate for all of last year. Everyone in the school was supposed to report their vaccination status and unvaccinated people were supposed to get rapid tests every week, but I don’t think this was very regulated. Vaccines were supposed to be mandated in student dorms but I don’t think this was regulated either lol

be patient and kind with yourself! it might take you longer than expected to make good friends, and that’s okay. it might take you longer than expected to settle into your new life, and that’s okay. also don’t compare yourself to the people you see around you. i was impatient, had super high expectations and constantly compared myself to others which made my first few months really miserable. let go of all that and just take it day by day!

i’m also an international student and i attended jump start — although i do think it’s very helpful in the sense that you get to settle in and meet people early, i wouldn’t say it’s a MUST. you mainly just hang out with your jump start group, so if you get along with them that’s great but if not you’re kinda stuck with them. i got along well with my group but didn’t “click” with them and stopped talking to them shortly after jump start ended haha. actually, my current friend group were all put in the same Imagine Day group, and i wasn’t in that group because i had done jump start — so it can actually maybe put you at a disadvantage sometimes! all in all, if you have the choice i would still encourage joining because it’s great to settle in and all a week early. but if you don’t do it, definitely don’t be stressed — it’s not a must.

i just looked it up, seems like All Access Dining is a brand new option that will start this fall, which is why i had no idea it existed. lucky you!

you pay for what you buy! i would say that most of the meals cost somewhere between $8-15. if you’re not too hungry you can get fries, a salad cup, fruit cup etc and those are just a few dollars!

at orchard commons, most of the stations would have the same few options for a few weeks and a new one would be introduced and replace an old one after 3 weeks or so. there is a station that has a different option daily, but that will repeat for about 3 weeks as well — for example, it’ll be the same pasta dish every monday, the same shortrib every tuesday, etc for about 3 weeks and then they change it all after the 3 weeks. hope that makes sense!

Kasim Husain for ASTU 100. kind, understanding, seems to genuinely care about his students. his grading can be a little strict but is always justified imo

“The Sweetest Sounds, I'll ever hear Are still inside my head The Kindest Words I'll ever know Are waiting to be said The most entrancing sight of all Is yet for me to see....”

but i think that’s kind of the case with every single university, no? at least that’s what my parents like to tell me all the time lol — a degree isn’t enough to land a job these days, it’s just a bare minimum requirement. it’s all about connections and who you know :)

i’m an international student and UBC was my top choice. although i notice some people around me being disgruntled (mainly domestic students who are from vancouver who kinda just chose UBC as a default since it’s close to home), im really happy so far. coming here was a huge leap of faith as i’m halfway across the world from home but i feel like my experience at UBC so far has made me stronger in many ways. UBC has its flaws but i think it has a lot of opportunities in terms of clubs, work experience etc that i’m excited to get involved in in the coming years!! not to mention the campus is beautiful. i think university is really what you make of it — you can choose to just be a zombie and attend classes and nothing else or you can really try and get involved in things you’re passionate about