Before starting first year, I so nervous to meet a whole bunch of new people and find my place in such a large university! With so many clubs, volunteer opportunities, and jobs on campus, I found it difficult to figure out where to start. After a bit of trial and error, here’s how I found my chosen family on campus!
A Hub for Food and Friends
I started volunteering at the UBC Food Hub Market because I’m passionate about community service; I soon found some of my closest friends in the other volunteers. The first time I really connected with everyone was when we made Everything Bagel Seasoning. This was my first time making the seasoning and making it with new friends was such a great bonding experience because we started to talk about all the food we would like to try our seasoning with and started sharing our favorite recipes.
Let Loose: Bonding at Clubs and Events!
Going to different club events has been another way I’ve made friends on campus. Personally, I love joining UBC Kaba events because I get to eat the tastiest Filipino treats and listen to other people’s amazing karaoke skills! Through these events I have met so many amazing people and even went to go get coffee with a new friend that I made through our club events.
I also love getting to meet people in my faculty in a more casual, less academic setting. Recently, I helped the Commerce Undergraduate Society host a Paint Night for other second years and it was so great to see everyone let loose a little bit. While hosting this activity, I got to meet so many students in the same year & faculty and we bonded over our classes and favorite professors. From this activity, I got to meet tons of new friends that I now get to sit with in class!
Getting involved helped me find my family within the larger UBC community. I would love to hear how you found yours in the comments below!
