University is a place for you to explore your interests and develop skills that will help you later in your career and life. Being a university student, you have many perks that you can take advantage of. UBC offers a vast amount of resources to support its students academically and professionally. In the second part of my blog series on how to maximize your UBC experience, I will share with you some of my personal experiences with academic and professional resources at UBC. (Click here for part one!)
1. Academic Resources
Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication (CWSC)
The Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication (CWSC) provides writing support to students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and faculty. For undergraduates, the CWSC provides writing consultations and writing workshops to help enhance your writing ability.
Tiffany’s Tip: Writing university papers is something we all experience in our undergraduate years at UBC, no matter what majors you may have. I recommend you set goals for each of your writing phases (research, body paragraphs, conclusion paragraphs, revision, etc..). UBC Library has an excellent resource called “The Assignment Calculators,” which helps you divide your research and writing projects into smaller steps based on the due dates. From there, you can follow your schedules and book a writing consultation at the CWSC in advance to avoid having all appointments booked already.
AMS Tutoring
AMS Tutoring is available for first and second-year courses. This year, AMS Tutoring is available online via the Nimbus App. There are 2 types of tutoring services that AMS offers: Group Tutoring and Private Tutoring. Group Tutoring is free of charge, and Private Tutoring costs $35/hour.
Tiffany’s Tip: Courses in university can be totally different compared to courses in high school. With such a big change in teaching and studying style, it can be challenging at first. If you find your courses challenging, besides reaching out for professors during their office hours, don’t forget that UBC also offers free academic resources like AMS Tutoring to support you! AMS Tutoring includes a variety of courses from math and biology to economics and commerce courses. I wish I had known about this free resource to utilize in my first two years at UBC!
Peer Coaching
Peer Coaches are UBC students who are interested in giving back to the UBC community by helping their fellow students in their areas of expertise.
Peer Coaching is available for faculty-specific or interest-specific. For example, if you are a science student and have questions about your course materials, Science Peer Academic Coaches (SPAC) are there to help you via their one-on-one consultations. Or, if you are an Arts student, Arts Peer Advisors are available to help you with your academic transition to UBC by sharing information on the degree requirement, course selection, and registration process.
Tiffany’s Tip: Each faculty has its own programs to support its students. For instance, as a student at the Sauder School of Business, I can participate in the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) to help me to succeed in my commerce courses. Be sure to check in with your faculty advisor about what resources are available for you because more likely than not, your faculty can offer you unique resources that are tailored to your needs and study programs.
2. Professional Resources
Centre for Student Involvement and Careers
Centre for Student Involvement and Careers (CSIC) is your first stop for finding career resources within UBC. On their website, you can find different toolkits and articles from Job Search to Networking. CSIC also offers career advising services. You can book your career advising services here. This year, to accommodate the virtual environment, career advising at the CSIC is accessible through phone, Skype, and Zoom, along with webinar options.
Tiffany’s Tip: Before every advising session, I always try to set a goal (or two) of what I want out of our short session. For instance, before, I was not really confident with my interview ability. I wrote a reflection of 2-3 questions I wanted to practice with my advisor before the 30-minute advising session and communicated that information with my advisor beforehand. This action helps me stay on-topic and gain fruitful results after every advising session.
Careers Online
Careers Online is a powerful resource that every student at UBC can utilize for not only job search but also career development resources. Specifically, Careers Online is an online job and volunteer board for UBC students and alumni. Additionally, this website also offers many helpful resources for your professional development such as Resume & Cover Letter workshop or Planning Your Application for Graduate School workshop. These resources are offered through the Centre for Student Involvement and Careers (CSIC).
Some of the sections you might find helpful on the Careers Online website are:
- Events: You can sign up to participate in different networking events like Career Days or Employer Virtual Information Session. By participating in these networking sessions, you can connect with employers who are looking to recruit from various academic disciplines.
- Workshops: Different workshops from Resume & Cover Letter to Designing Your Life are available to sign up on Careers Online. You can gain advice from professionals on how to polish your job application documents and work on your professional presence online on LinkedIn via these workshops.
Tiffany’s Tip: Going to networking events can be a daunting experience at first, especially if you do not know anyone at the event. If that is the case, I recommend inviting friends who might share the same career interest with you to participate in these networking events together to feel more comfortable. However, it is crucial to reach out and talk to new people at the event. You never know new opportunities may come up!
Another tip that I have is to be prepared. Before the event, do your own research about the companies that are going to be there. Create your own list of questions you want to ask. This tip might come in handy, especially during COVID-19 time, since it is easier for you to ask questions during virtual events in the chatbox. Better be prepared than not!
Going to university is a big investment you make in your life. In order for you to maximize your experience, besides participating in school activities and programs, do not forget that there are a vast amount of resources UBC can offer you academically and professionally. Those resources are designed not only to help you succeed in your university career but also to help you be better prepared for the workforce in the future.
For my readers, thanks for following the two parts of my blog. You are now more prepared than ever to maximize your UBC experience. Good luck with your university journey! You got this!
