On my first day of university, I was terrified. I arrived on campus midday, and my dad and brother helped me unpack into my single room in Totem Park. Soon after, they left. And there I was, alone in an unfamiliar room, in a city and country I was familiar with but had never actually lived in.

If you’re a first-year student, feeling scared about not making friends or feeling uncomfortable in a brand new city or a brand new country, this guide is for you.

In these pages, you’ll find tons of information and a lot of unsolicited advice. We’ve written about how to navigate academics, housing, student services, roommates, clubs, finances and a whole lot more. Hopefully, this guide can be like an older sibling to you, and can help you ease into an incredible, but definitely scary, new phase of your life.

Maybe you’re reading this sitting alone in your dorm room, like I was doing four years ago this week. But I hope what you take away from reading this guide is that university can be an incredible place to grow and learn in all aspects of your life. If you feel lost now, reading this guide to try to feel less so, don’t worry — that feeling won’t last long.

Before you know it, it will be four years later and you’ll think it’s strange that you lived a whole 18 or so years of your life before being a UBC student.

Charlotte Alden

Coordinating Editor