Illustration Indiana Joel / The Ubyssey

In the pursuit of knowledge, The Ubyssey has compiled a series of wisdom nuggets from a panel of experts with the knowledge and experience on UBC so that they can responsibly push their opinions on unsuspecting first-years.

From hot dates to study tips, these folks have been through the wringer and are almost out the other side. Without further ado, your virtual mentors:

Our esteemed panel of experts

John Harvey: Sixth-year engineer. A victory-lap engineering student with strong opinions about basically everything.

Jessica Hohner: Third-ish-year computer engineer. Once got in a fight with a pit bull and won.

Gurvir Sangha: Sixth-year international relations/accounting student. Personifies the day President Ono wore his first bow tie.

Aditya Jariwala: Third-year Sauderite in marketing and entrepreneurship. “I have a midterm in one hour, but I'm filling this out instead.”

Joel Stadie: Third-year math major. Cannot say no to an adventure.

Katherine Kirst: Fourth-year international relations major. The person who says, “y'all,” a dozen times to cancel out any Canadian interjections she might have accidentally used.

Studying

“Do all your readings — ideally, before lecture. Yeah, it can be a lot of work, but you get the most out of lecture when you're reviewing the material the professor is covering instead of encountering it for the first time. The more work you do at the start of the term, the less there is to do come exams.” — John Harvey

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“Building a caffeine tolerance is a real thing — don't get to the point when you're vibrating from coffee, Red Bull or a mixture of the two.” — Katherine Kirst

“Be prepared. Always aim to finish anything assigned to you a few days in advance. In first year, I submitted everything a couple hours before deadline and I failed horribly. I almost got kicked out of my faculty. I spent my entire second year making amends for that mistake and I completed every assignment weeks in advance. Result — I made an incredible amount of growth in my grades.” — Aditya Jariwala

“Establishing a consistent studying routine is fundamental to success in university. A seven-hour cram session the night before a final is not a good substitute for incremental studying that begins weeks in advance. I'm a big fan of the Pomodoro studying technique, which breaks an hour of studying into alternating periods of 25 minutes of focused studying and five minutes to take a break.” — Gurvir Sangha

Getting to know your profs

“Sit at the front of the lecture hall. Your professors are going to ask questions — try to put your hand up once per lecture. If you took my advice about doing the pre-readings, you should at least be able to guess at what they're asking. If you're scared of speaking up in class, take it as an opportunity to work on your public speaking skills.” — John Harvey

“Cry in their office. If they offer you coffee, they're good people.” — Jessica Hohner

“Go to their office hours. If you go early enough in the semester before midterms, there won't be a huge crowd of stressed out students. Profs are people too — they have interests. You don't always have to ask them about school, but be respectful. If you go often enough, they'll remember your face and name.” — Joel Stadie

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Studying abroad

“Do it. Even if it extends your degree. Work abroad if you can. University should be as much about building life experiences as it is about formal education. Living in another country is a life experience everyone should have.” — Jessica Hohner

“I'm wholeheartedly in favour of students taking a term or year to study abroad. It's a tremendous opportunity to soak in other countries and cultures while having the freedom of being a student. If you plan diligently, you'll be able to have an incredible journey while satisfying program requirements. I've never heard anyone that has undertaken an exchange speak poorly about the experience.” — Gurvir Sangha

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“Studying abroad is a very good experience. I moved from India to attend school at UBC. It has been one of the best decisions I have made. Granted, there have been a lot of mistakes, but studying abroad showed me the importance of so many things. Working my first job and learning how easy it is to spend your parent's money, but thinking twice before buying bubble tea. Falling down, but learning to pick ourselves up again.” — Aditya Jariwala

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. If you found this helpful, check out our other entries in our “Words of wisdom” series: sex, love and relationships and getting involved and having fun.