Congrats, Class of 2026!
Starting university is scary, but it’s also thrilling. It’s a big deal! Whether you live down the street from campus or are moving halfway across the world — this is a new chapter of your life and we’re so happy to have you here.
There’s a sort of magic that comes with a new school year, and that magic feels all the more electric at UBC. Spend time in the Place Vanier commonsblock with your friends, sign up for a million clubs during Clubs Day (knowing that you’ll never participate) and of course, get rained on at homecoming. Whatever it is you do, UBC is an exciting place to be.
That isn’t to say that UBC doesn’t come with its flaws. With on-campus housing hard to come by, tuition increases every year and no fucking SkyTrain to UBC (yet), it can be hard to love your school.
It can seem that since UBC doesn’t care, students don’t either. But that’s not the case.
Campus is filled with communities — whether that be in the classroom, on the MacInnes Field on the first sunny day in months or on the 99 B-Line all the way from Commercial Drive. You’ll find them or they’ll find you, and soon you’ll take part in classic UBC traditions with them. You’ll be convinced to Storm the Wall. Or you’ll fall incredibly ill after taking the plunge at the Polar Bear Swim at the end of term one. Maybe you’ll even come to The Ubyssey’s retreat on Pender Island and get (safely) shitfaced. These memories are what make these traditions worth it.
Who knows, you might even create a few traditions of your own.
Whether you’re taking your first few steps on campus or studying at IKB deep into your last year, know that you belong at UBC. But, if you need someone to rant to or celebrate your wins with, you have your friends and you also have us — a newspaper filled with students just like you. Come visit us in room 2208 in the AMS Student Nest. We have a microwave. And couches. And an Eeyore stuffed animal. And an American Girl Doll.
Welcome to UBC!