Year and program: Third-year, Media Studies major
Where is home for you? Anywhere with my friends and family (Vancouver & Ho Chi Minh)
What three adjectives best describe you?
Hungry, chill, outgoing
What extracurricular activities have you been involved with (UBC related or not)?
In my first year, I joined the basketball intramural league with friends that I made 2 days before that. I really enjoyed playing sport in an competitive league while having professional referee, scoreboard, organizer on a weekly basis for the whole term. That is also where I make a lot of friends, teammates or opponents, and find my grounding first at UBC. Being inspired by the experience, I joined as a basketball official and a fitness centre facility staff in my second and third year. Staying active is a great way to distract me from the overwhelming amount of study and reset again for a bigger push. That’s why I always tell my friends to balance study/work with recreation. “A healthy body is a healthy mind.”
What is your best study strategy/tip?
I find the “divide and conquer” line is really helpful for me (ignore the cliche!). By splitting big assignments into smaller actionable steps, I am more motivated to get started and executing the achievable tasks one-by-one. It also help me to keep track of my work progress, allowing me to navigate back and forth for revision if needed. Setting more realistic, smaller goals and allowing double-check is my go-to.
If you could travel back in time to your first year at UBC, what is one thing you would do differently?
I would definitely tell myself to get involved more. There a lot of resources that you can make use of: professors, learning centre, libraries, etc. Or maybe just joining in some clubs, associations, societies and get involved with all the opportunities and resources they offer. I think doing that would have given me a big push into my journey as an UBC international student… So maybe learning to say “yes” and be bold.