By Davin Kim BA ‘22, Arts Associate Academic Advisor
As a first-year student entering UBC Arts, you’ll have lots of decisions to make as you get ready for registration. When I started at UBC, I wanted to pick the “right” courses for me, and while I was excited, I also felt a little overwhelmed by all the options.
From choosing your first-year study option, to selecting courses and thinking ahead to your potential major, it helps to start by reflecting on your academic and personal interests. The more you can align your studies with what you’re curious about, the more fulfilling your UBC Arts experience will be.
How to explore your personal and academic interests
Start by reflecting on your personal interests and jot down ideas that come to mind. You might ask yourself questions like:
- What are your favourite things to do in your spare time?
- Have you enjoyed volunteering or working? What did you do?
After exploring your personal interests, shift your focus to your academic experiences:
- What were your favourite courses in high school?
- What classes did you do well in, and which ones did you not enjoy?
It may be difficult to separate how much you enjoyed (or disliked) a subject because of the rapport you had with your teachers. Personally, I enjoyed my high school biology and English classes and did well in them, but this may have been because I liked the teachers, not because I really loved the subjects. Try to think of a topic that felt exciting regardless of the class format or teacher.
Once you have a better sense of your interests, you can start matching them with a potential major. If you are not yet familiar with the different programs offered to Arts students (including majors, minors, and more) you can browse these options as a starting point.
Knowing what you like and feel excited about will make it more likely that you’ll stay engaged and excel during your time at UBC. Studying something that you genuinely care about often feels so much less like a chore and can bring you joy and potentially higher grades.
Keep in mind you won’t need to choose a major in your first year. Your first year is a time to explore what you’re curious about, try out new subjects, and see if they spark new interests!
How I connected my interests to my major
In high school, I loved listening to my friends and helping them work through their problems. I also felt rewarded volunteering at the local hospital, where I delivered meals and chatted with patients. In grades 11 and 12, I enthusiastically participated and excelled in psychology classes. All of these experiences helped me recognize that a major in psychology would be a compatible match with my interests.
Once I decided on psychology, choosing other courses was easier — I looked into disciplines such as sociology and linguistics, which have overlapping areas with psychology, and ended up adding speech sciences as my second major because I found the subject so fascinating after taking an introductory course as an elective.
Your interests can change
Although I now feel like both my personal and academic interests aligned seamlessly with my majors in psychology and speech sciences, I did not always feel this way.
In high school, I took several science classes and was determined to pursue a career in the medical field. In fact, I’d entered UBC as a Bachelor of Science student.
By the end of my very first term, I quickly realized that I was in the wrong program. I was miserable in my classes and not engaged with the material. While I had strengths in the sciences, subjects like chemistry and physics didn’t spark my interest in the same way psychology-related topics did.
After coming to this conclusion, I decided to change faculties. It was a scary decision to make after already starting my university career, but I felt assured that it was the right choice after speaking with an Arts advisor who guided me through the process.
It is okay if you’re feeling indecisive about your major, or if you are set on a specific major but realize later you’ve made the wrong decision. What matters is staying open-minded, getting to know yourself, and making decisions that feel right for you.
If you want help exploring your interests, program options, and course planning for your first year, consider attending an Arts Academic Advising workshop, where you can connect with Academic Advisors, like me!
Davin Kim BA ‘22, Arts Associate Academic Advisor
