Future Students

Starting university creates a lot of new. New school, new friends, new classes, and along with all that there’s new lingo to learn! University lingo can be hard to navigate at first, but our fourth-year veterans, Kass and Dayna, have compiled a list of commonly used terms to help get you through!

Alumni

Graduates/former students of the university. They often provide support to current students. Singular: alumnus (male) or alumna (female).

Bachelor’s Degree

A degree given to a student after studying at University for four-years.

VIU President Dr.

Looking for a convenient way to earn a few dollars while building your experience in a flexible environment made for busy students? VIU student employment may be your answer. Every year VIU offers a range of interesting work opportunities for students, allowing you to gain resumé-building career experiences while helping to pay the bills.

Not sure if a VIU student job is for you? Check out these 7 advantages to student employment then learn more about how to find a job that may be right for you.

Like many students, we found the sudden move to online learning last spring to be an overwhelming experience. It was challenging to motivate ourselves to find a routine and finish our classes. But we did it and want to pass on our newfound knowledge to help other students have an easier time.

First, here are our top five bad habits that impacted our productivity when VIU moved to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: 

Our federal and provincial governments have introduced many relief measures for Canadians and British Columbians suffering financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What this has meant for students is that there is more support to help those in need pay for university than ever before for the 2020-21 academic year.

Are you wondering where to get started? From bumps to existing programs, to new measures designed to stimulate the economy and get students back to work and school, here’s a roundup of some funding options: 

Are you wondering if a career in the trades is right for you? Working with your hands, tools and big machines can pay off in a big way and starting your career in the trades can sometimes take less than a year of post-secondary training.

Nearly half of all the almost 71,000 job openings predicted for British Columbia over the next decade will be in the trades and technology fields. As technology advances, most of those careers in trades will require training by a certified institution such as Vancouver Island University.

For the majority of students, involvement in extracurricular activities plays an integral role in the university experience. How? Students enhance their personal development through these activities and just blow off steam, which is also important.

By participating in life after dark at VIU, you can reap benefits such as:

We all have dreams of self-improvement – wanting to be a better person, be more active, be healthier or do something on our bucket list. We start thinking about those good intentions when we toss the old calendar into the recycling bin and start a new year. 

Being a university student can be stressful.

You may have competing deadlines. Maybe you’re holding down a part-time job, experiencing social pressures or have family responsibilities. Sometimes it can feel like you’re being pulled in too many directions.

How do you cope? The first step is to find out what positive coping strategies work for you. Here are some tips you can try to manage stress as a university student.

You’re going to spend the next few years with your nose buried in textbooks, cramming for exams and befriending your local barista. But what is life like on the other side? Will you just fall into a job? How will you find your dream career? Four VIU grads share their path from university student to working adult.