Welcoming second-year students this fall

After a year of online learning, the majority of UVic’s second-year undergraduate cohort is preparing to study on the UVic campus for the first time. Second-year undergraduate science student Hannah O’Shea (she/her) tells us a little bit about what that experience is like.

Have you been to the UVic campus before?

I’ve been there a few times, but I don’t know campus at all! It’s going to be hard to finding my way around and I don’t know the names of many of the buildings. But I’m really excited about the second year tours UVic is running – I was scared they wouldn’t do anything like that for second years. I’ve already registered for all of the second-year orientation events.

What are you most looking forward to this fall?

Everything!

I’m really excited for the in-person labs. Labs have always been one of my favourite things to do and the lab simulations we did last year weren’t quite the same. I love getting that hands-on experience, doing the science myself, and getting to work with other people. Plus, I know the labs at UVic are so much more advanced than what we had in high school. I’m really looking forward to working in them!

What I missed most about last year is getting to know people in my classes. I joined New Student Connect and that was a great way to connect with a mentor and meet a few people. But I miss sitting in a class and just getting to chat with people who have similar interests. I didn’t really make any new friends last year. I can’t wait to make some new connections at UVic and really experiencing university life that way.

What do you think your instructors or staff at UVic can do to help second year students feel welcomed?

I’m a little nervous about taking in-person classes. Studying online was really different – all of our exams were open book and that changed the way I prepared for stuff. I’m worried my study habits have gone down a bit. Plus, I don’t really know what to expect in an in-person university class. Hopefully our instructors can understand what we second-year students are going through and that we’re going to need a little extra help getting used to everything. Whatever they do for first-year students, they need to do for us too!