Current Students

Making your way in the professional world involves more than just what you know. How you act and present yourself is just as important. At Vancouver Island University, a key focus is on preparing our students for the realities of the workplace. This includes the critical social skills needed to succeed in Canada’s unique business environment.

I went on the Northern Tourism in Practice graduate field course organized by the University of Arctic from October 30 to November 5, 2023. The course is a collaboration between seven partner universities:

Currently working as a nursing unit assistant at Summit Quadra Village in Victoria, VIU alum Jingjing Li says she loves her job as a “communications link” in the medical field. But there was a time when she wasn’t even sure if she would make it past the first day of VIU’s Nursing Unit Assistant certificate program. With a good dose of persistence and the assistance and advice of staff and other students, Jingjing graduated from the program last spring and began work in the industry right away.

You're almost there! The last week of classes. Then exams, then winter break. Do you feel like you have a handle on things?

Exam season is so easy – said no university student, ever. With multiple deadlines, it can be hard to stay motivated and focused on the task at hand. But with planning, positive thinking and careful time management, you can make it through the exam season relatively unscathed! Here are our top tips to help you survive exam season.

Get organized

This seems to speak for itself, but don’t let it fool you, there is a way to get organized. Scribbled to-do lists of all the exams and assignments you have coming up and a simple calendar of your upcoming due dates is not it.

Madeline Kozubal was working at a mill in the BC Interior when she first heard about VIU’s Dual Credit program.

“I hadn’t finished high school at that point,” she recalls. “I was shadowing some of the welders and the millwrights though, and thought those jobs looked interesting.” 

For Ezat Haidary, a brand-new program at Vancouver Island University is already having a life-changing impact.

Called Trades Pathways for Newcomers, the program launched in September and supports newcomers looking for a career in the trades by ensuring they have the skills, knowledge and supports to successfully transition into the educational programs that will get them there.

At this point in the semester, things are BUSY. And maybe you are realizing the semester didn’t quite go as planned. It might be time to connect with an academic advisor or check in with the Financial Aid and Awards staff, who are eager to spread the word about some upcoming scholarship opportunities. Keep reading to learn more. Also check out this beautiful photo from the Diwali celebration during WorldVIU Days.
 
Also in this issue:

In the last 50 years, we went from long division to solving math problems with a calculator, from referencing a dictionary to using spellcheck and from memorizing information to being able to call it up instantly on a mobile phone.

The newest addition to this list: using tools like ChatGPT to write everything from essays to speeches. We’re living in a time when artificial intelligence is used by people in many fields to make tasks easier and complete them in less time.

We are in thick of the busiest time of the semester. It’s okay to feel a little overwhelmed right now – there’s lots on the go between assignments coming due, events on campus and other commitments.