Current Students

A lot has happened in the world over the past three months. We’ve gone from face-to-face classrooms to virtual classrooms; we’ve had our social circles tightened as everyone works to do their part to stop the spread of COVID-19; and many of us have experienced reduced work hours and financial strains.

Graduating from university is a momentous occasion in a student’s life, but COVID-19 has made honouring and acknowledging this accomplishment challenging.

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.

There is so much going on at college or university that finding time to study, participate in extracurricular activities, work and socialize can seem like an impossible schedule to keep up with.  Four Vancouver Island University students shared their tips for balancing school, work and fun.

It’s that time of year again. Another group of Vancouver Island University graduates are getting ready to cross the stage and head off into the real world – or into graduate programs.

What’s the secret to success in your university studies and beyond? How do you avoid burnout? Why should you try a different type of class? How do you figure out what’s next? Here’s some advice from recent graduates and alumni.

We’re at the end of another semester. For some, this means escaping into the summer months before returning in the fall, for others it means sun-filled days spent indoors … still on campus. But for close to 500 students, that the day is soon approaching when they will file down the aisle, with tassels bouncing, towards the convocation stage. Brimming with smiles, tears and memories of long days and longer nights.