University of Victoria - UVIC
speciality: Business and Strategy

The library is my second home. The best part about the library is that it has separate floors for group study and silent study. If you want to sit with your friends, chat, and work, the first and second floors are great. The third floor has pin-drop silence and is great for when you need to get work done asap. There are different kinds of seating. My personal favorite is the couches near the staircase. Great view too! There are sleeping chairs, sofas, and cubicles. So you can choose where you want to sit. The library also offers media loans so you can borrow chargers, headphones, cameras, audio/ recording equipment, laptops, etc. There are also recording rooms and viewing rooms where you can watch movies/lectures or record podcasts for your class project. Overall it’s a great place to be. Kinda wish it had a microwave to heat up food and coffee 🙂

UVic puts a lot of emphasis on mental health and advocates that students take care of their emotional wellbeing. Most professors are understanding and will give you extensions for assignments/ evens if you are not in a good place mentally. I also know that if you’ve suffered an unfortunate event, you can talk to authorities and they will ensure to get you extra time for your assignments.

It’s a little difficult to get counseling appointments and I would suggest looking for counselors/ therapy outside campus if you want long-term therapy.

UVic also has a pet cafe where you can go pet cute animals every wednesday. There are other resources too, such as Support Connect, a 24/7 helpline to talk to someone. I would suggest managing your time really well and having a balance between academics and fun times. Once midterms start, the semester keeps getting busier and there is no doubt you will be stressed. Managing yourself and your work will help you decrease stress in the long way. If you still need help, UVic staff is pretty good at helping you out 🙂