When high school student Shirley wanted to learn what university was like she decided to try out UBC’s Future Global Leaders program, a pre-university program that lets high school students try out university courses to see what university and campus life is like. Shirley chose to enrol in the Sauder Mini Business School, because Sauder has always been her dream school.
As a commuter student, Shirley was worried about feeling included, but that wasn’t a problem. After her classes, she attended afternoon social activities, exploring various UBC gardens and museums and made lots of friends and connections.
“I feel more confident about attending university thanks to FGL. Not only did I build meaningful connections with peers and mentors, but FGL also affirmed my decision to pursue a degree in commerce. The program also provided workshops on how to write the UBC personal profile and Q&A sessions with admission officers. The program itself – being taught in larger classrooms compared to high school, managing free time between activities, and exploring the UBC campus with friends made me feel prepared for the transition from high school to university life!
I attended the Sauder Mini School and one of the field trips we took was to the UBC Bookstore. We learned about the bookstore’s strategies for product placement, how the store operates, its future expansion plans, the problems they are facing, and its plans to mitigate them. We also did a SWOT analysis for the bookstore. I think this is what makes UBC and FGL unique – the curriculum’s emphasis on bridging theory to real-world application and putting that knowledge into practice. (Getting a free gift card at the end was a nice bonus!)”
– Shirley, Future Global Leaders student