Your first month at NAIT as a new student is exciting, nerve-racking and will fly by in no time. Make the most of September with these five things to help you integrate into NAIT campus life.
Attend an event
If you’re looking to get the most out of your campus experience, events are a great place to start — and there’s lots of ‘em.
You can find and RSVP to events on Ooks Life, the online hub for all sorts of campus activities hosted by different departments and clubs.
Ooks Life events include all the details about each event and can even be sorted by date, branch, theme, category and included perks of attendance (like free food!).
You’ll see events like volunteer opportunities, learning seminars, recreational and social activities and so much more. But to start, we recommend checking out Nest Fest on Sept. 10 and 11. It’s an annual back-to-school celebration with food and beverages (boozy, if you prefer), performances, games and contests.
Nugget Tip
Take a screenshot of your Ooks Life event pass to save yourself from having to log into Ooks Life when staff ask to see your QR code every time. It’s the same for every event you attend, the entire time you’re at NAIT.
Join a club
Campus clubs make up a large part of all the fun events hosted on campus. Where can you find clubs? You guessed it — Ooks Life! You can peruse all the different campus organizations, from student-led clubs to NAIT departments like Learning Services.
Some organizations are student clubs dedicated to a specific program or interest, and others are NAIT departments you can join to get frequent updates on what’s happening. For new students wanting to meet friends, special-interest clubs like the Ski and Snowboard Club or the Super NAITSA Anime Club are good options.
There are also clubs for students from different cultures, like the Bayanihan Club at NAIT and the PUNJAB Club at NAIT. Clubs are a great way to meet people, but they also provide opportunities for club leadership and involvement.
Clubs and club executives are even eligible to win awards in the spring.
Nugget Tip
Don’t know which club to join first? Many NAIT programs have student-led, program-specific clubs. Don’t see a club that suits you? Start your own through NAITSA Campus Clubs.
Go to the Nest
Maybe joining a club isn’t your thing, and that’s okay. You could always grab a solo bar seat at our award-winning campus bar, the Nest Eatery, and see what happens. Maybe another solo bar-goer will sit next to you and you’ll meet a new friend. Maybe you’ll just enjoy the atmosphere by yourself with a cold drink and a snack. Either way, the Nest is a vibe for both introverts and extroverts.
And it’s probably one of the better spots to grab food on campus. It has a menu full of pub favourites, like chicken wings and burgers, and a bar that features local craft beer on tap.
Every day of the week, the Nest has a different food and drink special. Plus, the prices on regular menu items ain’t bad! The Nest reopens for the school year on Sept. 1. Check it out on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Nugget Tip
If you’re in a hurry, you can order food from the Nest online for pick-up. And if you’re going to order anything, it should be the Cajun Chicken Burger with crosstrack fries. Trust us.
Find a study spot
While the Nest is a good spot to study if the buzz of other students keeps you focused, you may want to find another go-to spot to lock-in, too.
You’re not limited to the building where most of your classes are in — the search for a study spot may even help familiarize you with the campus and what it has to offer.
NAIT has plenty of study and seating areas, like the library in U310 or the student common area on the second floor of CAT behind the Tim Hortons.
If you’re looking for total silence, U210 below the library has a dedicated silent area complete with study pods. But sometimes, it’s that random seat in a quiet hallway that really does the trick.
Nugget Tip
You can book your own private study room for an hour or two through your MyNAIT Portal.
Pet some dogs
The Pets Assisting With Student Success (PAWSS) program was introduced by MacEwan University in 2017 to help reduce student stress and increase wellbeing through animal interaction.
NAITSA has its own roster of PAWSS dogs, and students can see which dogs are in and when using the PAWSS schedule on the NAITSA website. If beagles are your favourite breed, you’re in luck — there are three on the roster. Drop by the NAITSA office at O108 when the PAWSS residents are in and pet some dogs. It’s for your own good.
Nugget Tip
Not a dog person? Pet other animals at the NAITSA Petting Zoo on Sept. 14. Get all the details on (surprise) Ooks Life.
Feature image by Mathieu Durnford/The Nugget
