Alex Jacobs-Hajian, BSc(CompSci)’14

What was the most important connection you made?

Two groups of people are still part of my circle of contacts and trusted individuals, faculty members that I got to work closely with and my cohort of very smart and successful colleagues, which are not necessarily my immediate classmates. These are life-time relationships which allows me to bounce ideas off them or seek their assistance in future.

What was your ‘aha’ moment?

In life you cannot do anything alone. The saying is very true that you can go faster if you go alone, but you will go further if you go with a group. I have learned this during my campus-wide involvements that you need their various ideas and opinions and even your peers support.

What was the best advice that you received?

Do what you are passionate about, but also be realistic. As an example, if you love visual arts but not sure how to create a career out of it, how about try combining your great skills in visual arts with computer engineering and science?

What is your best memory from your time at UBC?

I ran for the student election, Senate member-at-large, and the night that my team and I got elected was one the best memories from my time at UBC. It highlighted how hard work will pay off and how I was grateful for the support that I got from all the fellow students.

If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?

If I have to do it all over again, I would do a combined Engineering and B.Com; this will allow me to have a very analytical mind and also understand what really matters in today’s business world. This combination would have given me a leg up on my competition at a very young age.