:)

My reading break has been pretty unproductive in terms of studying for midterms next week… but I have a valid excuse! I was participating in the Reading Week projects at UBC!! Today was the final day and I just had to jump on my blog and promote it shamelessly! :) For those who have never heard of Reading Week, it’s a super cool project that takes place every year (and has for the past 11 years) for 3 days during reading break. You’ll be randomly placed into an elementary school in Vancouver and each school will have a different theme – from there you will get to develop your own workshop along with your team and mentor elementary school students. It’s a really cool and unique experience – you basically fill the teachers’ shoes for the 3 days and hold workshops for a bunch of different classes, all varying in age and grade.  I had a blast at my elementary school, where our theme was science and most of our group were first-year science students and we all got to hold various experimental workshops for kids in kindergarten to the fourth grade. For the past three days I’ve been getting up a the crack of dawn to make the 8:30 am call time and keeping an upbeat, positive attitude till 3:45 pm and lemme tell ya, it’s EXHAUSTING, but at the end of the day, it’s so darn worthwhile when kids run up to you and pull your hand and tell you how much fun they had and how much they love science. I had a wonderful time and I hope you will all consider it this coming September/October when registration opens up again! You won’t regret and you’ll take away so much from the projects.

HEY YOU! How much do you love heavenly desserts that melt in your mouth and hearty meals that really hit the spot? And, yeah, the mere thought of it probably expands your waistline by two sizes and elevates your cholesterol levels to a point where fifty bowls of Cheerios can’t even lower it… but what if I told you that it doesn’t have to be like that? Check out my good friend’s amazing raw/vegan food blog (WAIT!!! Before you roll your eyes in disgust and read something else, hear me out!) at http://tiedyenutrition.com/ - I promise it’s worthwhile. Trust me, I’m one of those carnivorous foodies and I’ll admit, I use to liken vegan food to tree bark – but that was waaay before I tasted my friend Mitra’s vegan cooking. Absolutely mind-blowing how something so good for your body could be that delicious… give one of her quick and simple recipes a whirl and you won’t look back at those overly processed, chemical-laden chocolate bars that, I swear, are slowly deteriorating your cerebral cortex.  (*Avocado chocolate mousse?! Do you SEE the picture of it?!?! Heavenly!) Now, I love my fried chicken and I’ll probably be sticking to it for the next little while, but it’s so interesting to see how many options for healthy, and most importantly (to me, at least), delicious eating there are available. Just because it’s raw or vegan doesn’t mean  it tastes like freshly mown grass tossed with some soil.

Check it out! :)

xoxo

Echoes of Silence- The Weeknd. Download it, STAT! I’ve been loving this mixtape for the last little while; it’s so unconventional and eccentric and different from the mainstream crap I listen to 80 percent of the time. So I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the first few days of school- I really like all my profs and classes this semester- hopefully this is indicative of the amount of effort I’ll be putting into my studies  this term since I actually like my classes. And two of my four classes are small sized classes (around 20-30 people!) and it has made me realize how much I miss the relationship I had with my teachers in high school. I like the fact that the prof actually tries to get to know you personally, and you actually engage yourself in the lecture. SO much less yawn-inducing, haha.

Now I don’t meant to turn this into my personal diary and bore you by detailing my love life, but lately, I’ve been having some… relationship issues. And it’s brought me to many realizations, about human nature and the essence of a romantic relationship: trust. A simple, 5-letter word that seems to be perpetually bonded at the hip of a relationship. Marriage counsellors build their career on helping couples restore this, Cosmopolitan’s ground-breaking journalism reminds us over and over the significance of it, but most importantly, there is a general consensus amongst most couples that indeed, trust is one of the key factors to a successful relationship. HERE IS THE PROBLEM, for me, at least. How DO you trust another human being fully with your heart (sorry for making it sound so damn cheesy)? Your “heart”  is such a vulnerable entity and by sharing such an intimate part of your soul with another person, you’re almost sealing a deal with the devil. You are knowingly entering an arrangement whereby you will experience emotions that are beyond human comprehension. It is not simply, happy, sad, angry. These are emotions that prompt you to act irrationally and make rash decisions. And sometimes, you feel the most disturbing emotions that mesh together and form some super crazy feeling that pulls at your temples and makes your heart HURT. WHY? If love were a person, it would be an extremist. And it would be one of those damn extremists that are easily swayed, and goes from one extreme to another (surely someone like that exists). Because that’s exactly what it feels like: at one moment it is this glorious feeling of ecstasy that physically makes your heart skip a beat, but in the blink of an eye, the tables turn, and you’re clutching your chest and an illogical, intangible sort of pain washes over you second after second… okay I’m getting a little carried away, so I’ll just stop here. Ponder about love some more, and maybe get back to this later ;)

Have a great night xo

Happy 2012 everyone! I hope you all had a great start to the new year :) I usually enjoy coming up with a list of new year’s resolutions every year, ’cause I love looking back and reading them. And boy, I surprised myself when looking back at last year’s resolutions- I really did stick through with the commitments I hoped for and achieved lots of personal goals. I won’t bore you with my resolutions, but one goal I have before the end of this term (besides not being placed on academic probation) is to join CLUBS at UBC and get myself involved!!  My first semester at UBC simply revolved around academics, and besides Blogsquad, I haven’t committed myself to anything else. As of right now, I have no clear-cut goals career-wise or even specifics of what I want to study the next couple of years. I’m extremely indecisive and not to mention, ridiculously picky and these wonderful traits of mine have proved to be a serious hindrance in finding what it is I WANT to do. I’m hoping that expanding my horizons and dabbling in a little bit of everything will help guide me to where I’m meant to be.  In high school, I was actively involved in many student-run clubs, like Interact, a service club sponsored by Rotary International. I know that UBC has a Rotaract club and I plan to join! I had a blast with Interact and got to experience one heck of a lot of things because of Rotary- from leadership retreats to staying in Ottawa for a week, it was all so amazing. So, during the first couple weeks of school (which, might I remind you, begins 2 days from now) I’ll be on the look out for organizations/clubs that might pique my interest :)

Take care and enjoy the last of your holiday!

xo

Sorry for the long hiatus, but I’m back! I can’t believe I made it out alive but I did, and I survived my very first university semester- HOWEVER, if ‘survive’ can be used interchangeably with ‘passed’, then never mind, I’ll take that back. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the term grades and boy, is it killing me. This whole semester has made me question if I’m in the right faculty and really, my poor grades are perhaps a good indication that perhaps the science route isn’t for me. I’m praying to all the deities of every religion and hoping that I pass all my courses and then figure myself out from there. I’d hate to have to retake any courses, but I guess I’ll have to do what I have to do.

Enough about school, I’m so relieved I don’t have to get up at 5:30 am anymore to make it for my 8:00 am lectures. Finally, finally, finallllly!! The dark mass underneath my eyes can finally reduce when I pamper myself with 10, oh, maybe 11 hours of sleep (the thought alone makes my heart leap)!!! I am so excited for Christmas, and I finally get to see all my friends outside of UBC for the first time in months. MONTHS! How crazy is that?! And I also get to revert back to the couch potatoism and watch television for hours in one sitting.  The joy of it all! December has flown by and I really haven’t enveloped myself in the holiday atmosphere yet, but I’m about to play Justin Bieber’s Christmas album (please don’t think less of me) and try get into the spirit of things hahaha :)

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and take care!

xo

Since studying for midterms, I’ve picked up a very bad habit, or rather, a lifestyle: TETRIS BATTLE. Yes, tetris CAN be a way of life and it will inadvertently consume all your precious break/ studying time. Study for 1 hour, reward yourself with 2 hours of tetris. Fair trade, right? And if you haven’t hopped on the tetris bandwagon yet, go on Facebook tonight and search it up… play at your own risk, I am not responsible for failed finals and nightmares about tetris blocks.

All my midterms are over now and I am so relieved! It’s a great to be able to have a weekend to myself and wind down after the overwhelming anxiety that washed over me while the clocks were ticking and my midterms were inching closer. In preparation for the finals however, the feelings are flooding back and I can’t help but wince every time I think about my two math midterms. 28% and 30%, ouch. I’m going to have to step up my studying by a mile if I want to even think about passing the course. And it doesn’t help that my prof thoroughly enjoys writing exam questions that leaves the entire class wide-eyed and mouthing, “WHAT THE F—?” to each other. The class average was 40% and my prof claims that the midterms are purposely far more difficult than the final so that he can perform some voodoo magic and bring up our marks. I’ve never believed in witchcraft so much..

And might I add, what is up with UBC and 4 inch deep puddles per square foot?!?!?! Now I have to invest in a pair of heavy duty rubber boots so that I don’t have to marinate my feet in rain water during my 1.5 hour commute back home.

Good luck studying for the finals everyone!! :)

xo

For the first time in my life, there isn’t a jumbo size Tupperware container sitting on the corner of my desk, brimming with candy and chocolate. For the first time in my life, I didn’t dress up for Halloween. For the first time in my life… I studied (well, at least tried hard to) on Halloween night. Yes, I’m feeling pretty damn bitter about it. I could’ve been nursing my academic wounds with some Crispy Crunches and Coffee Crisps, but no…

Anyway, I’ll get over that soon enough, since after Halloween comes CHRISTMAS!!! I’ve been so pumped for Christmas lately, and it probably has something to do with Justin Bieber’s new Christmas album (don’t hate). Now I don’t exactly know how long winter break is in university, but boy am I looking forward to it.  I’m finally going to be able to spend some quality time with my whole family and I’ve really missed them. Even though I live at home, I feel as though I only come home to sleep and eat. And 0n the weekends I’m either out with friends to relieve stress or locked in my room studying. So yeah, I’m really excited for Christmas ’cause I’ve almost forgotten what my mama looks like. :P

I hope you all had a better Halloween than I did and happy November!! More midterms, am I ever excited! Stay alive :)

xo

Well, it’s official. I failed 3 out of the 4 midterms I had during the last two weeks (my definition of fail is 49% and below, and NOT “Omigawd I got 75% WAAAAAH I failed!!”). But I’m dealing with it, with an Oreo cakester in one hand and an ice cream sandwich in the other. And a bag of candy on my lap.

Despite my emotional eating, I am not too upset. I’m a little more motivated, actually. My failed midterms have served as a gentle (it’s only 10%…) reality check and have prompted me to reassess my study habits. Am I really getting the most out of my studying, or have I simply just fooled myself into thinking that watching Gossip Girl, America’s Next Top Model, and finishing off with Keeping Up With the Kardashians is tantamount to reading my biology textbook for 3 hours?  As much as I’d like to believe that these T.V.  shows are expanding my intelligence, I can almost feel neural pathways closing each time Kim Kardashian says, “Really? Bible?!!”. Yeah, I really need to cut back.

So for my second biology midterm that’s coming up on Tuesday, I’m going to study a little differently. Deactivate Facebook just for the weekend and take the battery out of my phone. I’ll keep you posted on how effective this method is. It likely won’t make too much of a difference.. :p

xo

… and I can finally find my way around campus!! (Given that the destination is no more than 2 blocks from the bookstore, but still!) I even gave my first-ever set of directions just a few days ago :)! Granted, I’m still blundering about, going into places I’m not supposed to go (I couldn’t even tell you how I found myself in a restricted-access disease modelling lab) BUT I’m doing well with way-finding and I have been on time for every lecture!

With such thrilling news behind me, I have a couple of observations I’ve noted and experiences I’ve had in the past weeks that I’d love to share.

Firstly, if you gotta go to the bathroom, walk into the building nearest to you. Don’t waste time and subject yourself to prolonged discomfort by walking all the way to the SUB. From all my wandering in the last little while, the most valuable thing I’ve learned is that there is always a toilet (no line-ups, ladies!!) on almost every level of every building! You’re welcome. (On a side note, if you do heed my advice but end up wetting your pants from a fruitless search for a lavatory in an obscure UBC building, I apologize.) I suffered for 5 years using perpetually smelly bathrooms at my high school… no more!

Secondly, I’ve come to enjoy taking public transit. I’ll admit, before going to UBC, I could count on both hands how many times I took public transit. I spend approximately 3 hours a day on the bus or the skytrain Monday through Friday (yikes, I know) and despite occasionally having to come in very close contact with the person next to me that’s emitting a strange odour, I have to come to appreciate my daily 180 minute dose of people-watching. I think I can safely say that the amount of entertainment on public transit is comparable to watching a feature film at the theatre. I mean, where else can you have a hard-hitting conversation with a 70-year-old man about power lines in California (at least I think that was what he was talking about…)? And witness compassion from a fellow human being, like this one time a woman on the bus stood up for a man that was being taunted by another man? As cheesy as it sounds, taking public transit has expanded my horizons (and it’s not because I figured out the hard way that going to Burnaby via VCC-Clark is NOT the same as going via King George) and it has really helped me appreciate and love the diversity of Vancouver.

Finally, I have to modify my “study” habits ASAP. The last four midterms have told me that I’ve been taking it too easy… so I’m going to hit the books all weekend. Fun stuff!

Hope you guys are doing well and don’t worry, first midterms don’t really count, right? RIGHT! Positive thinking ;)

xoxo

So I’m a little behind with starting up my blog- my apologies, I’ve simply been caught up with the frenzy of getting settled in my new (and improved) environment (though I will admit that I’ve also been struck by bouts of laziness). The past three days have been interesting to say the least, and never in my lifetime have I felt such an array of emotions in the span of 72 hours. Where to begin?

Well, first off, I’m going into to buildings with names I am afraid of saying aloud in fear of butchering them (um, I’m typing from Ko-er-ner’s computer lab?). I was late to all my lectures on my first day of class because apparently I was mentally absent during orientation and thus, I walked down to Thunderbird Arena in hopes of finding the Wesbrook building. And might I add, it took me approximately 45 minutes and one second-year friend and a couple of random students along the way to find my math lecture. You’re probably wondering how I even made it to UBC- it’s okay, that question occasionally crosses my mind, too. Anyway, I miraculously made it into my lectures and because of my tardiness, I was left with the coveted front row, dead center, make-awkward-eye-contact-with-your-prof seats (to clarify, I’m more of a back row type of girl, those seats generally allow for more discreet napping). Oh, and it seemed as though everyone was invited to some huge BIOL 112 mixer that I wasn’t aware of because everyone seemed to have already settled with a gaggle of friends. So there I was, drowning in a kind of loneliness I’d never felt before… I’ve always had friends in class to chat with and people to walk with in the hallways in high school, and now all of a sudden, I’m kicking it with myself because I know a grand total of 3 people that go to UBC. Now I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I promise! I KNOW that with time I’ll meet friends and sort out which building is where and all of that, so I’m doing okay…

Even with all mishaps that have occurred in the last few days, I know, with absolute certainty, that I’ll come to fall in love with this beautiful campus with all the beautiful, wonderful people.

xoxo