Category Archives: International

Are you one of the many, many international students here at UBC?

Posted on January 18, 2011 by andrea

The International Student Initiative has put forward a proposal on capping tuition increases so that new, incoming international students have a guaranteed tuition set for 2011/12 and for three subsequent years through to 2014/15. Come out to a student forum  organized by the International Student Initiative, International Students Association and the International Student Commissioner which [...] Continue reading →

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Here we go, term 2.

Posted on January 15, 2011 by andrea

Just got back from UBC’s Got Talent. It was so amusing. UBC does in fact have tremendous talent. Seriously. PS can someone please upload a video of UBC President, Professor Stephen Toope’s, and AMS President, Bijan Ahmadian’s duet ASAP? Please and thank you. Edit: I found it on Youtube. Hahaha. It’s been about a week and [...] Continue reading →

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Endings & New Beginnings

Posted on September 8, 2010 by andrea

Since the last time I posted a blog entry, a lot has happened. Jump Start ended about a week ago, I briefly stopped by the Flag Pole for GALA, attended the commerce FROSH and participated in IMAGINE. I also went through my first day of classes, so here’s a post summarizing what has happened in [...] Continue reading →

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Representation. re-pre-sen-ta-tion. rep-res-ent-at-ion. r-E-p-r-e-S-e-n-t-a-T-i-on?

Posted on March 7, 2010 by

How to say it? How to shape it? How to make it work?
Continue reading →

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Tic Tac Tax

Posted on March 5, 2010 by

It’s that time of the year again.
Except that doesn’t mean anything to me. Taxes? Yes, we do pay taxes in Guatemala… I guess.
The thing is, I’ve never filled out a tax form, and I’m not even talking about a Canadian tax form.
Fortunately for me, and for all those international students with no idea of what [...] Continue reading →

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Once upon a time the AMS…

Posted on March 4, 2010 by

…voted to eliminate the International Student Representative seat.
Actually, it was today.
After about an hour of debate the AMS Council decided that having a non-voting international student representative is not the way that they want to engage with international students.
Well… I have to say that I am deeply dissapointed.
If they had a plan about how to [...] Continue reading →

Posted in 1st year blogs, AMS, Faculty, International | Comments Off

Finding new and creative ways to engage students

Posted on February 8, 2010 by

It feels like we have been bombarded with information these last few weeks as we deal with three issues that affect all students: housing, AMS elections and tuition increase.
It is my first time experiencing this at UBC, so I’m definitely not an expert, but I have noticed two common themes. First, everyone has something to [...] Continue reading →

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International Student Representative – An Interview

Posted on February 4, 2010 by

Brittany Perna? Our new International Student Rep? Who is she?
I’ve seen Brittany three times this week; at the 2010/11 Tuition Increase Proposal, at yesterday’s AMS Council Meeting and today, when I had a chance to ask her some questions about being our new International Student Representative. All of these times I’ve found her very friendly [...] Continue reading →

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Letter to the International Student Association (ISA) -> because we need to talk more about international students’ issues!

Posted on February 2, 2010 by

Dear Blake McDermott,

My name is Valentina Vargas and I am a first year international student at UBC.

Unfortunately, I write to express my dissatisfaction about what I see as a grave problem with the relationship between the ISA and the at-large international community. In short, I see a lack of representation of the international [...] Continue reading →

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The Broken Bench

Posted on February 1, 2010 by

There’s a bench in Place Vanier Common’s Block. It’s broken. It’s been broken for a while. I once forgot and sat on it anyway. I felt very stupid.
A few days ago I was studying in the bench next to the broken bench and two staff members walked up to it (the broken bench). They discussed [...] Continue reading →

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