Hello, and welcome to my UBC blog!
I am Emily, a first year arts student at UBC. Setting out the 4-year journey at UBC is both exciting and nervous to me. On one hand, it is amazing be in this magnificent campus with all the top-notch professors and excellent students. On the other, I am startled by the fact that I have to undergo insurmountable changes: the transition from high school to university, and the change in learning environment as an international student.
I was born in Burnaby, Canada. Yet, I spent most of my life in a tiny city across the Pacific- Hong Kong. Being raised in place with distinct cultural background and learning atmosphere has made me feel distant from my home country. I was overwhelmed when I first stepped on the land of Canada after having migrated for 14 years. Adapting a new life is never easy, but it is always well worth it to leave the comfort zone. This is exactly why I decided to come back: I want to be changed.
One thing that has brought me though this terrifying transition is to take part in the Global Citizens stream in Co-ordinated Arts Program (CAP). In this close-knitted learning community, I am surrounded by people from all over the globe. Despite having different backgrounds and experiences, we all share the same goal— to find our position in this ever-changing world and extend our influence beyond our reach.
The same is true when we study life narrative. More often than not life narrative is beyond a simple story of an individual. Rather, it is the exploration of underlying social phenomena and problems through looking from one’s lens.
Last year in September, the outbreak of umbrella movement in Hong Kong which ran counter to ungenuine universal suffrage put a spotlight on the 18-year-old protest leader Joshua Wong. As a student with great enthusiasm and acute social awareness, he fearlessly stood out from the crowd to fight for what 7 million Hong Kong people wished for- democracy. His courage successfully galvanized tens of thousands of people into protest, as well as catching the eye of the rest of the world on the political issue in a tiny city. Later in 2015, he was listed 10th in Fortune magazine’s World’s 50 Greatest Leader.
Living in the same city, being at the same age, I was in awe of the achievement he had while I was burying myself in work and being apathetic about what is going on in the society. At the same time, I also started pondering the questions “How one person can change the world?” and “What are the qualities that enable a person to do so?”
Through the course of ASTU, I wish I could answer these questions and foster a deeper understanding about life narrative. Not merely reading, but rather learn from the authors and be the change one day.