So, hi everyone! My name is Karen and I’m super excited to be a member of UBC’s Blog Squad this year. In case you’re curious, adventure.exe is a reference to both the crazy journey we’re all embarking on here and this song, which I’m a little in love with. I’m a first year science student, anyway, and I hail from Coquitlam, B.C., which is a very lovely but ever-so-slightly transit-impaired city in the lower mainland. As you can imagine, I wasn’t expecting the move to Vancouver to be any sort of challenge, but within hours — minutes, really — of unpacking, I was proved wrong.

I mean, first things first, I didn’t even have internet in my room for the first little while on account of a broken Ethernet outlet (given the age of my building in Totem Park, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was terrified, really). I had my first encounter with the UBC’s IT team the next day, though, and the friendliness of the technician who came by had me crazy optimistic about the social environment here. It sounds ridiculous, I’m sure, but I was pretty homesick and even the smallest gesture seemed equivalent to having all my closest friends around again — or at least like I’m heading in the general direction of not being the most confused person on campus. I haven’t been at all consistent with it, but I’ve been making an effort to greet my floormates when we pass through the halls. My roommate aside, I only know a few faces and even fewer names, though, so I can only hope I’m on the right track.

That all aside, I’ve spent the last few days exploring UBC and I have to say I’m quite proud of how well I can navigate it already. To say I’m geographically challenged is kind of an understatement, but over the course of four days I’ve slowly figured out how maps work and that’s been immensely helpful in… well, every way imaginable. If there’s one piece of advice I can already give, though, it’s that exploring inside buildings is just as important as figuring out where they are. I had a little panic earlier today outside my PHYS 100 building; the wheelchair access door was labelled with the hall number but was locked from the inside. Turns out all I had to do was take the stairs next to the girls’ restroom — I felt seriously silly when I finally showed up five minutes late and the prof was already shouting vehemently about supermodels.

My first lectures have gone well, though, and besides that I have two midterms on my birthday, I’m happy with my schedule and everyone I’ve met in my classes so far. It’s funny how beneficial being late to class has been to my overall self-confidence, actually; yes, it was absolutely horrifying and I really should’ve been better prepared, but being late allowed me to sit with (some really friendly) strangers and it’s given me something to lead in conversations with — y’know, “Hey, did the prof introduce himself before I got here?” or even “Wow, I can’t even make out his face at all from back here. Want to come early and sit at the front tomorrow?”

I’m totally not condoning tardy arrivals in my first post, though. I promise. But if you do end up running late, use your confusion as a weapon or something other than a point of embarrassment. If there’s one thing I’ve realized in my first half-week here at UBC, it’s that being upfront about being stressed out will probably earn you more friends than trying to hide that you’re obviously uncomfortable. Almost everyone you meet is trying something new just by being here, after all, and uncertainty is easy common ground.