first year

We Should Remove the Stigma Associated with Taking a Gap Year

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Malia obama, gap year, ubc

This week, several media outlets have reported that Malia Obama, Barack Obama’s oldest daughter, has opted to go to Harvard University, making her one of the many presidential children to attend the prestigious Ivy League school. When I learned, however, that she will take a gap year and start college in the fall of 2017 instead of this year, I had one thought: YASSSSSS

Seriously, though, yes! As the daughter of the President of the United States of America, Malia is and will always serve as a role model for youth across the world. By choosing to take a gap year, she is sending a powerful message to all incoming and future college students that there is nothing wrong with taking a year off before heading to university.

Despite the numerous potential benefits of taking a gap year such as having the time to work in order to save money, traveling in order to learn about the world and discover different cultures, or having the opportunity to gain valuable career experience through an internship or building a business, there is still stigma around gap years. I know for sure that I considered taking a gap year myself in order to first figure out what career I really wanted to pursue, but I ended up going to university right away due to pressures from family–and, as much as I hate to admit–perhaps from the society as well. And I am not the only one who considered but didn’t end up taking a gap year. I have spoken to a lot of classmates and friends who admitted they wanted to take a year off, but did not do so in fears that they might lose their desire to pursue a university degree after the gap year. I feared this, too. But looking back, I honestly think a gap year would have made me a more driven student, primarily because it would have helped me figure out my true passions, and it would have probably allowed me to choose a major that better suits my skills and interests.

Hopefully, with Malia’s decision to take a year off, the society will be more supportive of students who want to take a gap year.

If you are an incoming freshman and are still really unsure about what you want to do in the future, THAT IS PERFECTLY FINE. University is a place that is supposed to help you know yourself better. But if you can, please take a gap year. Rest. Work. Travel. Start your own business. Use it to do anything that you think will help you become better prepared for your university experience.

5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Signing Up For CAP

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The Coordinated Arts Program (CAP) is a multidisciplinary program designed to help first-year Arts students have a smooth transition to university. Being a CAP student in my first year, I can honestly say that the program was an enormous help in finding my community at UBC. If you are in the Faculty of Arts and are still undecided about what courses you want to register for, here are five reasons why you should definitely consider signing up for CAP:

1. Cohort Program

CAP is a cohort-based program. That means your CAP stream-mates are also your classmates in all your CAP courses. This makes making and meeting friends a lot easier. It’s always helpful to have a group of people who can answer your questions about class assignments, whom you can rant to about your professors, and who would be willing to form study groups with you.

2. Stream Choices

If you have an area of interest in mind, but are still not sure whether you should pursue an academic career in that area or not, CAP offers different stream choices (Media Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics (PPE), Law & Society, Individual & Society, and Global Citizens) that can help you figure out what you really want.

Being in the PPE stream definitely strengthened my interest to pursue a career in Economics.

3. Coordinated

Professors consult each other so that they can “coordinate” your assignments. They try to avoid giving out quizzes/midterms/final exams on the same day to give CAP students sufficient time to study for each course. Most importantly, professors try to make the content of each course related to one another. For instance, since I was in the PPE stream,  our ASTU research paper required us to use what we had learned from ECON 101 and POLI 100 to write a research paper on a topic given to us by our ASTU professor. Additionally, each term, CAP professors conduct an inspiring joint lecture to demonstrate how to interconnect different courses or interests to study an issue or concept.

4. CAP-only events

Signing up for CAP gives you access to CAP-only events like pizza parties, seminars, Meet Your Professors Day, and CAP conference.

5. Gateway Space

gatewayIf you are going to spend a lot of time on campus to study and do some work, you are going to need a good study spot. Gateway Space is a study space in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre exclusive to ArtsOne and CAP students. Gateway Space was my favourite study spot in my first year because a) there were always seats available b) it’s a quiet study space and c) students can bring food inside, so whenever I was hungry, I would always eat while working to make the most out of my breaks!

CAP played an important role in my first year. I am so glad that I signed up for it as it paved way for many different opportunities that I wouldn’t have accessed without being a CAP student. If you have any questions about CAP, don’t hesitate to ask me! I will try to respond as soon as possible. Have fun registering for courses!

Five Songs to Describe My First Two Weeks at UBC

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My first two weeks at UBC were composed of wide variety of overwhelming events, emotions, and experiences which will be imprinted on my memory forever.  They made an impact so huge that I cannot even summarize them through my own words.

So, being the music lover that I am, I decided I would borrow phrases from some of the most famous songs in the world today. I’ll use the help of my friends (like Bruno and Taylor) to convey the feelings that define my first eight days of studying here at UBC.

 

1) “A whole new world is waiting / it’s mine for the taking /
I know I can make it, today my life begins”

These were my exact thoughts throughout the Imagine Day. When I first heard of UBC, I knew immediately that this was where my dreams would come to life. Even just being admitted into and studying at this globally-renowned university is already a dream come true. So when I hopped off the 49 bus last Tuesday and saw the genuine excitement painted on the faces of my fellow freshmen, a sudden stroke of epiphany hit me. “I am now in a place full of possibilities. This is where I will spend the next four or more years of my life, so I better make this place mine”, I thought to myself. By “place”, I was not really referring to the physical campus of the university. I was talking about the world that is waiting for me to claim, the life that I am going to make most out of, the diem that I am going to carpe.

 

2) “I’m up all night ’til the sun” (not to get lucky, though)

In spite of being really exhausted on Tuesday night because of Imagine Day (I was all-out in showing my Arts pride during the Pep Rally), it was extremely hard for me to sleep that night. I’m sure it was because of how I was feeling about the next day (the first “official” day of classes for this term). I wasn’t sure whether I was excited or nervous (maybe I was both) about it, but it sure kept me up late.

 

3) Just gonna stand there and watch me burn / That’s alright because I like the way it hurts.

Go ahead, Math 184, just stand there and watch the complexities of functions, limits, and derivatives mercilessly burn my brain. In Grade 12, I detested functions so much that I think I have developed a fear of them since my Pre-Calculus 12 final exam. Clearly, when I added Math 184 to my timetable, I was hoping that functions would play a smaller role in my life. BUT GUESS WHAT? Our Math 184 prof started his first lecture by talking about exponential and inverse functions. The funny thing is, when he started going over them, I didn’t feel scared. I was thrilled. I was positively challenged. I felt like that was my chance to finally be friends with Math.

…then newer, more complicated topics were introduced to us afterwards. My fear of functions came to haunt me down again.

 

4) We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time / It’s miserable and magical

My first two weeks were layered with a steep zigzag of emotions. I must admit that these two weeks weren’t all butterflies and rainbows. Of course, I’m extremely happy to be here. Yes, I feel free that I am going through this journey independently. But it also feels lonely at times to start this journey in such a big university, where each individual seems to be focused on reaching his/her own destination.

Taylor’s right. It’s really magical and miserable at the same time. Miserable because it just hit me how time flies so fast, and now I’m afraid I might not be able to feel this exhilarating journey while I’m in it. Magical because I know that no matter what happens during my time here at UBC, it will have an enormous impact on my life.

 

5) You’ve got the words to change a nation / But you’re biting your tongue / You’ve spent a life time stuck in silence / Afraid you’ll say something wrong / If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?

These are my own words of advice for myself. Honestly, I feel like I have been holding myself back a lot lately. I haven’t been participating in lectures as much as I’d want to, haven’t been introducing myself to as many classmates as I’d like to, and haven’t been attending freshmen orientation events at all. I know I should start being proactive. I know I should start taking more risks. I know I should start building my confidence again. And I promise you I will. I will have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and finally make things happen. It might just take a bit of time.

 

If you want to know more about me, don’t hesitate to check out the “Who am I?” page! 🙂