UBC attracts some pretty important people. I’ve been to presentations by Romeo Dallaire, Michael Ignatieff and Chief Justice Beverley McLaughlin in the time span of a month.
Academic blahblahs:
POLI 100: I have to say, this feels like my first real UBC course. Dealing with basic concepts of Justice and Power, the content is interesting enough. It touches upon a lot what I’ve already learned but enriched with readings. It does not excite me, however, and I rarely look forward to class despite considering a poli sci major—this could be because the university charm has worn off finally. Discussion group is good when half the class is missing, and my TA’s German accent highly entertains me <3. I’d give this class 3.5 out of 5 stars so far, but it depends on the person.
FREN 123: The follow up from 122. Hahaha. Yes, language courses are funny things, aren’t they? Not to downplay them– the people who moved on from Fren 122 are very talented students and I feel challenged to work harder! My prof is so sweet and apparently the best French prof at this level. I still get up at 9am three times a week for this, but I am often amazed at how. It never feels like I’m ever going to become even semi-fluent. Maybe French is actually a difficult language to learn…
Arts One: My beloved. We’ve covered the works of Darwin, Poe, Nietzsche and Freud since the start of term. I am exhausted from the essay writing though, and really don’t know how much longer I can sustain this before I refuse to hand anything at all. 8 essays down, 4 to go. It feels pretty good coming back the same group of people twice a week for seminar through out the year though. I also just realized how insanely awesome and kind my prof is. In general, I find the lectures truly exceptional now that I have experienced some other UBC courses, despite the fact that I do yawn the full two hours.
I also decided to give the Resident Advisor application a kick because of the dynamic carousel interview process consisting of groups of 6-7 people moving from station to station. It was alright as my first job interview, but I just remember being brutally honest about myself. I found the people in my group a bit contrived—conversations were certainly not normal…curiosity only for personal gain, trying to get a word in about oneself instead…but that’s probably just me, not realizing that you’re supposed to show off during an interview. I predict I will be paying for my own housing next year. It’s too bad, I was looking forward to fixing some of the social problems I’ve noticed at Totem Park (and elsewhere actually.)
I am so out of shape. How can my legs be sore after visiting Wreck Beach? Sure, the stairs have a bajillion steps, but now I’m just being an old man.
miriam