Endings & New Beginnings

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 the last week or so.

JUMP START- I think most of my fellow Jump Starters will agree with me when I say that I miss Jump Start so, so very much. During the actual two weeks, I dreaded getting up early for lectures, and stressed over the final presentations. However, now that it’s all over, I’m rather upset. I miss being able to go into the Totem Park commons block at 1 in the morning and finding people to talk to, bonding over pretzels bought from the vending machines. I miss seeing everyone at dinner each evening and the spontaneous parties at the beach. Even though Jump Start is over, I feel like the friendships I’ve made during the two weeks will last the next four years here at UBC, and maybe even beyond that. Sure, I’ve met a ton of people over the last few days, but it’s always my Jump Start friends that I call up at night to chat, or go out to lunch with. I try so hard to not sound cheesy, but Jump Start has indeed changed my life. When I first moved in on the 17th of August, the volunteer who helped me move my bags in told me that he only made a total of two friends outside of Jump Start last year. I thought to myself: Pssshhhh. What a freaking loser. However, as days start to go by, I’m realizing how right he was. Yeah, I meet wonderful people every day, but the people I’ve met through Jump Start are one of a kind and continue to inspire me every day despite the dreary weather.  Friends? Check. Family? Check. Fun? Check. Really.

I suck at taking pictures so I’m just using the ones I’ve been tagged in via Facebook. Photo credits to Astrid Tentorio and Jason Tseng.

My friends and I chilling by Marine Drive-

We love the White Spot-

Our Jump Start commerce cohort with Tamar Milne!-

For more Jump Start photos, check out this slide show video.

Unfortunately, I did not have the time to attend all the GALA events. I felt like I had already been to enough orientations through Jump Start  so I hung out with friends down town instead. After spending about twenty minutes looking for the Math building for Math 184 earlier today, I wish that I had attended that one extra campus tour session during GALA.

FROSH was intense and pretty fun. I got to know a couple of people who have the same standard time table as me, while cheering, singing and dancing for three days and two nights straight. Our “lectures” consisted of dance parties and more cheers. I’d write more but what happens in frosh stays in frosh ;)

Because I fail as a human being, I didn’t attend most of IMAGINE but I did go to the pep rally! It was insane. It was epic. It was loud and I was so proud to be a part of UBC’s class of 2014. PS- Sauder is hot to go, H-O-T-T-O-G-O.

My first day of classes here at UBC went pretty well. I had classes at 8, 10, 12 and 4- Comm 292, Spanish 101, Math 184 and Econ 101 respectively. I have to admit that I had some trouble staying awake… For the past six or so years, my class sizes never exceeded about 20. And so sitting in a lecture hall with 500 other students was intimidating and extremely distracting. But other than that, I had a pretty nice first day. The weather was beautiful as well! After my last class, I went to the discount bookstore to get books for my Economics and Organizational Behavior classes. I was so relieved to find what I needed, and paid about $250 for all of those books- wayyyyyyyyyyy cheaper than the $400 I spent at the UBC Bookstore for a Calculus book, a Spanish book and an iClicker. So dear prospective UBC students or current students, please check out the discount bookstore at the village! I had originally reserved all of my textbooks via the online UBC bookstore, but since they were missing a couple of books, I had to look for them on my own. I’m an extremely lazy person and would much rather have everything handed to me in a box, but I was pleasantly surprised by how organized the discount bookstore was and how helpful the staff is. Finding your books at the Village is no problem at all and doesn’t take much time- however, go early in order to avoid long lines!

That’s all for now! I have one class tomorrow in the afternoon so I’m going to drown myself in some much needed sleep. I can’t wait to meet all the other bloggers this Sunday at the Blog Squad brunch downtown! It would be nice if we could leave campus together (…I’m still useless and can’t figure out the Vancouver bus system) so let’s plan something!