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!

It’s Sunday and it’s the first day in what seems to be a long while where I don’t really have to do anything. Yesterday, I went to Granville Island around lunch time, and then we went down town in the late afternoon for dinner. I’ve visited Vancouver a couple of times but I don’t remember ever visiting Granville Island. It’s absolutely breathtaking. I’m not very creative and I’m bad at visual arts (…and somehow, I still find myself signing up for VISA 110 in the second semester…) but I’m an artsy person. Basically: I like pretty things and I feel like Granville Island is the kind of place where I’d love to end up living in the future. It’s a place that makes me feel good and happy. There were a ton of art shops and galleries and there were people performing and dancing along the streets. It’s so lovely. Anyway, I went with other Jump Starters and we took the bus. I’m not going to lie, I’ve never taken a public bus before and have no idea how the bus system works. However, having the UPASS is so convenient and making a mistake or getting off at the wrong bus stop is totally fine and it won’t cost you any extra.

Here’s Granville Island for you:

After that, a couple of us went down town. There was a Zombie-Walk Festival type event yesterday, so we saw a ton of people dressed in ripped clothes, “blood”-stained skin and disheveled hair. It was extremely amusing. There was also a Brazilian festival yesterday which was really cool. I’ve met a couple of people here at Jump Start who are from Brazil as well. I’m still amazed by how international Vancouver is. We went to the Pacific Centre mall which is pretty big. I was happy to see a Bath and Body Works shop there! However, the 13% tax deal still really, really annoys me. Really. Reeeeeealllllllyyyyyy.

I’m in the white shirt, posing with my beautiful friend Ghita from Morocco at the start of the Brazilian festival. Yay yellow and green!-

We got back to campus at 7:30 PM. The bus stop is about a 20 minute walk away from Totem Park, so we took the UBC shuttle which brought us closer to our destination. In the evening, my friends and I attended a dance party that Jump Start organized and after that, around 11 PM, a bunch of us headed over to the beach (near Vanier). The beach is so, so beautiful. I never went to the beach when I lived on the east coast of the USA as they were typically packed with people and kind of dirty, but these beaches here along the Pacific Ocean are magical. You Vanier residents are so lucky to be so close to the beach! Be cautious of those stairs, though. It took us forever to get back up.

The party @ the beach at midnight-

Aaaaand today’s Sunday. I had about 4 hours of sleep and then I had to wake up to work on my Jump Start presentation project with the rest of my group. Today was a good day. I did laundry (by myself!) for the first time in my life, and the laundry room did not flood and my clothes are all the same color as it was originally. I also finally made my bed and tidied my room a bit-

It’s still kind of strange living here. I mean, to actually be here, living in Vancouver. There are so many opportunities here. There are a ton of clubs to join at UBC, and the city is just a bus ride away. Seriously, I’m amazed by how beautiful the city is. I’m really glad to be here.

Hi! I’m Andrea. I’ll be a first year commerce student and will be living on the second floor of Nootka House. I’m still trying to figure my way around this blog so pardon the bland page. I’m incredibly excited to be on the UBC Blog Squad. For so long, I have admired the many authors and contributors before me, who have made my decision to attend UBC so easy. Now, I am thrilled to be a part of this team!

It’s currently 2:30 AM here in Vancouver, where I have now moved into my dorm room. It has been a busy day so I’ll keep this short but I promise to keep this blog active over the next few days.  Anyway, today was the first day of Jump Start 2010. YAY! It was so nice to finally meet the friends that I had made on Facebook. All of us had been counting down to this day- (or yesterday) the 18th of August, 2010. So far, things have definitely been crazy. Every where you turn, there’s a new friend to make. Someone from a country you might have never even heard of before, speaking languages you didn’t even know existed. I went to an international school last year, but I have never before seen diversity like this. It’s awesome. People here have been so intelligent, friendly and kind so far. Our residence assistants, academic coaches and cohort facilitators have been so patient, helpful and passionate about their jobs as well. In this environment, it is so easy to feel like a part of something great. And like my favorite character Rachel Berry on the TV show Glee says, “Being a part of something special makes you special”.

While Jump Start is an opportunity for us to get used to living in residence and participating in actual lectures, we discovered this morning that this orientation program is so much more than that. At the Jump Start 101 activity this morning, all 250+ of us got into our floor groups and came up with words and phrases that represent what Jump Start means to us. My floor, 2nd Nootka aka Cecilia’s Llamas, said that Jump Start means the 3 Fs to us- family, friends and fun. Even though today was just the first day, I have grown close to some of my friends. And the UBC campus makes that easy. While walking down the thousand steps to the beautiful beach, I learned that my Jordanian friend Anoud is afraid of all bugs except ladybugs, that she is the oldest with three younger brothers in her family, and will be my bike-riding support system when we sign up for the Butts N Guts program in the gym this school year. And on an 8:30 PM trip to McDonald’s in The Village, I learned that my Moroccan friend Ghita is interested in salsa dancing, speaks about a thousand different languages, likes tea and reading The Economist. Even though it will be another three or four months before seeing my family again, I already feel like this place, the 2nd floor of Nootka, has already become a home to me.

I think it’s safe to say that many of us were absolutely terrified before arriving here in Vancouver. I was extremely nervous right as my parents dropped me off at the Totem Park commonsblock. However, that quickly went away as I stepped into the building and saw warm and familiar faces. I am so glad that I started my freshman year at UBC with Jump Start. I have a feeling that my experience here will play a pretty integral part of my next four years here in Vancouver. Bring it on!