Monthly Archives: September 2012

pri·or·i·ty: given or meriting attention before competing alternatives

The past few days have been intense to say the least. All the “welcome to UBC I’m your xxx professor” lectures are gone with the wind and now I’m dealing with a reality of having about 40 pages to read every day, and I am not going to lie: it’s on a level that I have never been on before, but thankfully, it’s all interesting. One thing I’ve come to face in particular is that unlike high school you can see the links to the real world. I took philosophy in high school and it was the most abstract course of my life. Made zero sense and I didn’t see the point of listening to a bunch of old greek dudes contemplating about life.

2 weeks into Philosophy 101 at UBC and I’m seriously considering joining the old greek dudes club. It’s fascinating how much depth there is in everyday matters that we (well, I) take for granted and never truly question. How could I have gone through 19 years of my life without questioning the matters of life? Im not talking about big issues like the existence of God, I mean even smaller more trivial matters. What is questioning? Who am I to question? Do i even exist? What is existence? How can I prove my existence if existence itself cannot be proved? I’ve seen the light.

Ah, to all of you that pay attention and noticed I said “19 years of my life”- you read correctly. My 19th birthday was yesterday and it was so much fun I can’t really begin to explain. As this was my first birthday away from home I was slightly bummed because I knew I wouldn’t be getting all those birthday cuddles I always get from my family and friends. However, it turned out to be one of the best birthdays ever. It started with my fellow blog squaders singing happy birthday and making me the awkwardest 19 year old in the room. The rest of the day continued with same epicness; let’s just say I’ve met some people I know for sure I will be friends with for the rest of my life. “Hmm, you know people for 2 weeks and you’re ready for lifelong commitment? That’s odd” Well, random person that questions me, time at UBC travels at a different speed. It’s so intense I will devote an entire blog post to it later. It truly feels like I’ve been here for 4 months at least.

Sadly, this little theory of time feeling longer than it is does not apply to deadlines or midterms approaching. Au contraire, the school work is flying at the speed of light and I better jump on my space machine before my head explodes because I forgot my space suit. That didn’t make sense? It’s friday night and I’m in my room studying- you go ahead and make sense of that dear blog reader. Either way, my psychology book is calling my name, and it’s come to the point where it’s shouting my full name and both my last names with a persian accent so it’s best I obey.

Lesson 2: University is full of fun activities, but at the end of the day you didn’t come here to socialize. You came here to study so keep your priorities straight right from the start.

Have a great weekend everyone!

My blind date with an awkward person

17 days have passed since UBC became my new home and it’s been quite the ride so far. For those of you who managed to get through my first blog post you know what I’m talking about. Being away from home, being away from persian food and being away from that little comfort zone proved to be one of the most challenging things I’ve ever gone through, but, rest assured, also the most rewarding.  Life at UBC isn’t far from amazing. After being here for more than 2 weeks I can honestly get the hype, I get what people are talking about.

Starting at UBC is sort of like going on a blind date with an awkward person. Bear with me here: Your friends tell you about this one perfect person. He’s smart, diverse and super cool. Owns a T-shirt with a library that looks like a book from air view. Obviously this guy, lets call him UBC, is worth your time. So you build up all these images of how things will play out, you imagine him to sweep you off your feet with his wit and his stunning smile, so when the day comes and you see that he’s just an awkward guy you get very disappointed. How could everyone tell me he’s perfect when he clearly isn’t? Who wears flip flops to a first date? Dissapointment is written all over your face.
The night progresses and you find out that UBC loves long walks by the beach and that his favourite Ben&Jerrys ice cream is Half Baked too. He even cracks a few jokes here and there and you realize, wow, UBC is actually one of the most awesome guys you’ve ever met. You just had to give him some time to get over that awkwardness at first. UBC isn’t far from amazing.
That little analogy describes the change of feelings I’ve gone through since coming here. Never in my life have I met as many different people from different background as I’ve met here. Never in my life have I had my mind blown by the most gifted professors ever. It’s truly an inspiring school to go to.
Lesson number 1: Don’t expect everything to be rainbows and butterflies at first. Give it 17 days and you’ll be fine.