Back in September, life at UBC felt like one long stint at summer camp. The weather was amazing. The sun was always shining. You were living with a bunch of people your own age. The advisors were your counselors. Everyone ate together in the dining hall. We even had Vanier Olympics, which was similar to the camp-wide games we used to play during my one and only camp experience the summer after grade eight.
But then, the reality sunk in. The weather got rainier, the schoolwork got harder, and we all remembered that, Frisbee and nature aside, we’re all really here to get an education.
Over this past weekend, though, I got another taste of the summer camp vibe that made me fall in love with this place. The camp experience kicked off on Thursday night with Mr. Vanier, an annual all-male “talent competition” in which eight lovely Vanier men danced and strutted their stuff to win the judges’ and the audiences’ hearts. Hilarious innuendoes from the hosts and ridiculous interview questions were just a couple of the things that gave me a laughter-induced ab workout.
Then, on Friday, we had the most beautiful weather. It actually felt like spring for the first time, and campus was completely transformed. I swear, add a little bit of sunshine and UBC turns into a scene from a Disney movie. There seems to be a little more spring in everyone’s step, and people treat each other just a little bit nicer. You hardly even notice the thousands of construction fences obstructing your path. When I got back to Vanier, the field was swarmed with people playing catch, throwing a Frisbee around, or just sitting outside in the sunshine. As soon as the door to my room closed behind me, my friends were knocking on my door, insisting that we go to the beach. I didn’t need much convincing. We even got a little overeager and went swimming. I needed to wait a while to recover feeling in my toes before Melinda and I went to see Strombo give the Arts Last Lecture (which was amazing. Check out his interview with the UBC Events crew at the end of the post!). I then rounded off the weekend by celebrating St. Paddy’s day with a huge swarm of KU residents in Gastown before finally buckling down and studying on Sunday.
Of course, earlier today the Vancouver weather gods decided to quite literally rain on our parade, as is the standard. I guess this is good, because no one gets any homework done at camp. However, I’m still hoping that I’ll get to make at least one more trip to Camp UBC before I head home.
Strombo interview:
