Unparalleled Enthusiasm

I just wrote a really long email as my proposal for starting a new club at UBC. I really hope that it works out and that I didn’t miss anything obvious, like if there was another club that already does the same thing (but then again, if there is, I would just join it so all is good). As a first year student at UBC I’m still getting used to university and I feel as if I’m missing a bunch of information, but here’s hoping that I can pursue my passion even in a strange new area of life.

Anyways, here’s the proposal. I don’t know why I’m posting it on my blog, but I’m doing it anyways.

Note: I realize that there are random portions of the email that are in smaller font, but I don’t know how to fix that. I blame Windows.

Dear AMS Clubs Commissioner,

Hello! My name is Christopher Lam. I am a first year student attending the Sauder School of Business at UBC,  and I would like to propose a new club called “Achieve New Heights” to add to the AMS’s impressive list of clubs at UBC. I have studied the non-contact Chinese martial art of Wushu under Sifu Ken Low for over 10 years and have achieved a black belt and the status of “assistant instructor.” After reviewing all of the clubs that the AMS has to offer, I noticed that there is no club made specifically for the sport of Wushu. It is for this reason that I would like to create “Achieve New Heights.”

Wushu is a Chinese martial art that trains the practitioner’s flexibility, speed, power, balance and control. Wushu practitioners can often be seen executing difficult jump kicks to exhibit their power, control and skill. Please note that this sport is non-contact, and is different from other martial arts clubs offered by the AMS such as the Wing Chun club which is a contact Chinese martial art.

The goal of Achieve New Heights is to provide an environment where practitioners of Wushu can gather to provide support and practice two main aspects of the sport: Jump Kicks and Forms.

Wushu sports an impressive array of jump kicks from cartwheels to the butterfly kick and I would like to provide an environment where martial artists can help each other fine-tune these kicks and improve air time-thus, “Achieve New Heights.” For this aspect of the club anyone may join to practice jump kicks (such as the Aerial, which is a universal technique that is also used in gymnastics, parkour, etc)

The second aspect that our club will focus on will be Forms, where martial artists will show their skill in a set of movements made specifically for performance. My hopes will be that we will garner enough members to create an unofficial “UBC Wushu Demo Team” to perform at various UBC events.

This club is open to all individuals who would like to practice Wushu and/or various acrobatic kicks and forms, but is NOT a replacement for formal Martial Arts classes. Due to the nature of this club, we will not require any funding or support other than renting out a room for weekly practices. However, we may require mats for advanced techniques.

I hope that this club can be made a reality. I understand that I will need to attend a 15-minute consultation session in order to proceed with the creation of this club; I am free on mondays, wednesdays and fridays until 5:00.

Thank you very much for considering this application (and reading this exceedingly long email),
Christopher Lam

After I reread my email I realized just how much of a nerd I was. Like, wow. Seriously, nerd alert. I think I should eat my dinner before my nerdiness starts spreading through the internet.

Chris

Goals.

Every successful individual starts a portion of his or her life with a goal in mind. A motivated individual will work to achieve those goals, and a successful individual will eventually achieve those goals.

Some of you may already spot out the major error in my reasoning stated in the previous statement. “But Chris,” you may ask, “what about people whose goals consist of lounging around doing nothing all day?”

I would respond with but a simple statement: “They have succeeded.”

There are many types of people in this world. People who aim to achieve, people who aim to enjoy, and people who aim to…well, do whatever. Nobody has an exact definition of a “successful person” because this definition changes from person to person and from culture to culture. One can be perceived as successful by a large population, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will agree.

Note that I am a Commerce student, not a Philosopher, so my reasoning may be flawed. Bear with me, if you would please.

Many students may feel that success is based on achievements, others feel that success comes from one’s personality, and others feel that success is based on happiness. I personally feel that a successful person is defined by his or her actions, and that their personality and happiness will eventually flow from their person.

Note that I am a psychology nerd and that I could probably back up my opinion with various excerpts from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Robert Sapolsky’s experiments on chimpanzees and happiness-but I won’t. Not the time, Chris, not the time.

Priorities first.

Welcome to my site! A good welcome is always appropriate when at the time of a meeting and, in this case, we have currently established a connection between you and I. It may be an indirect connection, but as long as you continue to read this I shall continue posting, and this cycle shall repeat. You and I shall be virtual companions, and all will be well.

Now that we’ve gone over tedious formalities, I can now drop the persona of a highly bombastic individual.

Hi there, my name is Christopher but most people call me “Chris” or “Hey you.” This is the second time I’ve started a blog  for academic reasons, but unlike the first blog (which consisted of entries related to food and school, but mostly food) I will use this blog to mark my progress throughout my first year of the Sauder School of Business at UBC. Along with reflecting upon the assignments and activities sparked from the Business Fundamentals course (section 102), I will also be posting guidelines of how I expect to live my life and if I am achieving my goals. So sit back, relax, and observe the successes and failures of yet another student of UBC.

Christopher “Hey you” Lam