Category Archives: FIrst Year

Ways to procrastinate: Find new music!

Posted on October 11, 2012 | 3 comments

In the face of neverending midterms, I find myself doing anything to avoid studying.  Bad student? Yes, I am.  Anyways…

Move over iTunes Genius, because I’ve found new ways to find cool music and playlists!  My fall playlist has been updated, and I’m very happy about that.  Here, take a look:

1. Songza

Feeling angsty, but can’t find the right music to cry to? Try Songza, which is a free service which recommends and streams music for you!  It’s actually pretty cool— it has a concierge service which can provide you with a carefully crafted playlist depending on your mood!  I use it for all sorts of activities; room-cleaning, homework-doing, sleep-going, etc.  Songza can also be found in app form for iOS and Android.

2. I JUST WANT TO LISTEN TO THE BEST OF

My friend showed me this one.  Type an artist’s or band’s name into the search bar, and the website find their top ten tracks for you! Sometimes, they’re even available to stream.  This is great if you’ve just heard of a band and want to hear more!  Now everybody, go listen to Tegan and Sara.

3. YouTube Discovery

It’s basically YouTube and tothebestof.com combined.  Stream music videos from your favourite artists in an automatic playlist! Unfortunately, the service tends to give you live videos, so this isn’t really the greatest for straight-up music listening 😛 But this all about procrastinating, isn’t it?

Take note that you need internet connection for all of these services to work! Or you could always do things the old fashioned way and swap iPods with somebody else 🙂 By the way, this is an attempt to start a blog series! Except the episodes/posts won’t come consistently, because I’m inconsistent like that.

Happy listening!

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Exam Schedules are up!

Posted on October 5, 2012 | 2 comments

If you log onto the Student Service Centre online (ssc.adm.ubc.ca), you will be able to find the exact times of the final exams for this term’s classes. Final exam season starts on December 5th, I believe, and goes ’til December 19th.  Guess when my last exam is?

My exam schedule… It kinda really sucks.  Within 7 days, I have 5 midterms.  And one of them is on a Saturday. 🙁

I didn’t even know they had exams on the weekend!

I’m going to have to plan my studying very, very carefully, so that I don’t end up cramming frantically the night before each exam. But if I do, I’ll blog about it so you guys can bask in my misery. I’ll probably have a bad time, but at least I’ll have the holidays to look forward to!

Thank goodness it’s the weekend now.  I could definitely use the break, especially with my chemistry lab fiasco.  Have a good one, everybody!

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Midweek Recap: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Posted on October 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

Why the past two days have been good:

  • I’m pretty sure I did well on my first ever midterm! It was easier than I anticipated, so I finished it in 20 min. Too bad it was only worth 10% of my KIN 190 (physiology)  mark.
  • I downloaded new music and it makes me happy.
  • I can do a cartwheel almost perfectly now! Yay, gymnastics class!
  • I got all my chemistry lab work done last night.  In less than 4 hours.  Yeah, I’m pretty impressed with me too.
  • I drove to school today, and I snagged the last cheap parking spot this morning. 😀

Why the past two days have been bad:

  • I’m exhausted.  I stayed at school late last night to finish my chemistry lab, and so I didn’t get home until 11.  I’m definitely not getting enough sleep; the dark circles under my eyes feel permanent.
  • I opened up a juice box today, took a sip, and realized it tasted like pineapple.  I’m allergic to pineapples.
  • Also, the job action is confusing me.  I thought we just went through this in highschool…
Something ugly:  
It turns out I completed the wrong pre-lab last night.  Suddenly, I’m not so impressed with myself, the lab professor is not impressed, and I’m realizing why it’s a really bad idea to do your lab work the night before. So for all you chemistry students: CHECK YOUR LAB SCHEDULE!
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First midterm tomorrow!

Posted on October 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m scared. So, so scared.  Help meeeeee.

Panicky Courtney is panicky.

There’s so much stuff that has to be memorized for physiology! Yeah, KIN 190 actually one of those classes where you do some crazy massive memorizing.  A pack of flashcards are your best friend in this case.

Also, I find that drawing things out (hello, muscle contraction) on a giant whiteboard is really helpful, as is studying in groups.  Also, talking through ideas seems to work well.  But don’t whisper to yourself on the bus, as it causes people to give you funny looks (although if you like that sort of thing, I suggest rocking back and forth as well).

Anyways.  Back to cramming studying now!

Ughaughaughaugha.

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Day of the Longboat (or oversized canoe!)

Posted on October 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke! Golly, that word sounds weird after a while.

For those you you who haven’t heard about it, Day of the Longboat is a UBC REC event held at Jericho Beach.  Basically, you form a team with whomever you like (I went with a faculty team) and you race against other teams in an oversized canoe.  It’s more fun than I describe it to be, I promise!

Here’s how my day went:

  • I got up at 6am this morning.  Yes, on a Sunday (the horror!).  There was no sun, and the moon was still high in the sky (and it was really, really bright).
  • I drove to Jericho Beach, which took me half an hour.  It was a lovely drive because all the lights along my route were pedestrian lights, and since no-one was out at 7 in the morning… What? Of course I didn’t speed!
  • Paying for parking at the lot was a pain for three reasons:
    • Today, you have to pay for parking; tomorrow, parking is free.
    • $3 an hour.  Seriously, why so outrageous?
    • I had no coins, which meant I scrambled around for twenty minutes looking for people who had change for a $10 bill.
  • I met up with 8 other first-year kinesiology students. Our team name? The Kintagious Kinky Kinners!   …Oh boy, do Kinners love their puns.
  •  We went out in our oversized canoe longboat and paddled hard. I’m pleased to say that there was no capsizing of any sort, although we came close. There was, however, lots of screaming, splashing, cheering, and laughing.
  • We did not come in last place. 😀
  •  We soaked in the (really, super-duper-ultra-hot) hot tub for a bit, and then went out for lunch and cheered and heckled incoming teams from other heats.  There were a lot of kinesiology teams out there, and we cheered for them all!

The KKK: After the race!

What disappointed me (a little): after we finished up, it felt like there wasn’t much to do. There was a feeling of “What now?” once we got out of our lifejackets, and there seemed to be no incentives for us to stick around. (Maybe that’s good, because we all had to study for our physiology midterm).

Still, I’d say Day of the Longboat is one event that all UBC students have to do at least once.  If you’re looking for spirit, you’d find it here!  It’s definitely a team bonding activity, so I’d recommend that you gather a group of friends, or people from your floor, or your faculty. And for goodness’ sake, not that kid you really can’t stand. 

Can’t wait for next year!

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