Category Archives: Involvement

KIN Lab Crawl

Today I went on a kinesiology lab crawl!

“Wait,” you ask, “what’s that?”

A lab crawl is like the nerdy version of a club crawl, which basically when you bounce from nightclub to nightclub.  Though in this case, you go from lab to lab. When you get to each lab, the lab experts at each place tell you what their research is about.

It was pretty cool to see what type of research actually goes on in the field of kinesiology.  I mean, you don’t expect there to be much, right?  Although a lot of people don’t even know what kinesiology is, let alone have preconceptions of it…

But there’s actually an awesomely wide range of things being studied by kinesiologists! We saw a robot that mimics the way a person shifts their weight, and someone throwing darts whilst blindfolded.  The researchers, most of whom are actually teaching assistants in the School of Kinesiology, explained who they were (more often than not, Masters or Ph.D students) and what they did in their research.

Honestly, the stuff they talked about was way over my head sometimes. I was one of the few first years in attendance, so I guess the event must’ve been more geared towards older students.  But even though I didn’t understand all the content, we had a chance to mingle with the TAs and I got some useful information about getting involved in research, and becoming a Ph.D student! And oh boy, is it a lot of work.

All in all, I think it was a good experience! I’d definitely recommend (what, recommendations again?) doing a lab crawl at least once in your years at UBC.

Unless you’re an arts student, but I’m sure there’s probably an equivalent for it somewhere.

But anyways. If you can, do it!

PS. Bulletin! The director of UBC’s School of Kinesiology, Dr. Sparks, is retiring.  Le gasp.

ugh.

I read An Account of Sexual Assault at Amherst College, and then I read Amherst Sweeps Sexual Assault Allegations Under the Rug.

And then I read the comments on the latter article.  Notably, the ones by “Greenbrier”, “ACstudent” and “AxC4”.

I have never been more thoroughly disgusted.

Just, ugh.

Rape culture.  Go look it up, define it, vow to abolish it.

Taking steps to getting involved

Congratulations! We would like to offer you the opportunity to be a part of KIN Week.

Yay! Upon the sight of this, I did a happy jig. Well of course not on the outside. I limited myself to loud squealing and gushing only.  I applied to be one of the coordinators for UBC’s first ever KIN Week, and as you can see, I got the position!  I’m actually a little proud of myself.

It’s surprisingly easy to get involved. You don’t have to do much—just find something that interests you!  Maybe that means sports, or politics, or volunteering, or even clubbing 😉 It’s up to you! If you’re anything like me and you find talking to authorities figures terrifying a little intimidating, then simply do your research online.  There are tons of online resources out there for you to discover—here are some places you can find some neat volunteering and job oppurtunities!

  1. UBC FYI is a great place to start! Not only do they post about the cool going-ons around campus, but on the side there are links to excellent (UBC-owned) sites that can help you find your niche! I found out about Blog Squad through here. 🙂
  2. Your undergraduate faculty site! For me, it’s the KUS, but everyone has a different one!
  3. Facebook. No, no, I don’t mean stalking people! I’m talking about following pages of clubs and societies that you’re interested in—that way, you won’t miss opportunities as they arise.
  4. Need a job? Find one here.
  5. If you’re interested in the volunteering and leadership side of things, browse around the Centre for Student Involvement.  There’s tons of information there.  A mind-numbing amount, actually, so you might be better off just walking into the centre in-person.

Alright, I realize that most of these sites are UBC-owned.  But this is what I’m thinking: I chose to go to UBC, so I’m going to be a part of UBC.  Not just a random student fumbling through school, but a real, valuable member of the community! So using the resources available through the school to me—and you—isn’t a problem at all 🙂

Day of the Longboat (or oversized canoe!)

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!