This is the absolute core of who I am
Category Archives: Involvement/Leadership
Alright, here’s my degree story thus far.
What’s up my dears?
It’s coming. Starting in a few weeks, UBC opens up course registration. I kind of feel like it’s Christmas morning for me when July 13th hits and I’m able to register in the courses I want. I love course registration, is that weird?
I often check out the UBC Prospective Students facebook page and I see that some of you guys (who I like to call prospecteeves but now are new to UBC students) are kind of freaking out. Don’t fret, listen to my story of being a first year and learn that it’s all gonna be okay (and that selecting courses is AWESOME).
September: I’m in the Faculty of Arts geared towards a BFA in Visual Arts. Fresh out of a high school in Ontario. No AP or IB credits under my belt. I took almost only all visual arts courses in grade twelve. I’ve got five of my courses for first year picked as pre-req’s for my degree in visual arts. It’s rockin’.
October: The thoughts going through my head are like this, “I am not doing well in my studio course for visual arts, I never wanted to do a life sized portrait of myself anyways, now that I think about that it is kind of creepy, and I’m unsure if visual arts is for me anymore. Also at the same time, I’m really loving political science 101. I think I want a poli sci degree. All my extra circulars centre around poli sci and not visual arts, so why am I trying to get in to the visual arts program? Why not switch gears?”
December: I tell all the important people in my life that I think I might drop my visual arts intentions and go for poli sci. They tell me to give visual arts one more semester. I listen, and I continue on taking more studio courses.
February: It’s now second semester. My grades in visual arts picked up, I learned VISA 183 is WAY better than VISA 182 (my personal opinion) and that I’m glad I stuck it out.
April: It’s the end of the school year. I’m still conflicted because all of my time is spent working on The MOB for Free The Children/Me To We, I’ve been in many different political positions and I fell in love with many new subject areas. Is visual arts really for me? I don’t feel it. On top of Political Science 101 (which was all about Canadian politics) I fell in love with Women’s and Gender Studies 102 (which was all about feminism) and all of my english courses were centered around First Nations issues. If I love it all, how do I have it all?
May: I bring out the SSC. Bring it on. I figure out that if I continue with getting a BFA in Visual Arts that I would have no room for a minor unless I packed on an extra year which is not currently in my game plan. I also know that I will not be happy if I only do visual arts. I figure it out that somewhere around grade 10 my greatest passion became issues/politics and visual arts too a step back- I just never noticed.
I check out the Faculty of Arts advising website. I check out the different types of degrees. Women and Gender Studies.. would love that but doesn’t fit with the courses I want to take… Political Science involves tougher courses… freaked out by that… then I find First Nations Studies. WICKED IDEA.
I check out the department website. I get hands on experience in fourth year with an organization that also comes with credits. Love it. I get to have a degree that is based around an issues. Love that too. I can go on to something mastering in education or law. Love it more. Even better, I’ll major in it and minor in visual arts. By minoring in visual arts, I only have to focus on two mediums instead of four. There was only two I wanted to take to begin with which was photography and print media. Love that all the way to the moon.
Here are a few key things that new to UBC students might want to know. I’m not falling behind in my 4 year goal of receiving my degree by shifting my focus. In fact, many people shift their focus and find out they like something else. University is all about discovering what you like and who you are anyways. I’ve been told that I’m completely different (in a good way) than who I was when I left high school. University does that. It’s totally fine to enter the first two weeks and drop out of a class and take another one instead. It’s also okay to change faculties, a lot of my friends have already done it. It’s also rockin’ if you are open to new things. I never took a feminism in high school or a First Nations class. Now I’m going to try to major in First Nations after having all of my english courses in university focus on it. It’s something you just got to be open to.
Okay world. Come July 13th, Erica is going to register for courses gearing towards a degree in First Nations Studies and a minor in Visual Arts. That’s where I’m at. I’m liking my new decision, I feel good about it, and I encourage everyone to go after their wildest dreams.
Peace, love & west-coast trees,
Erica
My Friends, They Travel, Lots.
Down on the bottom right side of my blog, I have a links section called, “My friends travel the world this summer.” Literally, they are traveling the world and doing some pretty cool things. They’ll be gone the entire summer and living abroad. What’s even cooler is that they are all my age, just completed their first year of university, and now they are off in the world all on their own. Hopefully, more of them choose to create blogs to share their stories with you, these are just some of my friends who are maintaining blogs while they are gone, but for now I have a few to share with you today.
Check out James in Hawaii as he works on the France-Hawaii-Canada Space Telescope on top of a volcano.
Check out Lindsey in Tanzania as she lives in an orphanage for the summer.
Check out Meagan in Jinotepe, Nicaragua who is working with BaseCamp International.
Check out Jess in Ghana as she lives & volunteers there for the summer.
Check out Peter in Cape Town, South Africa as he works on an eco-construction project
Muzic Monday
Exams. Freak Out.
Ben Gibbard & Feist- Train Song
“He’s not sure who he sympathizes with anymore. It’s a very romantic idea- this particular vision of what it means to live inside the enemy camp. How you lose your barrings and you forget how to fight because some other impulse inside you takes over.” – Ira Glass, This American Life, Episode #404 Enemy Camp
I lead a Mob. New today, check out my really random bio (all the way at the bottom) and explore our new website, here.
Dear Erica,
My friends: Lauren, Megan, Katie and myself in the UBC Rose Garden last weekend. This is a shot I took after we finished up a photo shoot. They were nice enough to take time out of their day to be my models for a VISA 183 project. That’s why I’m in TOMS and they are in heels. What lovely folk they are.
∞
Last summer, I was asked to write a letter to myself for me to receive in the mail one year later. This happened before I started university. Last Friday was a little less than a year, but it came. Somehow, for once, I didn’t recognize my own handwriting that spelt out my name and address on the front of the envelope. I opened it, unsure of what was inside, until I saw 5 main goals written on the outside of the folded sheet of paper.
It read,
“GOAL:
BFA Honours -> MFA
Learn French
Starry Night
Be physically fit
Be happy with yourself”
These were the things I cared about the most. I wrote this just a week before I was leaving for UBC last August. I can say that most of those goals are being met. If you are wondering what Starry Night means, that’s a story for another day that I will share with you soon.
There is also what I wrote inside.
“Dear Erica,
I hope that you have found a great love, your passion and all the inspiration in the world. I hope you reach your Top 20 Under 20 goals. I hope you are sleeping about 8 hours a night and physically fit. I wonder what your relationship is like with Trevor. I think I just ended it with him but it’s usually never over. I hope Starry Night took off and the Mob is a huge success. I hope your grades are around 85. I hope AE in Vancouver is great. I hope you found your life long friends. I hope your acne has cleared up. I hope you still listen to Viva Radio & This America Life.
Be honest.
Use your ethical compass.
Focus on your grades.
Live your life.
Be honest some more.
Share everything with Loran.
Go to Disney World.”
Then there are little things I wrote at the bottom of the letter,
“I’m just trying to be me, whoever that is.” – Bob Dylan
“Make someone’s day special. If you aren’t happy -> figure out why and change it.
Love, Erica Baker.”
Under that, it says “Read reverse.” I flip over the paper. I’ve included a five dollar bill and a note.
“Okay so I’m making a little investment. I’m putting it in this envelope hoping it makes it to the new me in a year. Use it on something you really need. Use it on something that will make you happier. Use it to benefit yourself. You need to be happy. You need to take care of yourself. Love.”
What a perfect time for me to receive this. I only have two more days of class and I’m currently reflecting on my first year of university. Overall, I have achieved what I wanted.
This semester, I finally convinced myself 8 hours of sleep is good. I am now more comfortable with my body and I even have gone to the gym a few times. To add to that, I took pole dancing classes, joined a UBC REC soccer team and played on my floor’s football team. Hannah even took me for a few early morning runs along old NW Marine Drive & took me swimming in the pool.
Trevor. I wanted to go home this summer to be able to be around him. Those plans didn’t work out. We had a good few months of contact in the winter. Christmas break was a lot of fun, it felt like I had never left my hometown and that we hadn’t stopped dating. 5 years is a long time. Now, we don’t talk. We were living a half-relationship half-not sort of thing for a while that was just too stressful on my system. I’ve really grown in five years, and he hasn’t changed, we’re just not the same mix anymore. It’s hard to find things in common besides the past, but he’ll always be someone I want to call “baby.”
I’ve found my lifelong friends. They know who they are. I have 23 photos of one of them on my wall in my dorm room. We counted. I remember laying down on my longboard last October, looking at the night sky, on the roof of the Marine Drive Parkade. I told Alex, who was sitting on his board next to me, that the most important thing for me this year was my friends. In high school, I was so focused in everything that was American Eagle, volunteering, and politics. I’m glad that I’m coming out of this year with the closest friends a girl could ask for. They even read my blog without me forcing them. Guys, thank you.
I’m keeping true to most of the things I mentioned. I listened to some This American Life today, my acne isn’t as bad as it has been in the past, I am very happy with myself, I’ve shown lots of love, and I’ll always remember that if I’m not happy I will figure out why and I will change it.
Thank you Erica from the past, you rock. I’ll save that five dollars for something special.
How To Get To Know UBC Without Visiting Campus
Just chilln’. But really, I’m enjoying some soup from Pacific Spirit Place in the SUB (Student Union Building).
Have you ever checked out my super cool links in the right column next to this post? Are you thinking about coming here next year? This is an incredible resource for you to use.
I chose UBC without visiting Vancouver, Campus or having any relatives attend post secondary before. I’m from Ontario, the wonderful land of dozens of universities and Marineland. So how did I make that choice?
Here is your guide of things to look at to get to know campus on a personal level.
AMS Confidential– A UBC political blog run by three UBC students named Kai, Taylor and “Gossip Guy.” It’s regularly updated with lots of juicy goodness.
Blog Squad– It’s a collection of blog posts from all the lovely students at UBC who blog about their experiences on campus. It also includes links to their blogs as well!
Portraits of UBC– Portraits of students that Rabi Sun meets during a regular day on campus. The blog is updated very frequently (I’d say every week if not very close to that) which gives you a good perspective on what campus looks like throughout the year and Rabi even includes a weekly question that his subjects answer!
The UBC Admin Blog– A unique persepctive on UBC life from the view of Pierre Ouillet, Vice-President, Finance, Resources, and Operations and Brian Sullivan, Vice-President, Students. Brian Sullivan is the coolest guy ever because he has the greatest collection of bow ties a man could ever obtain.
The Ubyssey– Our campus newspaper filled with current stories of things happening on campus. You can even browse through the events section to see just how many things happen on campus at once or check out the menu bar at the top of the website to get a taste of campus.
UBC Insiders– Another great UBC political blog worth checking out. Maintained currently by Neal, Alex and Andrew. Their team & past editors have had high levels of UBC involvement including AMS President/AMS Exec members and being Photo Editor for the Ubyssey.
What’s this??
A new beautiful longboard creation from the folks at Loaded Longboards in California? Let’s stop and ooo & aaaaw at this video, shall we?
Besides watching many longboarding videos on YouTube with a good buddy from Saskatchewan, I’m going to chill in a Starbucks far far away from campus to focus on my term paper, go to the gym, and get vaccinations for my latest trip!
My latest trip? What am I referring to? Let’s say that I’m considering going to a country in Central America all on my own after exams finish next month.
Is it weird that exams seem less stressful than all my term papers and final visual arts assignments? Yes, No? Maybe so?
Here is a little more UBC-related content to get incoming first years as stoked about this amazing university just as much as I am:
10 UBC common phrases/words.
Storm the Wall.
AMS.
Imagine Day.
Mike Duncan.
Free food.
Buchanan Tower.
VFM.
The Honour Roll.
Wreck Beach.
The 99 B-Line.
Let Steve tell you what’s up.
One Day Without Shoes
One Day Without Shoes. April 8th 2010. Toms Shoes.
Click here to learn how you can participate on April 8th.
Sup ebakes?
Epic: listening to an entire new mixtape from the Hood Internet that I didn’t have before.
Hard work: My term paper on Haisla people, residential schools, and native literature.
What I want to do: Is make tons of paper cranes out of all that origami paper I purchased.
Where I am: Sitting in bed & thinking about making Mr. Noodles.
This semester is: Easier than last, most likely because the hard transition from high school to university is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Second semester has won the coolness battle over first semester.
What I can’t get out of my head: Concepts for my final two visual arts assignments.
Barney or Marshall: It’s a hard call.. but Barney.
AUS Elections: Need more voters to turn out or else I’m running under an alias like our favorite Star Wars politicians.
New Favorite Food: Vanilla Ice Cream and Honey, but it has to be every once and a while, I’m on of those lactose kids.
Cool Things Happening This Weekend: Meetings, more meetings, and CPR training. Besides that, I have MUG Leader training for Imagine Day, which I am stoked for. Why? An “I AM UBC” purple t shirt and I get a whole group of first years for a day who have no idea what Buchanan is.
PS, in the photo, I am eating onion rings from Magda’s. So much for my attempt at a “fit” lifestyle. That lasted three days.