Joanna, please tell us about your role as an Enrolment Services Professional with Student Support & Advising!
Money can be really scary so I help students maybe feel less scared about money sometimes. Credentials: have also felt frightened by money in the past. Also UBC is a really big place! So I can help students feel like it’s maybe not so big.
What do you enjoy most about working in Enrolment Services?
Paul Poole has this plant that can miraculously grow under any circumstances (light, water, etc.) and I just take a lot of inspiration from that.
Joel and I in the snow on our stopover in Munich
Joanna, where did you recently jet-set off to?
We travelled to Italy by way of Munich. My partner is a teacher and had two weeks off for spring break so we had a Google flight alert on for any cheap flight to Europe for that time. Rome it was!
Free soda water outside the Colosseum! Romans know what’s up.
What were some of your most memorable moments?
Our first day walking around Rome was the best. Every side street led you to a huge historical monument, or the best pizza or café of your life. As in: you’re walking around and surprise! Here’s the Vatican! Or surprise! Here’s a café and maybe I do want my 5th cappuccino of the day thank you.
Seagull gazing in the direction of the Vatican and the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II (also known as the Wedding Cake building!)
What was your favourite meal you had?
I once ate 5 large pizzas over the course of 48 hours (dinner, lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner). The pizza in southern Italy (Naples and the Amalfi coast) was as amazing. As an example of how amazing it is, the pizza in Naples has Unesco world heritage status. Such thin chewy crispy crust, fresh tomato sauce and the cheese (the cheese!), that’s all you need.
Digging into pizza #2 in Naples
Finally what is some advice for future Italy jet-setters?
Rent a car and take your time! There are so many tiny little hilltop castles around Tuscany that we zoomed by. We did get to stop in one called Lucca, just outside of Florence, it’s an ES staff favourite and totally made our trip.
Revisiting ye ol’ leaning tower