Category Archives: Get Involved

“What It’s Like”

I am very excited to finally debut a project I’ve been working on for the past month. Ladies and gents I officially introduce to you the UBC Blog Squad video, featuring bloggers from the 2012/2013 academic year! Enjoy 🙂

I had a fantastic year getting to know all of my fellow bloggers, exploring the blogging lifestyle, and giving insight on some of my first year experiences. It was fun and enriching in unexpected ways, especially the “self-reflection stage” of writing that Kan talks about ^.

If you’re reading this and are interested in getting involved in your first year at UBC through the Blog Squad, don’t hesitate to check out the link at the end of the video for more information :).

“Participate or You Will Disappear”

I have made a conclusion.

I have concluded that inspiration truly does come in the most unexpected of places, delivered to you by the most unexpected events. This week, inspiration came from a panel discussion that I attended called “Colours of Collaboration,” an event put on and held by the Caribbean and African Association (CAA) here at UBC. When my girl Ava Fard (fellow blog squadder) suggested we check it out I thought what better way to get a sense for some of the clubs on campus then to actually GO to one of their events.

There were 3 panelists, and 1 keynote speaker, all of which had a unique insight and contribution to the discussion. But most importantly they were not there to boast for this club, to recruit members, or to even discuss the club/organization itself, so much as they were there to represent ideas of approaching multiculturalism, social change, and essentially, collaboration.
I briefly go into some of the topics covered that night, below:

Power and Social Hierarchy

How have we come to perceive power in society? Is knowledge power? Is class power? What about race? These were some of the things that Minnijean Brown-Trickery (keynote speaker) brought up in her talk. Having taken part in Little Rock Nine during the civil rights movement in the United States, and along with many of the other things she has accomplished, she was able to discuss racialization and the role of young individuals, specifically educated students, in making change. She described this type of duty as a “social obligation”, our role as students, our role as the educated, our role as human beings. Minnijean Brown-Trickery along with the other panelists spurred a lot of questioning, provoking somewhat of a paradigm shift in the way I thought about race and its part within this wider and complex system.

What is Multiculturalism?

The more you get involved and engaged with material in your classes and events like this, the easier you find it to make compound connections. The debate over multiculturalism and its policies is actually a foregrounding topic in my human geography class this semester. This dialog added a great perspective to the topic because here we were, living and discussing it first hand. What privilege we have to live in a society where we have at least achieved multiculturalism. And to attend a school where your floor alone (in residence) is composed of students from over at least 10 different nations? Whether or not we have fully accomplished the integration of cultures is still a contested topic, but at least we’ve made progress. This is why social change is stressed, because the changes we make today are directly affecting the people of tomorrow (Ex. immigration laws). As Minnijean wittily said “Obama would not be here if it weren’t for me”. What she meant was that the struggles that she faced and the fight that she fought directly influenced how society has progressed, how society has changed.

How Can We Collaborate?

Finally we must ask ourselves how can we collaborate? Well I think attending this event was the first step. As I looked around the room there were not just students who were enrolled in this club, but a mix of different races and different students of all ages. That is what I am striving to embrace, accept and encourage. A great lesson learned was that many of the clubs, like the CAA, do not discriminate or hold a standard that you must be of African or Caribbean descent to join. Part of collaborating is about spreading awareness of these cultures, and spreading that awareness with many different types of students.

So I think you may be able to take a few things away with you from this, I know i did! Don’t forget to also get involved. Take part in social change, challenge hierarchal structures, learn, engage and collaborate! Because if you don’t participate, you will disappear. Mark Minnijean Brown-Trickery’s words.

 

UBC Does Harlem Shake

Hey ya’ll just checking in quick before my reading break officially kicks off tomorrow! So what is the Harlem Shake you ask? It’s basically a dance that was created and uploaded to the internet about 3 weeks ago, featuring an excerpt from the song “Harlem Shake” by electronic musician Baauer. Once it hit YouTube and Facebook the dance went viral and especially when universities across North America decided to reenact it.

So if you haven’t already seen UBC’s version of the Harlem Shake, check it out here:

 

Cultural Night @ UBC

Let’s kick things off with a little promo video:

2 days ago I had the pleasure of attending the first annual Cultural Night organized and hosted by UBC’s very own ISAS (International Students Association of Sauder). You can bet that an event with a cultural undertone will always spark my interest, so when I discovered Cultural Night I had to go. There is something very humbling and grounding when you are surrounded by people from all over the world. Teaching, learning, and gaining from others is an enriching experience and you really have that opportunity at UBC, you just have to find them. So in short, I got dressed up and headed over to the Sauder (UBC’s school of business) building where they had set up an elegant red carpet for the upcoming fashion show and multicultural performances for Cultural Night.

The night started off with an entertaining hip hop routine and was followed by a fusion of traditional Indian and Chinese attire in the fashion show. There was also a traditional Persian music performance, a really entertaining and energetic Bollywood dance, an accapella ensemble, K-ware (korean pop dancing) and even a belly dancer! Not to mention the DJ of the night, who kept the mood alive. I was even tempted to ‘Shazam’ all of the songs (Shazam= IPhone’s application for detecting unknown songs).

Overall, the night was fun and entertaining and I am excited that I was able to be a part of it. Organizations like ISAS who put on shows like this are really striving to encourage cultural awareness and embrace cultural difference. Being a part of the UBC community has taught me to embrace my own ethnicity and those of others. I had always been aware of this great diversity on campus, but I had never truly been educated on the different aspects of those cultures. UBC provides many other opportunities like this one for students to get involved, experience something new, and have fun, you just have to be willing!

**Visit ISAS’s website for more information!

 

 

2013 SLC: Because “Because” Isn’t a Good Enough Answer

Looking for your “ah ha” moment? Wondering where and how you can tackle the first step of getting involved on such a huge campus? Want to become a part of something bigger? UBC’s Student Leadership Conference (SLC) has got a remedy for you! An incredibly designed student run conference tailored to inspire, motivate and engage the campus community. The SLC’s vision is all about “expanding individual leadership potential” as well as “providing valuable peer-to-peer learning experiences”.

Whether your experience at the SLC ends up sparking those inner thoughts that keep you up late at night, encourages you to finally START that project you’ve meaning too, or simply causes a paradigm shift in the way that you view and perceive the world, I guarantee one thing: you will not leave, the same way that you came.

For some logistics on how the conference is designed and executed, I definitely encourage all to check out the SLC website and Facebook page for this years highlights. Below, you’ll find a video to get a better sense.

And here’s a breakdown of MY wonderful day at the SLC:

At one my first sessions of the day, Richard Loat, an entrepreneur and founder of Five Holes for Food, asked: how many times have you wanted to do something and been shot down with the answer “because”? (hence the title of this post). Maybe it was your mom who told you you couldn’t go out this weekend just, because (many of us can probably relate to this one). Maybe you were debating a future career path, potentially your dream job, and someone again told you you couldn’t do it. Well guess what, don’t listen. That was one of the things that Richard emphasized in his panel. Just go for it. He encouraged everyone to start thinking about what they wanted to do and the change they wanted to impact. At such a young age Richard was able to combine the 2 things he loved most, hockey and social activism, to create his own organization geared towards raising food for local food banks across Canada and North America. Through Richard’s seminar I learned the importance of finding the things that you are passionate about in order to spark that social change, as well as the significance of creating genuine connections with people along the way, so others can see your vision too.

Next up was a student lead workshop about marketing transferable skills. Don’t know what that means? Neither did I…until I learned how to breakdown job descriptions and apply the skills I had already acquired to different jobs. Very useful stuff!

And then it happened.

My sustainable, locally grown lunch provided by the SLC

Mmmm, probably ranted about the food I ate for the next 2 days following the conference. Typical me…

After finishing up the day with a final student run workshop, I had the pleasure of attending the closing ceremonies with Postsecret’s very own Frank Warren.  Postsecret is a collaborative project, if you will, where hundreds of thousands of people across the world send anonymous postcards full of their secrets to his PO box. Some are funny, some are heartbreaking, and some a little in-between, but the greatest part about Postsecret is the truth found in many of the secrets. Traditionally people associate secrets negatively, as something that drives people apart, but they also have the capacity to bring people together. Through his inspirational stories and display of postcards, Frank Warren single handedly had that auditorium in tears. Nonetheless, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end off the best day I have had during my time here at UBC.

Frank Warren on stage

Inspiration is truly invaluable and raw and exhilarating. Keep your eyes peeled next January for the 2014 Student Leadership Conference and write your own story. I promise you will not regret it.