Well, it’s here again! that wonderful time of year filled with… no, not midterms, though that’s true too… ILLNESS! Every thirty seconds or so in every class someone coughs or sniffles or wheezes. Just like high school, university is a magnificent breeding ground of bugs of all kinds.
You always get sick at the most inconvenient time too. I’m going to be having a great time tomorrow trying to give a philosophy presentation while hacking up a lung.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to avoid getting sick while sitting in a crowded lecture hall filled with plague?
Category: Academic
Hello Everyone! (although I think that calling the two or so people who may look at this post “everyone” is a bit of a hyperbole) I am back, I did not die or drop off the face of the earth as you might suspect after my long absence. Here is my explanation (*cough* excuse *cough*)
Anyway, the wonderful thing about being in the second semester of first year is that you finally know what is going on. There is no more getting lost on campus and I am finally feeling like a real university student. Instead of doing absolutely every bit of reading mentioned by the prof and panicking that I didn’t have enough time like I did at the beginning of the year, I can now judge what is important to read, and what is just interesting reading to do if I have time (and, of course, there is the occasional reading that is just completely useless, boring, and hundreds of pages long that just has to be avoided altogether. I honestly don’t know why profs sometimes assign these readings. Do they just think that we shouldn’t be able to go a day reading only for recreation?)
Anyway, the negative side of being in second semester and being used to university life is that you can start to take on way too many extra responsibilities because they just sound like so much fun. For example, I just joined a dodgeball team with my sorority. I can’t wait, but I’m also running for a place on the Panhellenic (all greek) Council. And I just started my duties as director of website for alpha phi and found myself having to transfer a domain which I had no idea how to do. Thanks to Eastwood for helping me with that. I’m so close now, and just waiting to get something called an EEP code that I had never heard of before.
So that’s why I have been gone for so long. My to do list no longer fits on my computer screen even in 12pt font. However, despite getting kind of stressed out with all these tasks, I’m also kind of loving it. Its good to be busy again. (But if you ask me if I still feel that way tonight after 16 hours out at UBC, I may give a different answer.)
My de-stress activity: Buss meditation with the soundtrack from Mamma Mia. Give it a try sometime.
Categories
Back Again.
Well, it’s back to class time. I was dreading having to work again but after going to class for two days I realized that I had forgotten how much I actually like university work. Not the papers/exams, but the material. If you want something interesting to look at, here is the philosophy website. I am really getting into philosophy. Maybe it can be my major… (I have no idea what I am going to do for the whole major/minor thing. sigh)
It may be great to be back in the classes, but the campus sure leaves something to be desired. Thank god for rubber boots. Every day, I have to trek through Lake SUB (student union building) to get from the bus stop to my classes. The deck out front looks normal enough on a sunny day, but on a wet day, the flat surface magically changes into a crater that fills up with water. How does this happen? Maybe I should have gone into sciences to unravel the mystery of suspicious sinking concrete.
Happy Tuesday Everyone!
P.S. I applied to become a MUG (my undergraduate group) leader! Mostly because I really really want to go to the pep rally again.
Ok, I admit that I tend to get a bit overexcited about christmas, but what’s wrong with that? I’ll tell you what is wrong: Putting decorating and shopping before studying on the priorities list. Tomorrow, I am going to get cracking on the studying front! (Although, there is still the tree to put up… NO, focus!)
For all those other people out there who are much more diligent than me and have already gotten a good start on their studying and have some free time, here is a list of the 5 best movies to get you in a christmas-y mood:
1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas – This is my all time favorite, and I mean the old cartoon version, not the bizarre new Jim Carrey one.
2. A Muppets Christmas Carol – There are some other versions of this too that are good but this is the best because of the puppets.
3. Miracle on 34th street – I loved the new version and this christmas I plan on watching the original version… wait, what’s that I hear? Oh, its the sound of my grades plummeting due to lack of studying. Maybe I should wait until after exams to watch it…
4. The Nutcracker Prince – Ok, I’m not sure if this is actually a good movie or if I just love it because it brings back memories of being a kid. So try it and find out for me.
5. Old TV Specials – Ok, technically not a movie, but watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town is great for feeling all chritmas-y. Probably because I watched those every year since I can remember.
So that is my list. Merry Christmas everyone!
Categories
I can’t write.
(In response to Eastwoods post )
Well, turns out I am one of those first years who can’t write. I thought I could. All my high school teachers told me I could. But if there is one thing I have learned in Coordinated Arts, it’s that I can’t. On a brighter note, it doesn’t really bother me much anymore.
On to a completely unrelated topic. Does anyone know how to find a good host for a website? I know how to make the website, but not how to get it online. I know that there are a whole bunch of computer geniuses (wait, is that genii?) out there so please help. I would really appreciate it. 🙂
Thats all for now folks; I can’t really procrastinate writing my two papers any longer. Au revoir.
Categories
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween everyone! There is something about today that just makes me feel like a little kid again. Probably just because I have had waaaay too much sugar.
In english, we were given the best project ever! create a photoblog and post some pics. Here is mine: Digital Reality. I think I am officially addicted to digital photography now.
Excuse me now while I go off and hunt for some more candy. Toodles.
Arghh!!! Excuse me while I rant a bit here. After all, that’s what blogs are for right? I don’t think I have quite fulfilled my quota of angst on this blog, so here goes.
I am pretty certain that universities were made to destroy egos. Now, in some cases this can be a good thing. But, most of the time, destroying the spirit of innocent first years is just mean. All through high school, ninety percents are handed out for practically zero work, then you come to UBC and suddenly you can’t get them no matter how hard you try! (there are some exceptions of course, like in the language classes, but still) You come to expect certain grades, then you feel like a total idiot when you can’t achieve them. Why does this happen? It’s because they use the same marking system as high school (percents). I get that university papers have to be marked harder, but why can’t they use a different system so that you evaluate your performance based on the marks you got on previous university assignments, and other people results, and not your high school results which are completely unreasonable to expect yet you can’t help doing it anyway. There would be way less depressed students if high school was only letter grades, and university was only percent (for example) and there was no similarity.
Well, that is my idea. Any others?
Categories
Halfway There
Well, we are halfway through the semester and I am beginning to seriously look forward to winter break. I have written two papers this week, the second one finished half an hour before it was due (I know, I know, but in my defense it was only because I forgot to put it in mla format and had to do it at last minute, and my printer was acting up… you know).
Now that it is raining, the commute is even more horrendous. I love living at home, but I am looking at living on campus next year just to avoid the commute. I am sick of being too hot, too crowded, and motion sick for three hours a day. Plus, living on campus I would not feel guilty about keeping my mother up when I am out late. Every time I tell her not to wait up, and every time she does. I guess thats just mothers though.
Thats about all of my rant, university is loads of fun, but crazy exhausting.
P.S. All my classes are fun, but if you are choosing an elective I would recommend Philosophy 100. Trust me, you will never be the same.
I have officially finished my first university paper ever! I couldn’t believe how difficult it was, mostly because I have never had to write anything that long before. The hardest part was getting motivated enough to start. Here are five things I learned about uni papers.
1. No matter how early you try to start, the majority of the work is done in the two days before the paper is due.
2. MLA is a killer when you have never done it before. How on earth do you cite a royal charter anyway? I’m sure I got that part wrong.
3. The actual writing part is the easy part; the planning is brutal.
4. Chocolate doesn’t make the paper go away.
And
5. You feel really good when you are finished. Unlike high school homework, you get a real sense of accomplishment when you are done.
Not that this means I want to do another one anytime soon, but I have to. I guess that is what happens when you choose Arts.
This has been a week of trying new things. I cannot sing, dance, or steer a voyager canoe. Yet, somehow I ended up doing all of these things this week. I guess university is like teletoon (and by that I mean “never a dull moment” not “overrun with loony toons” though, come to think of it, that might be as good a description as any).
The singing and dancing part came in when I auditioned for songfest, through alpha phi. The paddling and steering part come in today, at Day of the Longboat. Wow, was that ever an event! Our steers person (if that is how you spell it), Miranda, couldn’t make it today, and we had no one who knew how to do it, so I volunteered. Actually, we didn’t do too badly. We had a horrible start (the horn went and we set off… in the wrong direction), but we really started to get the hang of it after. I was very proud of us.
BLOG! SQUAD! NUMBER! ONE!
On a not so nice note, October panic has set in a few days early. Suddenly I realize how many papers are due in the next few weeks, and how many midterms I have. This goes so much faster than high school, especially with all the extras like Day of the Longboat. Tomorrow is my first free day since school started, and I am going to spend it frantically trying to write a five page paper worth 20% of my mark, oh dear.
If you want to read more about day of the longboat, check out the other members’ blogs at blogs.ubc.ca/blogsquad.
