Academic – Page 2 – Twenty Thousand Leagues to UBC

Learn to Pole Dance With Translink!

Want to build muscle and increase your stamina while meeting loads of new people? Try the Translink pole dancing course for commuter students! Registration is easy and free with your U-Pass, simply board a crowded bus, fail to get a seat, and grab a pole. Within seconds you will be swinging back and forth like a pro. And there is no better way to make new friends than by landing in their lap after a particularly violent jolt. It’s a full body workout suitable for all ages, come and try it today!

Freshman 15? Ya right, I think I get more of a workout taking the bus than I do when I go to the gym. Not to mention walking around all day with a bag the size of a small vehicle on my back. If I am not fit enough to climb Everest by the time this semester is over, I will be very unhappy.

All my classes are going great. Unlike in high school, the professors here seem to actually want to teach. Or at least the ones in the Coordinated Arts program do. The pace is crazy but it’s worth it. The thing that has been the hardest to adjust to is the reading. Not the act of reading itself, but knowing what it is that you are supposed to read for when. It’s not like in high school where they write your homework on the board at the end of class, you need to look ahead and see what you will be doing next class. Sometimes the reading that you do will have nothing at all to do with the material you are covering in class so it can get confusing.

I’m going to part two and three of recruitment for the sororities this weekend, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun, but it takes up so much time that I need to make sure to get my reading done tonight. Also, I should work on my french composition. Actually, I should be doing that right now.

Au revoir mes amis.

Week One = Done

So my first week is now over, here’s how it went:

Tuesday: Imagine a dancing lab rat. Imagine thousands of people waving vaguely suggestive balloons. Imagine hearing loss. Imagine UBC.

The pep rally at Imagine UBC was one of the best events of my life. Everyone is shouting and chanting and generally trying to prove that they are a member of the loudest faculty, because we all know that if you are loud, you are cool.

“We are loud, we are proud, we are more than half the crowd! Bigger is better! Arts kicks ass!”

That was the world famous faculty of arts cheer. Scream it with a cheery smile and a spanish accent just for kicks.

Wednesday: First day of classes. I spent a grand total of nine hours at UBC and another three commuting. I was an inch away from death when I finally got home. How am I going to last a whole year doing that every monday and wednesday (and a bit less the other three days of the week)? I’m already exhausted and it is only the first week.

Here is a tip, if you are a commuter, try to schedule at least one day a week off. You are going to need it.

Thursday: I went to the Under the Stars Dance. Unfortunately, there was a limit of how many people could be in the party room, so there was actually more people waiting outside than there was in the room. I guess it was fire regulations or something. Apparently, if there was a fire, there are few enough people in the room that we could all safely make it out the doors… right into the 300 or so people waiting packed together in the room outside where we can all get trampled together.

Oh, and here is some advice for all the guys hovering at the edges of the dancing: Go ahead and ask us to dance, despite what you might think, it is very unlikely that we will say no.

Friday: What did I do friday? Well, it couldn’t have been good enough to share if I don’t remember.

Saturday: I went to the sorority tours. I would definitely suggest going to the wednesday one if you didn’t go to the saturday one (and if you are a girl, obviously). The sororities are nothing like the stereotypes and I found that it is the easiest way to make some great new friends. This is very important, because even if you have other people from you school coming with you to UBC, you will still feel kind of alone since it is such a massive campus.

Sunday (today): This morning I got to have brunch with all my fellow bloggers, who turn out to be just as nice and amazing as I thought. To any Blog Squad Members reading this: we must do that promotional idea soon, you know the one I mean… Once again, joining a club, or a squad, is a great way to make friends.

I also wrote my very first university paper today. I had no idea how to write one so the feedback I get may very well be… interesting.

And that is my week.