Excitement for Science Frosh 09′

by Jordan McGarry on August 22, 2009

This past Friday, I registered for Science Frosh 09′. I had to register using my iPhone, due to an early shift at work the day that registration opened. I had to e-mail (from my iPhone) the Science Frosh Team to make sure my registration went through, but the Frosh team was on top of things and replied within the hour. For those of you know who are in the Faculty of Sciences and haven’t registered yet should go check it out. (The website to check out is: http://www.sciencefrosh.ca/index.php)We’re basically going to be getting together on a Sunday, and do some fun activities! There’s a 308 Student Limit, which could be already reached, but regardless, sign up and get on the Waiting List in case people drop out! The timetable for the day is:

9:00am Froshee Check-In
10:00am Opening Ceremonies
10:30am Morning activity – fun group activity
12:00pm Mentorship Lunch
1:00pm Afternoon activity – Campus / city-wide scavenger hunt
5:00pm Dinner Break / Free Time
6:15pm Load bus
6:30pm Bus departs for Downtown
8:00pm Evening activity – Dessert Boat Cruise
11:00pm End of day, bus departs to UBC (w/ one stop Downtown)

Looks like it will be a great day! I’m excited to meet new people and experience an entire day together!

On an another note: The first day of school is coming up, and I am excited to meet some people in my MUG Group. If anyone is in the MUG Group “Astatine” leave a comment!

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The BB Adventure to UBC

by Jordan McGarry on August 20, 2009

Currently: Turning off my PS3 (was driving around doing stupid things in GTA4) and listening to my mom spazz that I’m going to see a movie at 10:45… apparently that is too late for a 18 year old kid to be out.

Before I dive into the tales of my adventure to UBC, let me give you some background information about the wonderful person I went with. She went to the High School of one of my cousins, and I finally met when we finally talked on Facebook Chat. We started talking and eventually arranged a shopping day (We both love to shop). We eventually found out that we were both in same Biology 121 Class  in Term 1(Bio 121 Section 122… Comment if you’re in the same class). From there, the nickname we gave each other is “Bio Buddy”, in short form “BB”.  We have pretty much the same schedule type (just different classes) and I’m glad to of met someone who will be experiencing the same hardship as moi.

Now back to our Adventure to UBC. As you all know, we had to go to the UBC Bookstore to get our UBC ID Cards. Me and my BB decided to head over together and get our ID Cards last Friday. We arranged to meet at the Broadway Skytrain Station at 11:00… but then she woke up late, so it moved to 12:00. Then, she texted me saying she’d be there at 12:30, but I was already on the Skytrain to Broadway from 22nd Street. It looked like I would be waiting for my BB. While I was waiting, something really strange happened to me. I was interviewed by a CBC Radio Interviewer, about “Critical Mass”. Critical Mass is apparantly about Biker’s who go and block roads all at once. The questions she asked were really vague, and more about breaking rules. I honestly don’t remember what I answered.

When we finally got on the 99 B-Line to UBC, we started timing how long it would take from certain spots to UBC. This is probably an innaccurate calculation due to the many variables that are more likely to occur in the morning then opposed to the afternoon. For those people who bus using the 99 B-Line from Granville Street, comment with a general idea of how long it takes to get to UBC.

When we finally got to UBC, we decided to go check out the Student Union Building… which meant a trip to the Starbucks. I got my favorite, a Tall Caramel Frappacino. Now, all you 2nd years and UBC Veterans may find this funny, but after that, we sat down and opened our UBC Map and figured out how to get to our lecture halls and the bookstore. We felt SOO lame looking at a map, for most of the day we tried to hide it. We got to the Bookstore, went through the process of getting our picture taken (I would post the picture of me on my ID, but its absolutely terrible) and then went straight to look at the Textbooks. I looked at some of the book prices, and thought to myself “I could buy four Stussy T-Shirts for the price of this book”.

For the rest of our trip, we went and looked in our lecture halls, and timed how long it would take to go from one class to another. My highest time was 8 and a half minutes to get from my Physics Lecture to my English Lecture, (walking at an above average pace) hopefully I won’t be too late for English. We started looking into our lecture halls, most of the time we were too scared to go into the buildings because the Geography, Math, and Chemistry Buildings look like medieval castles. The only one we could get a good look at was the Theatre at the Hebb Building. It was a surreal type of feeling standing and sitting in my future lecture hall. It’s going to be a fun (yet hard) year and I cannot wait to sit in that lecture hall with the 300 other students.

Hope to see you guys at UBC in 2 and a half weeks!

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Too Many Goodbyes

by Jordan McGarry on August 14, 2009

Currently: Watching someone set records on Deal or No Deal Canada.

This is the year in everyone’s life that is full of goodbyes. These goodbyes aren’t the typical “Hey, see you later” goodbyes you commonly say after a movie trip with your best bud. These goodbyes are the “I’m going to miss you” goodbyes you say when you aren’t going to see something/someone for a longtime, or even forever. I came into my Senior Year at High School knowing that these goodbyes await at the end, but I never would’ve imagined that they would be this hard.

Here’s a list of things I’ve had to say the “I’m going to miss you” goodbye too:

  • My High School, my second home (literally) for 6 years. (I went to my school in Gr. 7)
  • My years of very little responsibility.
  • My friends, going to school elsewhere.
  • My cousin, who went to New York for school.

All these things were hard to say goodbye too. Everyone says “It’s okay, there’s always Skype / MSN / iChat / E-mail / the phone”, but all those things aren’t close to the same. It’s also a big effort to use these various methods of Social Networking to maintain a relationship like the one you had before the “goodbye”. That effort combined with the UBC schoolwork, makes it virtually impossible. So try your best, but don’t stress over it. In reality, the things you said goodbye too aren’t likely going to return to the same way. It’s the harsh reality of life, and I felt like I had to share my revelation.

BUT! Remember for every goodbye, there’s an equally good “Hello”

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New Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX9

by Jordan McGarry on August 12, 2009

I acquired a second hand camera from my cousin today. She recently got a Digital SLR Camera as a wedding gift and offered to give me her old digital camera for a small fee of $50. I jumped on the deal and forced my mom to pay for it. (Thanks Mom) It’s a pretty old model of camera, but nevertheless I needed a camera to document some adventures for you guys. Thanks Taren for the camera! (I love my family!)

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First Post ~ “Quite the Selection”

by Jordan McGarry on August 7, 2009

Currently: Sitting at my desk at home, listening to “Best I Ever Had – Drake” and telling everyone about my acceptance onto the Blog Squad

Hello world, I am Jordan McGarry. I applied for the UBC Blog Squad within the month of July, and recieved my letter (which was actually an e-mail) of acceptance today! I’m excited to share the upcoming UBC experiences with the rest of you. Today, isn’t really a post about me (but that will come later) but I wanted my first post to be the “example blog post” that I sent in with my application. We were told to choose a topic (out of the three choices) and write an example blog post on it with a limit of 250 words. I chose to write mine about the reasoning behind my decision to attend UBC in the fall. Enjoy, and stay posted on the many upcoming posts to come!

Quite the Selection
University… which one do you pick? The list seems endless: UVIC, SFU, UofT, York, and UBC. But with all these options, how can you narrow it down to just ONE?  I’ve spent countless hours with my High School Counsellor, just looking at the possibilities for post-secondary life. Together we looked at the Pros and Cons of every University, and how it would fit into my life. From there, that list of options grew smaller and smaller, until finally… just one remained. The University of British Columbia, the school I would fight to attend with all my willpower. But why UBC you ask? It’s simple; it’s the only school for me. From the many clubs, the renowned Profs, the beautiful location, and its closeness to home… it was only right that I chose this wonderful school. But ultimately, it came down to the persuasive banter of my cousin, who already attends UBC that lead me to really want to attend. We would stay up until 2a.m. talking about all the good times that we would have if we went to the same school. We would hang out in between classes, cram for exams together, and take thousands of pictures on campus. Quite frankly, she pretty much gave me no other option, I had to attend UBC. In the end, I appreciate her convincing nature, because if I didn’t listen to a word she said, I wouldn’t be attending one of the best Universities in the world, this coming September.

Hope you enjoyed my “UBC Blog Squad” Spot winning post. Stay tuned for many more to come.

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