So the first week of my university adventure has officially ended.
I survived, I enjoyed it immensely, but I also think I definitely lost some part of my sanity along the way (who needs that anyways). After experiencing the wild ride that is September 6, 2016 to September 9, 2016, I decided it’s time to reflect on the happenings of my first week as an UBC student!
I may or may not also be writing this blog post because I want to ignore all the pre-readings I have to do by Monday. I’m off to a great start aren’t I 😀
Day 1: (September 6th, Imagine Day)
For Imagine Day, I was assigned to Squad 74, to a group called Schrodinger. After I finally located my group, I was mildly disappointed that there wasn’t a cat drawn on it. Our group leader said that no one would get it if we drew a cat next to the word Schrodinger. (seriously? you get it, right? CAT, SCHRODINGER, COME ON) After I got over my initial disappointment of over the sign, I found that all my group members were very friendly and nice and easy to talk to. (Shout out to Schrodinger, thank you for being awesome)
After we met up and assembled our Imagine groups, we were herded towards the Doug Mitchell Arena to meet our dean and our SUS (Science Undergrad Society) Team.
Despite living here for 5+ years since this center was built, I have never stepped foot inside the main arena. Upbeat music was playing, coloured lights flooded the crowd, and a sea of my fellow science classmates sat and chattered in this huge space. I thought the whole display way really exciting to be a part of.
The Dean of Science gave his speech, and we then were taught the cheer for the Faculty of Science. Our Imagine leader said that the cheer will never be brought up after this one day, so I plan to take his word for it and have already forgotten it. (I’m sorry I know my team spirit is sub-par at this moment D:)
After our assembly-like gathering ended, we were then led to the West Mall Swing Space to meet a professor.
We gathered in room 222, which conveniently is also where I take BIOL 121, to meet Professor Steven Wolfman, a really really cool Computer Science prof. By cool I mean he sang a whole Disney’s Aladdin parody duet about uni all by himself and loves Hearthstone. Cool enough to make me almost want to take a computer science course just to be in his class. ( emphasize on almost.)
After our audience with Professor Wolfman we then were let out to explore the campus in our groups. Our team leader took us to the plaza between the UBC Bookstore and the Nest, where the bustle of people setting up booths for Imagine Day or simply busying here and there was well underway.
The SUS had set up a cotton candy booth, and we made a beeline for that. I thought the colour was very befitting of our faculty colour, and blue is also my favorite colour, and I haven’t had cotton candy in forever, so I really enjoyed that even more 😀
We each got a Subway sandwich for lunch, (I chose turkey), and there were people walking around with coolers handing out RedBull and power drinks left and right. I personally don’t drink power drinks, but I still thought that was pretty awesome to see.
The Abdhul Ladha building, which is the building for science undergrads, was just around the corner, so we went inside for a tour. The interior of the building was relatively modern and quite cozy with lots of space, and I think it’s a really cool space for science students to go to. (But then again I’ve never seen the other undergrad buildings so I have no idea what the science building is up against :D) There tons of activities going on inside, and I got popcorn and a SUS sticker.
There was a foosball(?) table on the third floor, which was a pleasant surprise.
At around 1:30 in the afternoon, after we spent more time walking around browsing the bombardment of clubs and booths (and got free stuff!), we went back to the Doug Mitchell Arena for the pep rally. This time, ALL the faculties were there, which was quite an astounding sight to see. 
We came in quite late which meant we were assigned to sit in the actual hockey rink part of the stadium, at the very back D: Time to add one point to the long long list of time I wished I was taller. I could still see fairly well though, despite all the heads everywhere. The atmosphere was pumped up more than ever, each faculty screaming out their cheers as the MC hyped everyone up. After the arena was absolutely PACKED, the procession of all the faculty deans/faculty student presidents and chancellors filed in to Darth Vader’s theme song. (star wars is always welcome)
It was during the pep rally that the UBC president, Santa Ono made his debut. I will say that Professor Ono is the coolest university president/vice-chancellor I have ever met. Sure I have only met one, but still, I like him very much. Which other president gives a private cello concert alongside an amazing guitarist the first day on the job? The UBC president does~
So that happened.
I also learned that our admission average for this year was 90.4%. No pressure at all right? UBC is slightly terrifying.
After the pep rally we were allowed to explore Imagine Day by ourselves. 
What welcomed us was an onslaught of people and sights and sounds and colours and everything. There were recruiting clubs everywhere, and upbeat energy to spare. Amid all this chaos and excitement, I joined a few clubs and met some new people (Being socially awkward, I felt proud of myself for succeeding in making new acquaintances. All is left is to do is to hope that they didn’t think I was too weird and don’t want to talk to me ever again..)
Somehow along the way, I remembered that I had to go home. Collapsed on the sofa, I felt drained but buzzed at the same time. My first day of uni was over!! At the end of the day, I had a few more Facebook friends, a few more pamphlets and free things, and a growing anticipation(and dread) for my first day of classes the next day. All in all, I quite enjoyed my first day of being a uni student. (well there was none of the actual school part of it involved so SURE I would enjoy it 😀 )
Imagine day came to an end successfully, and thus begins the actual learning part, which I will talk about in another post. Trust me, I have A LOT to talk about for that…
Before that, I have to go finish my 3 pre-readings I need for Monday 🙁 (helpme)
First Week Adventures to be continued…
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