Being a Geologist

I’m on my way to become a geologist, not sure yet if I am treading in the right direction,but , the point is- studying about rocks actually has affected my life.

– I wrote apatite ( this mineral that makes up your teeth ) instead of appetite on one my blog drafts. And I didn’t even bother correcting it. Okay, I did ultimately.

– While waiting for my ever delayed company to meet me at a spot, I find my self looking at rocks, identifying minerals in them and wishing I had my hand-lens (something my Mineralogy prof said I will feel and I was like “No. I’m not a keener”).

– My roommate is a big mountaineer and collects cool looking rocks on her various expeditions. When she’s not home and I am incredibly bored ( but not as bored I would like to think I would like to be ) I look through her collection trying to identify what rock it is.

– Using my hand-lens to clean nails. Oh yeah, its so effective.

– Everyone in my class jumped off a mountain and landed there. They are so fit, it explains why Indians never win any Olympic medals. Well all this shamed me into swimming and doing yoga again. I need to keep up with this bunch on field trips somehow.

– I have flashbacks of when me and my sister picked out pretty rocks at my farm when we were young. I think these flashbacks are like some sort of coping mechanism to my sudden questioning to my goals and dreams of being a geologist.

-I look at cracks on the pavement and think of fractures of the minerals in thin section.

Cracks on the street

 

Curtsy -http://www.urbanaviatrix.com/

Minerals in thin section under a microscope

Curtsy- http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/mineralogy/optical_mineralogy_petrography.html

okay that’s it for now. Hope everyone’s having a super summer!

Finals: What should I eat ?

It’s finals time. My work out level is at an all time low (I don’t even walk to class anymore) and my appetite is at an all time high. Now I have to find a way to stop that waistline from reaching at all time high too. And don’t I have a solution!

1) Eat Five Times A Day– Rather than having 3 massive meals and still munching on something in between because you have nothing else to do, how about you keep munching a little something the entire day. Snack on fruits, bread, strawberry yogurt to dark chocolate.

2) Trade Sweet treats for fruits – I have a sudden sweet tooth during exams. I want tubs of ice creams, cakes, and pies. BUT NO. I shall buy sweet seedless grapes, bananas, apples and pears instead. They can be just as sweet as cake and much much healthier.

3) Trade Candy For Dark Chocolate– Dark chocolate is just yum. and the best part is even dairy intolerant people can have them. And its healthy and curbs hunger. So why not ?

4) Try Smoothies – Meet 0% fat Greek yogurt, milk, banana, and frozen strawberries. They can be your best friends if you let them. Put them into a blender and tada ! You have yourself a mini, super nutritious, drink and snack. If you’re someone that needs to sip on something while studying then this the best that you can get. And the best part is the more you have of it, the better. You can go ahead and be adventurous by switching the strawberries for peaches or peanut butter too!

5) Nuts And Crackers To The Rescue! – I love munching on stuff when I’m studying. It provides that necessary distraction that allows me to study better. I’ll explain that logic in another blog post maybe. But if you like to munch too and Doritos are your usual go to’s, how about you try buying wholewheat crackers instead. Better yet, go buy nuts. They are expensive, but oh so healthy! (you could maybe trade peanuts for peanut butter if you’re as cheap as I am)

This is an interesting website to visit of you want to make your snacking tastier –

http://www.skinnymom.com/2014/10/03/10-portable-healthy-snacks/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_285952#/1

Side note – I’m going to get so many practice-what-you-preach looks from all the people who know my actual eating habits now..

EOSC 116

This is my tribute to EOSC 116. EOSC 116 is a class about mesozoic earth. It describes the climate, life and plate tectonic process from the beginning of life to now with a main emphasis on the mesozoic period. Its taught by three different professors. Not only that, the professor in charge of this course has a red hot chilli on rate my prof (Dr Stuart Sutherland)  😉

I loved this class, and it was by far my best class in all of first year. I dont really know why I liked it so much. Maybe it was because I did so well in it or maybe because I loved the professor so much ( he’s got a scottish accent and he’s funny, its kinda hard not to love him ) or because I just happen to love the idea of learning about something so much bigger and older than me- Earth. I think it was combination of all those ideas.

Legend has it, there is a course, a course thats just perfect for you. Each and every class of that course will be nothing but pure enlightenment. It will be so interesting that your phone ,for once in your life, takes second priority to the person speaking to you. Going to that class will actually be like a wonderful one hour of escape from your everyday boring sad life. When the professor wraps up for the day you genuinely don’t want him to stop ! Each lecture gives you goosebumps ( the good kind, not the nasty ones that horror movies give you ).  Every moment you spend studying for that course is just as good as moments spent sleeping or having a social life ( yes, its that good a substitute to having fun). You excel at this course with minimal efforts ( oh yes, I got an A+ and I dont know how ). Its the course that gives you a massive and earth-shattering nerdgasm.

Lucky enough I found mine. It was EOSC 116. (To think I actually was going to drop that course :O ). Learning about life way older than the human race itself, and mass extinction events cast this humbling spell on me. During the various showers I have taken in my life I have often wondered “whats the purpose of life and me?” and this course bought me little closer to my answer. Life is old and strong. Just earths older and stronger . If you reduce earth’s 4.5 billion year history to a year then:

Origin of the Earth: January 1

Oxygen appears July 25

First mammals December 15

Dinosaurs extinct December 26

On December 31st:
Sumerian civilization 11:59:19 PM
Fall of Rome 11:59:49 PM
Galileo 11:59:57 PM
Columbus 11:59:57 PM

Cool huh ? Thank my prof for that analogy.

And like amazing professor Stuart hadn’t already done enough to make this course more likable than a dinner with my friends, ( I need to find more interesting friends #ForeverANerd ) he added the perfect end to the course, almost as if he was poetically and passionately ending a beloved story. We ended with carl sagan’s speech on the pale blue dot. I had tears in my eyes… well not really, but my EOSC 116 end-of-class-clap was the most sincere and loudest of claps.

Here’s a meme on the pale blue dot to cool things down and let your neuron activity subside to the level of normal internet surfing again. “LOL” #Imsocool ( its okay if you say “not”) 😀

What is Family Day for An International Student ?

That’s an easy question – UBC and all of its wonderful people.

My friends are my family now. We support each other, eat our meals together, finish homework together, study together, go for movies together and will continue doing that for the next 4 years.

Much to my surprise I did not get homesick at ALL today. In fact my biggest joy was when one of friends send me a message- ” Have you had brunch yet ?”.

So, here is a big shout-out to my UBC family.

Happy Family Day 😀

My form of Procrastination

My form of procrastination.

Maybe its procrastination or just inability. I have a chem midterm next Friday. And I can’t, I just can’t do it. I cannot pick up that huge book and start. Chem, just isn’t my thing.

So what do I do?

-Sleep for 3 hours straight in bright day light.

-Plan completely spontaneous movie nights which go on till 2 in the morning.

-Explore about 2 dozen playlists on 8 tracks.

-Pick up a book and read.

-Look out the window during sunset. Click photographes ( post them on blogsquad )

UBC Sunsets

I wish I could keep doing this forever. Sitting and looking out. And if I continue, most probably that’s all I’ll ever be doing.

Wait I don’t want to be doing that for the rest of my life. But I also do not want to pick up that book and study.

*insert infinity loop here ( Go back to the top ) *

 

Happy Note

My last few posts haven’t been happy happy, so I bring to you this – A happy post, about studying ! Its a paradoxical statement, I know.

Vancouver weather, according to a certain parent, is study weather. It isn’t bright ,sunny warm and trying to lure you outside. Instead its rainy, grey and cold. Pretty much forcing you to look into your books.

So my idea is to take advantage of this weather and make my own little study heaven in my humble dorm room that is as old as Edward Cullen. ( I am NOT trying to promote twilight here, I don’t even like it. Its just no other simile would pop into my head ) —

The sound of soft pitter-patter of rain coming from your slightly opened window combined with ice cream and warm soft coats ( yes they exist ) is a perfect setting to study.

Add John Mayer playing in the background, maybe some fairy lights and a cup of warm green tea.

Ahh, लाजवाब ! ( that’s Hindi for “matchless”, as said by google translate. Pronounced – Lā-ja-vāb. Yeah, Im Indian..thought I’d bring a little culture in )

Drop a textbook into the scene and you are set to have a beautiful, “matchless”, calm study evening.

Happy Studying 🙂

The I-Dont-Want-To-Do-Anything Phase

I just went through the I-Dont-Want-To-Do-Anything phase. Yes, right before the finals week. Its not nice.

Your brain stops working.

When you stare at a textbook, all you see is shapes and symbols that invoke the doodler in you to start doodling.

You start churning out soulful and deep poems on the sides of your notes and textbooks.

You get angry at extremely trivial things and end up holding petty grudges against your friends.

You sleep a whole lot then you usually would. and also your dreams get more vivid and weird.

You spend a whole lot of time with heavy eyes listening to music.

Yup, that pretty much surmises my weekend. I even tried to do something i loved. But no, nothing wants to work. Ultimately Doctor Mum had to step in. She forced me to skype her and we spoke. Mindlessly, for hours. And when I hit the red button and looked up, I was happy! I was light at heart. Little less lonely and ready to study again.

So I guess the moral of the story is to Skype your parents more often ( as my mom would like me to say ). But I think its more about finding new ways to de-stress.

TA-DA !

Where should I draw the line?

Today I got my math midterm back. Didn’t do well but I expected that. I passed and that’s great! My consolation was that I did much better on my first midterm than the rest of the class so my second midterm levels it out and my grade is still at around class average. Which I am fine with. Also not doing well meant I would twice as hard for my final. My self-confidence remained stable.

Another friend in class asked me my grade. I told him. And his reaction is what lead me to write this post. He was shocked. He actually though I was kidding about my grade. He wondered how I could such a low grade when I actually helped solve some questions before. Yeah, sounds overwhelming right? So you can imagine what effect these words had on my confidence. I started believing what he said. I started questioning my ability and my work regime. My confidence plummeted and my stress levels went up.

By the time I was walking back home at 5, I was listening to sad songs and glooming over how I’m wasting my parent’s money. Finally a little voice in my head spoke- “Don’t let his words affect you “. Should I? Or should I not? Because I actually did not study too well for the test. I did not give it my best. I should have been more responsible. But then again, his words brought down my self-confidence.

So my question is where should I draw the line? Whose words and what words do I take into consideration. And to what extent should they affect me? I would normally listen to my family but now I am at university, away from home. I have a new makeshift family now- my friends. So is anyone willing to answer?

Common Courtesy

When i walk down the halls and someone carrying a heavy pile of books loses balance and right in front of me, i go ahead and help pick the books.

When I open the door I look behind and hold the door for someone even if they are a few steps behind me whenever I can.

I give my seat up when someone who requires priority appears on a bus.

When I encounter that awkward moment when someone else and I grab for the same thing, I let the other person go first.

When im waiting for the elevator with a couple of other people, i let them go in first when the lift arrives.

These are just tiny things that give me joy doing, because after a really long and bad day when a stranger does something like this for you, you feel a tad bit better and the day seems a tad bit less deary.

And well, the circle of life or ” karma” gave me return gift. I had a pretty bad day yesterday and while I went for the tray at the caf someone else reached for it as well. I said sorry and moved away but then he said “oh no no, you go ahead ! ” with a bright smile and i dont know why but that hit me. Maybe its because i don’t get such treats everyday and after that shitty day, that little bit of kindness made me warm again 🙂

I had also happened to be pretty ill so I couldn’t meet a friend to help him with his homework. Want to know what he did instead of cribbing ? he came over and tucked me in bed like my mom would when i was ill back home. Sweetness 🙂

Its these tiny things that instilled my faith in performing acts of common courtesy. Thank you for that 🙂 And please don’t stop doing them, because in this community we live in right now, a little kindness goes long way to help others feel better !