We’ve all heard this phrase before, and we’re going to hear it a whole lot more, but I thought it was worth repeating.
The school motto — “It’s Yours” and/or “It’s Up to You” — is generally used in conjunction with describing our university education. UBC has a lot to offer its students to those who take the opportunities, and I totally agree. I’ve only had two days of classes and already I’m despairing about how I’ll ever take all the classes I want (the answer is I won’t, not within my limited time here). I’m also despairing about how to fit in all the activities I want to do around classes and reading without my grades dropping (I’m in denial about this one here, and am convincing myself that I can indeed do ten things — don’t burst my bubble, please).
But we don’t just have the opportunities at the UBC campus to pick and choose from: we have the whole of Vancouver, and heck, perhaps even Canada and the world. I’ll just stick with Vancouver for now, though.
On Tuesdays, the Vancouver Art Gallery is entry-by-donation. There’s a Monet to Dali exhibition going on at the minute on the ground floor, and the weirdest Asian art I have ever seen in my life on the second floor. I went with ASSIST a couple of weeks ago and it was great.
If I’ve got this right, Theatresports has a two-for-the-price-of-one special on Wednesday comedy nights over in Granville Island.
A fortnight ago, there were free ballroom/salsa (I can’t tell) dancing lessons in Robson Square on Friday evening, and then a competitive dancing show. I’ve never seen ballroom dancing in person so it was an amazing experience, and permit me a very girly squeal over those beautiful dresses the ladies were wearing! This free dancing apparently goes on every week in the summer but might have ended now.
On the same night we went to watch the ballroom dancing, we went to Kino Cafe and watched a flamenco show. The nachos there are the best I have ever tasted by the way. I used to hate nachos; now I might be addicted.
And I haven’t even started looking at all the shows, performances, activities, and what-not there are. I stumbled upon all these things through other people or through the ASSIST orientation, so I can’t imagine just how much more there will be when I actually start exploring. I could not go to school, have something to do every single day, and still not get to do everything I want to do.
So now I’m also despairing as to how to fit in exploring Vancouver into my already overflowing schedule.
Tuum est. Not just for our university education, but for everything we do all the time, even or perhaps especially after we graduate.
It totally is.
