Monthly Archives: November 2013

11/29/13

That Time I Embarassed Myself in front of the Rowing Team

The story begins with me just walking along on campus and minding my own business one afternoon….

A girl hands me a bookmark-thing with some info about UBC Rowing and their upcoming info session. I look at her and her partner. Both are tall and incredibly fit. She asks if I’d be interested in joining rowing?

I ask her three questions:

  1. Do you have to know how to swim?
  2. Do you have to have tried rowing before?
  3. Do you have to be really ripped?

I’m sure it is clear to you, that with the kinds of questions I was asking, I probably shouldn’t have even tried. But she answers no to all three so I accept the bookmark. For a week I’m thinking, yeah Rowing! Why not? Maybe I can do this.

I go to the info session. Some of the coaches are there and they talk about how cool it is that rowing is a sport you can enter at such a late age. How it’ll make you fit. How you could even go the Summer Games.

UBC Rowing has a development team that you can try out for, the goal being that if you make it, they’ll develop you into an athlete worthy of the varsity team in a year or two.

Turns out, this is what I was trying out for. On tryout day, I show up late because my Grandpa calls while I’m walking there to see how I’m settling in at university. (And you can’t just hang up on your grandpa). Oh and to top it all off, I’m feeling absolutely horrible. I had a doctor’s appointment the day before to deal with my suspicions of having tonsillitis and just generally feeling awful. I had emailed the coach the night before to explain what was up but I was still going to give it my all.

…

The tryout is in two parts: an “erg” test and a run (I think it’s 2k.). The first part is to test our power on the ergometers (rowing machines). I do alright.The run is obviously a fitness test.

Before coming to UBC, I played soccer for two seasons. Before that I played on other sports teams and did cheer for a couple years. All this is to illustrate that I am an active person. I hate exercise for the sake of exercise (the gym looks like hell), but I love doing my favorite activities like biking and playing soccer. However, once I was here, I didn’t feel like I had enough time or was good enough to join a REC team. I didn’t have the money to sign up for a dance class and as I mentioned the gym looks wholly unappealing to me.

I don’t realize  the effect of all this until I’m about 1 minute into the 2k run. ONE MINUTE! My shins hurt for some reason (I actually think I might have shin splints) . And my arms are killing me which might be from the erg test earlier. Parts of me that have never hurt while exercising before are deciding now is a good time to ruin my life. The more I run, the more I realize I really can’t do this. People keep passing me. My lungs are only barely recovered after being so sick for weeks. To exaggerate a little bit,  I’m dying.

I realize now that I should have just recovered during my recovery period instead of you know, trying out for a new college-level sport.

I come in last.

No one says anything.

I get an email the day after. My name isn’t on the list.

Probably one of the most humiliating things I’ve done since moving away from home. Would I do it again? Yes.

Why?

Because I think we all need a little failure in our lives. Success just feels so much better afterwards.

11/19/13

On Finding Faith & Friends (Part 2)

To pick up this story where I left off:

“Going to that BBQ set in motion a chain of events that leads me to today, many friends richer and a lot less lonely.”

At the BBQ, I can remember thinking that the people at this club were a little weird. They were all so happy, which was weird for me because to say that my emotions are a little understated would be an understatement. The club execs were friendly and welcoming which helped because this was the first time in a long time where I was surrounded by people I didn’t know and had to do things like making small talk.

Afterwards, C*, my roommate, and I discussed with each other how much we enjoyed the BBQ and the people. It’s hard to remember what happened next. I signed up for their mailing list and that’s how I heard about “Core”. Core groups are small groups (well, ours has like 18 people) led by senior students that meet weekly in every residence and do things like Bible study, praying and eating yummy snacks together. I put my name down for the appropriate Core. They happened to be meeting in my floor lounge.

Have you ever met someone and just know that you’d be great friends or maybe something more?

Well as soon as I sat down for that first Core meeting and the group (mostly first-years too) started introducing themselves, I just knew  that these women would become friends of mine. And that’s exactly what happened. Core for us has gone beyond just a weekly Bible-reading/snackage sesh. People from the UCM club at large often comment on how cool it is that our Core actually hangs out outside of events; we do stuff like getting waffles, exploring the beach and going to church together. And UCM has helped me meet even more people outside of Core.

Best of all, my faith has been transformed more in these two-ish months than the last 17 years of my life.

I am so glad I made the spontaneous choice to check out their both two months ago. One of those women actually became my Core leader which was an interesting twist. Everyone always says that to make new friends in a new place, you should just join. I totally agree. If you’re struggling to find your people, or even if you’ve already got a ton of friends, join! Join clubs, join stuff you’re interested in, join clubs doing things you’ve never heard of! I know it can be scary at first because you don’t know anyone, but somewhere along the way, you’ll look around and realize that actually you do know them. If you’re surrounded by people who are automatically interested in the same things you are, or even if they’re not, you guys have already got something to talk about.

So go for it.

 

*We’re gonna call her C from now on, k? Cuz I don’t feel like it’s very nice to use her full name on the very public Internets without her express permission.

11/19/13

On Finding Faith & Friends (Part 1)

In my first few weeks at school here, I realized that I had a problem: I didn’t know what to do with myself on the weekends.

In high school, I went to school Mon-Fri and came home on evenings and weekends. Now, I actually LIVE at school, which sometimes makes it feel like school and school work is inescapable. All the stuff I used to do to have fun during my free time was gone. My friends are spread around the country now and my family is back home along with my bike. I can’t go for long rides around my neighbourhood anymore. I can’t call up my best friends and go see a movie or just hang out together and I can’t just do something spontaneous with my little brother and sister.

When this hit me during the first couple of weeks, it was a little depressing. Sure, I went out to some of the fun events planned like AMS Firstweek and stuff like that. But while lost in the crowd at Paint Party, I realized it just wasn’t the same going out without my wingwomen, the girls who had been by my side for years. So I kinda stopped going out and just did homework on the weekends, especially as the pace was picking up in my classes.

I was lonely and for the first time I can really remember, I had to put effort into making friends. I’m glad that I have a roommate, otherwise I probably would have spent even more of my time with myself. Sometimes it feels like I only exist within the four walls of my dorm room. I can spend almost full days there, especially when studying for midterms and such.

Now to cut off this mopey monologue before it gets any sadder, I should tell you that there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

One day during the first week of September I happened to be walking along East Mall near the bookstore. I looked over and saw a couple girls standing at a table looking friendly. They probably had a sign announcing the club they represented, I can’t remember anymore. Without really thinking about it, I decided to cross the street and hear what they had to say.

That was probably the best decision I’ve made since coming to university.

Before I moved to the campus, I knew that I wanted to get connected with a Christian community. At Imagine Day, I had gone to most of the Christian clubs’ booths, but none of them felt right, so I was a little discouraged. When I stopped at these girls’ booth that day, I found out that they represented University Christian Ministry.

They were friendly, one of them complemented the purple in my hair (that might have a little something to do with why I liked them so much) and after talking about churches in the area they told me they were having a free BBQ that Friday. I decided to go because, why not? It was free and I’d meet some people. It turns out that my roommate was going too, and I think that might’ve been how I found out she was also a Christian. Going to that BBQ set in motion a chain of events that leads me to today, many friends richer and a lot less lonely.

That journey will be covered in Part 2, so stay tuned…

Liz

11/15/13

Feeling Like Myself Again

You know what man? University changes you.

I realize that’s stating the obvious, but after two rounds of midterms, case projects and a term paper, I am allowed to do that.

I’ve always considered myself someone who had it fairly together. But this last stressful month has made me realize that, nope, I don’t have it all together. Because, someone who was on top of things definitely wouldn’t start studying for their first math midterm the weekend before the exam.

I guess I was “lucky”; I only had three midterms this time around. But trying to juggle studying + other schoolwork + outside commitments made me realize just how important managing your mental health is, especially because it also affects your physical health. Noticing the onset of a Freshman Five was not a happy experience but it did wake me up a little to the reality that not exercising, all-nighters and constant anxiety will eventually catch up to you.

So lately, I’ve been trying to do positive things like starting homework earlier and taking the stairs (not just for the health benefits –I live on the sixth floor, this is serious business — but also because my house is totally going to win Aim to Sustain!). And yesterday, I finally felt like myself again. I’m not the old me, but I’d like to think that’s a good thing now.