It’s already been one and a half weeks into the new school year, and man, I’ve got to say that UBC is a gorgeous campus. It’s huge, but beautiful (and I find that I lose my breath in-between 10 minutes to get from one class to another) — a drastic change of scenery from SFU (no offense at all). The campus is sprawling, and seeing all of UBC’s classic landmarks in person is an experience to relive; I have never seen so many students walk around!

I wasn’t able to write a Week 1 post — as soon as the first day of classes began I had no downtime whatsoever to sit down (well, I did, but most of my hours were allotted to reading the latest chapter of Anthology of Classical Myth, solving exponential equations and brushing up on chemistry, blegh…with some Facebooking).

My sister and I have three classes together. I know: “sisterly competition” is a bit overrated, if you ask me. The best aspect when we head to the new SUB a.k.a. The Nest is lounging on the awesome bean bag chairs, yet each time we arrive there’s students fighting for space everywhere.

Now, let’s talk about the campus food. Gosh, Pie R Squared is my heaven! I’ve never tasted such savoury gourmet pizzas like theirs before, and at a smashing decent price: $6.50 for two large slices + pop? YAY. I strongly advise people to try the perogie pizza; it runs out quickly because the flavour is that good. They even include mashed potatoes, loads of cheese, green onions, and a super generous helping of perogies on the top!

My sister’s adjusting to university life quite well, but of course, there is no escaping the stress of sitting inside a lecture hall containing 300+ students and feeling like you’re simply a number on some occasions. Otherwise, she’s happy I’m here to ease her into the college vortex.

I almost died yesterday! Was walking to my Calculus tutorial, and this student cyclist barely missed my body by 2-3 cm; I tell you, there was no possible space, except he still managed to whiz past me! Watching endless students cycling (and longboarding and skateboarding) across campus is horrifying — my chest lurched so indescribably when I saw him hurtling towards me, and I swear my life flashed before my eyes. If my sister wasn’t there to pull my sleeve, I may have been injured.

Crossing campus is a dangerous mission that needs to be handled with the utmost care.

Mon signing out.

P.s. I’ll discuss my classes in a later post…I may or may not have two biology assignments to complete before Tuesday next week.

And it’s also Fraternity Day today. Sigma Chi’s table is hard to miss.

One day left. 

*cue gasps*

Went school supply shopping with the family today — and out of all things, I forgot to buy a pencil sharpener.

I bought a big stash of pens and pencils, too. Strangely enough, whether or not you’re still in high school, the same thing happens: I lose more than half of my stuff come January.

Seriously. Please bring your own materials. My wallet begs you. This is another crucial life skill. No one likes to give away 10 pencils and 5 erasers during exams!

My friends get a kick out of reminding me that there’s three days left before school!

Right now I’m making some sweet, creamy coffee. I definitely need it — sinking back into routine. And I find myself waking up at 6am! My body clock probably adjusted on its own due to my back-to-school anxiety. Blegh.

School begins in four days. FOUR. The upside: my sister is starting her first year at UBC, while she has me to guide her through university freshman life. I’m slightly jealous I didn’t have that opportunity. Oh well.

Also, I’m freaking out a little bit. Here’s to another term of expensive books and no sleep and sugary caffeine-loaded coffee and squeezing in Netflix before a major paper’s due.

Super excited for Imagine Day! My friends who got into UBC straight outta high school last year say it’s a blast, with block parties everywhere you look, the smell of burnt, salty barbecue in the air and too many clubs trying to advertise themselves with cheap, makeshift, strange costumes lol. Apparently I shouldn’t miss it, so we’ll see what happens! I’m feeling the back-to-school anxiety — the closer we get to the first day, the more nervous I become; I can’t believe I’m actually setting foot on UBC grounds after being rejected. Of course, Canadian common knowledge tells you that the school is one of the top universities in the country! Really, SFU is not bad (as a former student I can truly vouch for the school that constantly takes second best to UBC; the rivalry may be amusing, and SFU itself is excellent), but we’re talking about UBC’s high global rankings alongside McGill and U of T. Sound intimidating? Yes. 

For ages, my parents have stressed how much they wanted me to uphold our family tradition by attending UBC (typical strict parenting & a lifetime of standards). I’ve seen and heard everything you expect a BC student to know: UBC was the most prestigious, most reputable university in the province — granted, one of the “Ivy Leagues” of Canada (according to countless people) — and receiving a UBC offer was like winning the Olympics plus a guaranteed period of your parents showing off, your relatives spouting pride for you (or hiding envy because their children a.k.a your cousins couldn’t achieve the same thing), and your friends feeling either absolutely ecstatic, vomit-bitter, or both. Eventually this all built up to a point where the pressure was palpable, the competition was extreme, and the fear of failing was 99.999% strong no matter how hard you tried to hide it. Ugh, I hate it. Stay humble.

Anyways, I think the resignation of President Gupta is still pretty relevant. The ‘UBC Scandal’ was very difficult to ignore, and “did you hear about UBC?” grew into a popular icebreaker for weeks. According to the news, almost each person affiliated with UBC kept various open-ended opinions on the matter, but apparently, one thing was clear: he lost a power struggle.

Well, upper years mention that the school is picking up the pieces and ensuring no student, staff member, or human dwells on this. They’re right, I guess. I haven’t seen any signs of university activity dying down, and thousands of UBC students continue to fill the campus.

I have to admit though…everything is quite surreal.

Let’s hope I don’t fall flat on my face!