The start of a dream; the start of a new beginning.

I remember, almost a year ago when I first discovered the blog squad. It was the time when our grade guidance counsellors were throwing advice and facts in our faces, getting us prepped and pumped for university. It’s crazy sitting in front of my lappy writing on the blog myself. Lets see if I can fill these shoes.

So back to my story. The whole grade started the crazy university research, tried deciphering the course codes, determining requirements, etc. What made me different then the vast majority, was my real choice; Beautiful British Columbia. As it turns out, it’s because of my sister, that I discovered the province. She moved to Vancouver about 6 years ago, and in turn, it was inevitable that I visited.

I remember exactly when it happened. It was grade 9, it was both me and my mom’s first time flying out to visit Marlena (sister) after her move. They decided it would be a great experience if we travelled around, namely Tofino and Whistler. It was in August, and the first day we did some shopping on broadway and hung out at kit’s beach. Me and my mom were definitely noticing that we weren’t in Hamilton Ontario anymore. Next on the agenda was the island! We rented this cute little cottage for a few nights, and my brother in law Andy decided to take me surfing. The heart strings were being seriously pulled at this point. I remember the four of us all took a walk along the beach. The tide was up, and the waves were gently crashing, the moonlight and stars were shining, and the rocky edges and peaks of the shore perfectly framed it all. Looking back at the beauty, the serenity, and then noticing the giant smile on my face 5 minutes later, made the gears click into love mode. I knew I wanted to make British Columbia a part of my future. Whistler was like the icing on the cake. Taking the gondola to the ‘Peak to Peak’ station was nothing short of insanity, in the good way. Looking around at all the towering mountains made me want to whip out my camera and take postcard photos. But really, how can you not appreciate that?

Time to fast forward a bit. In the course of the next 3 years more university research was done, I visited a few more times to whistler, and explored the city. (If you’ve never been the Vancouver aquarium or planetarium, I INSIST you do so. It’ll make your day). Oh, and I discovered the University of British Columbia *cheers and  whistles*.

December 2008 was when I applied to UBC. Disbelief and anxiety from the parents, excitement and optimistism from me. Fast forwarding like 5 months, I got to choose from the follow schools. Beside it is also the reason why I declined the offer.

Lakehead Univerrsity (Thunder Bay) – Doesn’t have the highest rep, 2 hour PLANE ride from home!

Brock University (St.Catherines) – Nothing special, your average Joe school. I’d rather not commute either.

York University (Toronto) – Considered, but not a fan of the campus. It looks like a giant city made of steel. Homey.

University of Toronto (duh) – Strongly considered. Great residences, awesome programs. It’s just not BC though.

University of Victoria (Victoria) – It was scary how close I came to accepting the offer. Beautiful campus, beautiful town, decent dorms. But a ferry ride away from the only family I had in the province.

Vancouver Island University (Nanaimo) – Never visited, so cant comment much. But it was still a ferry ride away.

University of British Columbia (Vancouver) – Among the giant novel written above the school’s list, it was closest to my sister, I was most familiar with it, and it was my first choice from the start.

I really didn’t mean to write this much. But blogging isn’t you’re average formal writing. I write what comes to mind, then branch of any ideas that may be thought of. The plan was to write this giant entry on how UBC came into my life, what I feel about it now, less then 3 weeks before moving out, and why I’m sticking to the plan, just more in depth.

Its already past midnight and I have an opening shift in the morning at work, whoo! So I hope you enjoy this first entry, and you stay tuned for the other two parts of this blog. Oh, and maybe an introduction? I probably could have started with that instead. Alwell.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave any, creep me on facebook, or even add/email me at mark.antczak@hotmail.com.

Night! And blog ya later. :]