Category Archives: rezlife

9 to 5

Posted on by under Involvement, rezlife, Sauder

So…I finally got around to making a home page for my blog! Unfortunately WordPress doesn’t offer much in terms of customization and personalization, so the page is a little rudimentary right now but I’m glad my blog is a little bit more ‘me’ now. :)

A few weeks ago I blogged about Dan Moore and his tips for successful studying, one of which included treating every school day as a 9 to 5 work day. I decided to try it out for a week or two – it seemed like a good idea at the time – but I ended up failing. Miserably. Surprisingly, the parts which I thought would be most challenging – the huge time commitment, the lack of breaks, and having to wake up early – were easily overcome with perseverance. The main reason I couldn’t commit to the 9 to 5 schedule was because there’s just so much more to do during the day. I’m not talking about napping or snacking or catching up with friends (okay…maybe a little bit of napping) – there are so many events going on during the day that I feel like I’m missing out on if I’m studying, like careers workshops and visiting speakers and case competitions.

Speaking of case competitions, Sauder is hosting UBC’s first global case competition, the Sauder Summit, next week. For those of you who don’t know what a case competition is, teams are given a case study on a business and prepare and present their solutions and recommendations to a panel of judges and an audience. I’m ridiculously excited for Sauder Summit – students from 12 international universities are visiting, and watching case competitions is always great for developing your presentation skills. If y’all want to find out more, we have a Facebook page, or you can buy tickets for only $5 (and despite what the name suggests, the event is open to all faculties!)

Another upcoming event I’m excited for is Place Vanier’s Musical: coincidentally, this year’s production is 9 to 5 with music and lyrics by the legendary Dolly Parton. I adore watching musicals, and I’m sure the cast and crew have been working 9 to 5 to make this production absolutely amazing! The show runs from March 7th to 9th, and you can buy tickets at the door of Vanier’s Ballroom for only $7!

I could go on and on about the various involvement opportunities and events around campus, but this post would probably end up being 90000 words and, unfortunately, even though I didn’t succeed in my plan to study from 9 to 5 I do still have some studying to do.

DFTBA,
Olivia

 

TUNES:

Big Jet Plane – Angus & Julia Stone
Blood – The Middle East
Tongue Tied – Grouplove
All These Things That I’ve Done – The Killers
Demons – Imagine Dragons
Holocene – Bon Iver

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Beauty Night Society

Posted on by under Involvement, rezlife

HAPPY (VERY BELATED) NEW YEAR! Looking over my blog, I’m ashamed to see that I’ve made fewer than ten posts so far. I’ve been so busy on this huge adventure at UBC that I’ve forgotten to take a break once in a while and actually document it, so one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make at least ten more posts before the end of April!

Last Tuesday night, I visited Downtown Eastside for the first time. Having grown up in one of the ‘safest’ cities in the world, it was a completely new experience for me to see entire streets lined with homeless people. Even though I wasn’t there alone – my RA, Desiree, was there with a huge group of residents – I still felt slightly nervous. We were there to volunteer at Beauty Night Society, an organization which offers free services like makeovers, healthcare and personal development to women living in poverty.

Three other volunteers and I were assigned to give the women hand massages, something which none of us had ever done before. Luckily, the beauty of Beauty Night is that the volunteers don’t need to be professional makeup artists or masseuses: its main objective is to improve the women’s self esteem and self respect by treating them just like one should treat any other human being, with care and respect. Talking to the women at the shelter was an extremely valuable and eye-opening experience for me. There’s such a strong negative stigma surrounding addicts and the homeless; people on buses, trains, even on streets, often tend to avert their eyes or edge away from homeless people. Some people openly mock them or call them “scary” or “weird”. As one of my friends said, addicts are people too, and they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

Don’t forget to be awesome,

Olivia

PS: Those who want to get involved with Beauty Night Society can easily do so – you can visit their website for more information, and attend a mandatory orientation (the next one is on January 27th). There are also plenty of other volunteering opportunities both on campus and around Vancouver – and, if you live on rez, you could talk to your RA about organizing a volunteer group for your house, as our lovely RA Desiree did.

 

 

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click your heels together three times

Posted on by under rezlife

I’ve been away from home for nearly two whole months now, and it’s finally hitting me: I’m incredibly homesick.

 

It’s strange, because I love UBC and it feels like my second home (well, third; Disneyland is second) but I can’t help but miss Hong Kong. I miss my parents, even my mum’s endless nagging; I miss the home-cooked food, I miss my crazy friends, I miss my bed, I miss McDonalds delivery – can you believe most places here don’t deliver, at least not for free? – and sometimes I even miss the ridiculous heat and humidity. Sometimes.  And it doesn’t help that a few days ago, Disneyland sent me an email inviting me to spend my 18th birthday there. What, adulthood? What is that, some kind of weird disease?

Luckily, despite my debilitating homesickness, I feel like I’ve found a new home here. I’m so grateful that I live on res and have found a super awesome group of friends who feel like family. Living on res is extremely fun (shoutout to the nunnery aka Kootenay) even if it does mean you probably don’t get to see your family as much. Somehow, all the spooning, the jam sessions with Titch, the 2am walks to Mcdonalds – on a Monday night – and the nightly Chubbard’s runs are all cures for homesickness.

The key to curing homesickness is to get involved. You only get as much as you put in – so if you’re feeling homesick, don’t just spend all your time Skyping or calling your family and friends who live 6000 miles away, as tempting as that may seem. Vanier and Totem provide lots of opportunities for involvement, like the ongoing Sock Wars, floor/house dinners and sports like Ultimate. If you treat UBC like your new home, with your new friends who feel like your new family, it’s hard to be homesick – because you’re already home. :)

пока! (That’s Russian for see you later, or so my friend tells me!)

Olivia

P.S. I felt like giving some music recommendations this week (notice the optimistic assumption that I’m going to make a post every week) so here they are

TUNES: 

From Finner – Of Monsters and Men
Adulthood – Jukebox the Ghost
Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
Mercy – Yeezy
93 Million Miles – Jason Mraz
Chicago – Sufjan Stevens

 

 

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