The Summer So Far…

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Vincent

This summer has actually been much nicer than I was expecting. Apparently this year, there’s been quite a bit less rain than usual, so my love of rain hasn’t been destroyed yet. Rain for daaaaaays.

So, it’s currently the middle of summer and I just (and many other people taking Term 1 summer courses) finished my Term 1 final! I’m taking sociology right now, and it’s actually quite interesting. If you’re interested in learning about the workings of society and “un-obvious” facts and trends in our society, I would definitely recommend taking SOCI 100A/B/C. It’s a 100-level course, so we’ve been covering a large breadth of topics like work, education, family, and social inequality. Definitely take this class if you’re interested in these topics.

On another note, rising 2nd year students in the Faculty of Science have just recently heard back on what specialization they were accepted into based on the centralized second year application. Congratulations to everyone that got into one of their chosen specializations, and of course, good luck to those that did not get into one of your preferred specializations – I hope things work out for you! I’m super excited for this coming year even though my prospective timetable looks super busy. But 3rd year students (and 1st year students who still haven’t registered), pleeeeeaaaaaasssseeee have mercy on us second years. I’ll give everyone imaginary Blue Chip Cookies! Pretty please? :3

To first year students: congrats on having registered for university classes for the first time! It’s definitely intimidating and you may feel like your timetable isn’t exactly how you’d like it, but I guarantee that once classes start, you’ll have a blast. There’s Imagine Day and then there’s Clubs Days and a ton of opportunities for you to settle down and get involved in the UBC community. Try not to overload yourself, especially in your first term, because it’ll just make the transition harder, but also, don’t be afraid to branch out and discover new interests and passions! This is one of the best times in your life to find what you’re passionate about, so don’t waste it!

Overall, everything is going pretty well – I hope everyone else out there is having a great summer! I can’t wait to see everyone again in September :3

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Wait… it’s already been a year!?

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Vincent

WOAH. Apparently I haven’t blogged for a while… Sorry everyone! I’ve been much busier than I initially anticipated, even though I’m technically taking 3 less credits this term. I guess Science One has ramped up without me noticing. But midterm season is mostly over (I still have one next Tuesday!), so things are calming down a little bit. That’s good. Kind of. Not really. Nope. Well kind of. Science One has a big research project due soon, but I found the entire process great for us aspiring scientists, and it was pretty inspirational, to be honest.

But anyways… enough about me!

I thought I would take the time to congratulate everyone that’s been accepted to UBC for next year! I still remember last year when I was accepted. Honestly, it was one of the best feelings. But looking back a year ago, it seems like it was yesterday. This year has gone by so quickly, it’s crazy. But here’s some advice for those who were accepted to UBC (or those who are still waiting!):

1) Take your time deciding where to go to university, especially if you’ve applied to more than one place! It’s always nice to let the acceptance sink in and just marvel at what you’ve accomplished. Of course, I’m all for deciding to come to UBC, but you should take your time! 🙂 Consider all of the factors that might go into deciding what university you ultimately plan to attend (like distance from home, costs, logistics).

2) If you’re still waiting, don’t worry about it. Admissions is always working very hard to get your decision out to you as soon as possible, and they will definitely let you know as soon as they’ve decided. They do have to read a ton of personal statements as well, along with entering everything into their databases.

Well… looks like I just gave some pretty general advice, but they are things to think about.

Now, if you’ve already accepted your offer to attend UBC, you’ll have to think about living in residence (unless you already had to apply for that, haha). Living in rez is definitely an experience I would recommend to anyone that was thinking about it. You get to make some new friends pretty quickly and you’ll always have your own little space to come back to everyday. And you get to sleep in a little later too! It’s pretty great.

Anyways, enough of my rambling for now… I’m still in denial that clocks had to move ahead one hour, so my brain desperately thinks it’s 12:30 AM, but alas, it isn’t. And I’m not sure why I’m up. But alas. Oh well.

I shall return…. soon. Hopefully. Good luck on making decisions or on waiting (or both!).

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And so it begins… again. TERM 2.

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Vincent

AHHHHHHH. So it begins again… the adventure that is UBC and… term 2. Term 1 was, well, what can I say? A roller coaster of ups and downs pretty much. Completely insane: from meeting some great new friends to spending hours into the night working on problem sets (I’m pretty sure I had to do this most weekends). The last week before exams was especially hectic. I just remember having to prepare for lab finals, oral presentations, and having to write reports, all while making sure that I wasn’t falling asleep in class (which I still accidentally did sometimes anyways… shhhhh).

But now, it’s January and after a nice and refreshing Winter Break, it’s time for four more months of (what will probably be) the same sort of thing. But hey! I’m kind of looking forward to this. I feel like I have a better grasp of what to expect and I seem to be managing my time much better than I used to be (except my accidental 3 hour naps… OOPS). I’m just going to try to… stay this way for the rest of the term and maybe everything will work out a little bit more than it did last term, haha. We’ll see a month or so from now.

I’ve made a few New Years resolutions as well, but I won’t disclose them here… They’re all fairly connected with each other and I think it might be doable (even though I watched a video a few days ago that basically said that all people that try to have and follow through with more than one resolution are doomed…).

Hopefully with my new time management prowess, I can blog more often (than once every 2 months LOL)… I’m considering writing a course review like some other of my fellow bloggers have, but it probably won’t be as useful coming from me (only 2 courses have technically concluded for me so far). Oh well. I’ll think about it.

Until next time! Happy New Year everyone!

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THIS COLD WEATHER

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Vincent

I am seriously freezing right now. My fingers barely have the dexterity to write this post. You can obviously tell that I’m not from Vancouver, haha. Oklahoma’s really dry and mellow weather in the winter really spoiled me. The good thing is… rooms in rez happen to stay warm pretty much all the time. I’m really not sure how that’s happening because I don’t even turn my heat on half the time O_O. It’s very strange, but hey! I’m not complaining.

So, as the term winds down, my body feels this large desire to… relax. I feel like I’ve been running around like a headless chicken for the past 2 months and I just want to take a break before finals begin (I’m SO glad we have about 5 days “off” before finals actually commence). Apparently, my first final exam is on the 4th and my last final is on the 17th. I don’t know whether to complain because I end so late (I know people that will be done on the 5th!!!) or if I should be grateful because it gives me more time to study and such.

Anyways, I guess it’s time for me to skulk back over to my corner and continue finishing homework/projects/lab prep…

LIFE. WHY.

Anyways. I WILL RETURN SOON.

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Midterm Madness

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Vincent

Hey everyone! Wow. It feels like it’s been a month and a half since I’ve last blogged about ANYTHING (oh wait… it’s been two months… shhhhhh). Midterms have been hitting me on the head lately (and they still are!) but I suppose since I’ve written 5 midterms so far, I’d give some advice (even though I’m sure that other blog squad members would be more qualified to do so). 🙂

1. ALWAYS start studying before the day right before your exam. Sounds reasonable and makes sense, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to get yourself to study early… especially with everything else going on.

2. Know how you study the best. It always helps to study with others, but if you feel like you could be more productive studying the privacy of your own room/house, don’t be afraid to turn the study group down. It’s your mark at the end of the day.

3. On the same note as #2, if you feel like you need help, ASK FOR IT. Ask a friend, ask your TA, ask your prof. Make sure you understand it before you sit down to write your exam.

4. Sleep really well the night before the exam, or if you can, throughout the week leading up to your exam. Nothing’s worse than knowing you know the information and not being able to draw upon it because you have a pounding headache or if you’re falling asleep.

5. Stay calm during the midterm. Don’t know the answer to a question and it’s worth 20 marks (out of 40)? Don’t freak out! Clear your mind, write down what you know (usually you’ll get partial credit), and if you still can’t logic your way through a question, skip it and come back. Something later on in the test may jog your memory.

6. Okay, you’ve gotten your mark back for your midterm. And it’s not pretty. Don’t panic! Seriously. Yes, it may have been worth 20% or your grade for the class. But guess what? Your final’s probably worth 50%. Pick yourself up and redeem yourself. Find out what went wrong, talk to your prof or TA to see how you can improve, and keep chugging along. It’s always good to ruminate for a little bit, but don’t let it drag you down for days or weeks at a time (trust me… this is coming from someone who flips out about marks).

7. For the few lucky souls that only have a couple midterms, maybe this won’t apply to you. But for other people that have courses with more than one midterm AND you have more than one midterm a week, don’t despair! Just ration out your time. Don’t neglect other assignments, but certainly don’t neglect those exams.

8. Don’t forget to give yourself a break! The last thing you want to do is to get burnt out in the middle of midterm season. And the LAST memories you’ll want to have of university are of you just studying in your room 24/7. Take a break, get some fresh air, hang out with some people. It’ll all bee good.

That’s all I got for now :3. Got to go and study for a psych midterm on Friday… I’ll post again soon! Promise.

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~Rain~ and MORE RAIN

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Vincent

♫ I’m singing in the rain,
just singing in the rain,
what a glorious feeling,
I’m happy again ♫

 

See, I would feel this elated about the rain… if I didn’t decide to stay inside basically ALL WEEKEND. To all the people that raced at the Day of the Longboat: I’M SO PROUD OF YOU ALL FOR BRAVING THE INSANE AMOUNTS OF RAIN.

I seriously have never felt this good sleeping before in my entire life. It’s insane. I only slept EIGHT HOURS on Friday and Saturday night, but I felt so refreshed <3. Maybe it’s because I kept smashing my phone/alarm against the wall and inadvertently turning it off.

So I ended up sleeping in until noon. So scratch that 8 hours part. It was more like 11 <3.

The bad thing is: I feel like I’m coming down with a cold. So I guess I’ll start sleeping more… ._.

On a happier note, the Place Vanier musical information meeting is tomorrow! AHHHH. Totally can’t wait to learn more about what I can do to help. I would really love to be a backstage manager or play the piano for the musical or SOMETHING. Yesh please.

♫ I walk down the lane,
With a happy refrain,
I’m singing, singing in the rain ♫
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Bamfield!

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Vincent

So, this past week, the entire Science One crew lugged themselves and their 80 pound bags from Vancouver all the way to Vancouver Island to do some research in marine biology. My back will never be the same – I’ve yet to measure my height since coming back, but I’m pretty sure that I lost a couple inches foot over those 4 days.

The trip itself was SO FUN. I never thought I would enjoy being in a fairly remote location for 4 days (besides the Science One crew, I’m pretty sure I only saw 30 other people the entire time we were there), but it was a blast. It was great bonding with friends who will be in class with me for the rest of the year. Except maybe that time when it started POURING while we were on a boat in the middle of an inlet collecting data… that was SO great. It rained so much that my rain jacket failed to stop all of the water from entering my body and my clothes were sopping wet.

On the other hand, I am now currently drowning in work. Noooooooooo. I had to miss one lecture for Science One and I feel so awfully behind right now. Homework+looming midterms+wanting to join clubs+being involved in those clubs that I feel like joining=stressed out Vincent. It’s only Wednesday and I’m so exhausted. WHY CAN’T THE WEEKEND BE HERE.

Even though I seem to be dying from the amount of work I have to do, I can’t say enough about how much I love all of my classes. I never feel like I’m bored (even though I’m dead tired in the morning), and that’s totally a good thing.

<3ing UBC right now. I just can’t wait until midterms are over (But WAIT. Then there’s finals. AHHHHHHHH)

If you can’t tell, I stress myself out a lot for no reason whatsoever :3

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The Beginning of My Journey

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Vincent

HELLO WORLD!

Hi everyone! My name is Vincent and I am in the Faculty of Science. Pleased to meet you all! I guess I’ll start off my Blog Squad-ery by briefly talking about my journey at UBC so far.

Unlike many new bloggers on the Blog Squad (I think), I had the pleasure to be a participant in Jump Start, which is a two-week orientation program for new incoming international students (even though I’m not technically international… shhhhhh). I LOVED it. Words cannot even express my love. I got to meet so many amazing people and to say that it has helped me prepare for the beginning of university studies (as cliché as it sounds).

Then Imagine Day happened. I was pleasantly surprised to be put in a MUG group with a lot of other Science One people (oh hey, did I mention that I’m in Science One as well?) and I got to know them during Imagine Day. It was great knowing some people before class even started. And then the pep rally happened. Wow. That was really hectic, but it was also the highlight of the day for me. Being able to scream out my science pride for an hour nonstop was really great (I’m not even kidding here). Our cheer was super awesome (even though we got booed once for cheering over a speaker) and I got exhausted super quickly, but it was all worth it. Not even kidding. So worth it.

Then, there’s the first week of classes. Of course, being the nerd that I am, I heeded the tips that I got from Jump Start and sat in the VERY FRONT ROW in all of my classes. There are three things I learned:

1) My neck really hurt from staring straight up at the screens where the presentations were being displayed.

2) It made the class seem really small (especially my HUGE psychology class), so that was good.

3) My neck really hurt.

So guess what I did the second week of classes?

I woke up late and I ended up sitting in the front row still because the second-fourth rows were full. But hey, sitting in the front is never a bad thing… I hope. Except for my neck.

So for now, I’ll leave it at that. Until next time, I bid you all adieu!

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