Post-Secondary Ramblings

I’m dreading the thought of having to wake up early tomorrow and go to school. One week of Reading Break was definitely not enough for me. How did I spend my Reading Break? As the title suggests, I spent it on catching up on work and taking a much needed break.

I really did take full advantage of this break. Coincidentally, Saturday was the Olympic Anniversary celebration, and thus I spent the day (and night) in Downtown/Yaletown. The next few days were rather fuzzy. I do remember spending at least 2 full days watching TV shows/movies on my laptop though. Another day was spent catching up with my high school friends during a lunch outing. Last but not least, I spent not just one, but two days up on the mountains snowboarding. Snow conditions were amazing and I look forward to another day up there.

Now that I think about it, the numbers don’t really add up as I do remember spending a lot of time studying. Maybe I didn’t do as much “reading” as I thought I did. I did however do 2 weeks worth of suggested problems for math and a bunch of chemistry practice problems. Of course, Starbucks having their Tazo Tea Time promotion definitely helped me.

And to end off my break, well, I’m going to be spending my afternoon/evening/night reading for pleasure (:

Admit it. You’ve hopped on the Canucks bandwagon due to how well we’ve been performing (or maybe you hopped off since we just lost 2 of the past 3 games we played). Problem is, the Canucks are playing while you’re still on campus. Panic! What to do?! Don’t worry. I’m in the same situation as my classes end pretty late this semester. I’ve discovered various ways to catch the game in my home away from home.

1. Watch the game in the SUB. I don’t know why UBC thinks that we need HD television, but I don’t mind. When there’s a game on and I’m still on campus, chances are, I’ll be found sitting in my usual spot in the SUB near the TVs. I’m pretty sure most of you know what area I’m talking about, but for those of you who don’t, the TVs are located in the area near Starbucks, on the side closest to the bus loop. The only downside is that there isn’t sound, but hey, I’m always down for HD sports!

2. Stream it on your laptop. An obvious choice for a lot of us would be to watch it on our laptops. However, if you want to stream it through the Canucks site, there’s a fee to pay. Thankfully there are various sites that provide streaming for free. I personally like http://atdhe.net/ but I’ve also heard that http://www.justin.tv/ has streams and possibly http://www.surfthechannel.com/. Downsides of this would be the not-so-great quality and delay. If you want a bonus, head into one of the classrooms/lecture halls and hook it up to a projector. Buchanan has a lot of empty classrooms, and the Victoria Learning Theater in IKB is amazing.

3. Pit Pub and Mahony & Sons. I don’t have this option as I’m still underage, but for those of you who are 19+, this would be a great option. I don’t have much to say about this as I’ve never been to either, but I think it would be safe to assume that it would have a great atmosphere.

4. Old school radio. Team 1040 provides live broadcast every game. Although I don’t think that many of us carry portable radios around anymore, this option still exists!

Go Canucks GO!

Growing up in Vancouver, I still remember waking up when I was in elementary school and seeing white fluffy flakes outside my bedroom window. The first thing that I would do would be to turn on the radio and cross my fingers hoping that school would be closed for a school day. I learned to realize that VSB never closes their schools. Ever snowing day, I would hear the broadcaster list out every single school district, all the private schools, UBC, SFU, but not VSB. I guess you could say I’ve waited 13 years to attend UBC and experience my first school day. Needless to say, I was quite excited this morning! However, I knew from past experience that this was not enough snow for a snow day.

Being a commuter student, the past few days have not been the greatest. I’d have to wake up a bit earlier and put on more layers. However, it was all worth it this morning when I arrived around 7:20 and every step I took on campus was fresh crisp snow. Made my day (:

Here are some ways that I have been dealing with the shivers:

1. A scarf is your best friend. I can’t believe I haven’t had a really warm scarf until recently. It’s unbelievable how much warmer it can be with the addition of a scarf. Not only can it keep your neck warm, you can also tuck your mouth, nose..face in your scarf to keep more parts of your body warm. There are also lots of different ways to wear a scarf so you can experiment with it until you find your favourite style, or try a new one every day!

2. Bring hot tea in a thermos. This serves a dual purpose. First of a hot drink always warms me up on a cold day. There’s nothing better than sipping hot tea inside a frigid lecture hall. The second purpose would be that it keeps your hands warm by holding it. I don’t know about you, but my hands are always cold, thus the warmth of the tea always makes my hand feel great.

3. Wear long underwear. You may be laughing at me and asking who wears that stuff, but hey, it keeps me warm. You probably would not have guessed I wore it either since I wear it under my jeans. Leggings and tights can also work too.

4. Wear a toque! I don’t know if it’s just me, but I find that using an umbrella is just weird. Toque keeps my head really warm too. Like the scarf, it can also be worn fashionably.

I guess that’s all I really have to say for now. I’m really distracted by the white stuff outside. Hopefully I’ll get my long overdue snow day soon!

Don’t you just hate that? I know I do. It’s almost always bad news. Actually, when would you use unfortunately for good news?

I’ve had to deal with rejection on more than one occasion this past week. Of course it wasn’t pleasant, but I can’t say that I felt bad about it either. I’ve been so busy with all my extracurriculars I lost my direction. I found myself applying for everything there was out there that was even remotely interesting to me. Needless to say, a lot of them didn’t turn out as great as they promised to be. That’s why when I received some rejections, I was actually glad I didn’t get the position or I’d end up burning myself out trying to balance everything that I’m involved with. Which kind of makes me wonder why I applied in the first place.

I also tried something new this time around. Instead of getting mad about the rejection email, I actually replied back. I thanked them for their time and asked them for suggestions to make my future applications stronger. I find that having the feedback would not only benefit me by knowing some of my weaker points, but it also shows that I actually cared about my application. Not only that, you kind of get to catch the people off guard, which is kind of fun (:

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Remembrance Day? Poppies, war, veterans, soldiers… Among all of the symbols, images, and things in general linked to Remembrance Day, “a day off from school” would be one of the things that, at least I, think of. Not that I’m a terrible person or anything, but a day off is always enjoyable. As you can see from the lack of updates recently, I have been super busy with many different aspects of my life. This much needed break is definitely something I have been looking forward to. Too bad it’s going to be spent on studying for my midterms next week eh?

Although it’s great to have breaks, it’s also important to remember the significance of the day off. Sometimes I feel that days such as Remembrance Day, Thanksgiving, etc. lose their meaning and people just think of them as a day where they don’t have to go to school/work. Fair enough, but it’s kind of disrespectful to the veterans, and I suppose the day itself. I don’t mean that you have to full out promote the holiday, but for Remembrance Day, at least you can wear a poppy? I was walking around campus and I realized that only about a quarter, maybe even less, wear a poppy. I find it quite saddening.

The other day I was reading an article about the possibility of redesigning the poppy so it appeals to the younger generation more. I like the idea, and it also fixes the problem of poking yourself with your poppy. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that does it annually. Leaving a legacy of peace is another idea that I really like. It builds on the fact that peace is not a one time thing, rather, it is ongoing.

For this Remembrance Day, I urge you to please remember to wear a poppy, and remember those who fought in the war so we don’t have to.

Lest we forget.