I feel that I have been too mean to my Creative Writing class, so here is a great video that our prof. showed us yesterday. It’s This Is My Voice by Shane Koyczan.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHczVzGfyqQ[/youtube]
you have essays!
I have noticed that most of my friends are already in midterms, and wondering why I’m not freaking out about them yet I decided that I had probably forgotten to write down the dates and was going to arrive to class one seemingly normal day and have to sit an exam! So I ran to my course outlines (some online, some scattered around my room) and found out that I only have two midterms and they are not until the end of October.
Why? you might ask… well, as it turns out, I am drowning in essays. So, here are a few notes that I have made up for me to follow:
1. Do not procrastinate. If the essay is due in two weeks maybe it’s because it’s a hard essay.
2. Don’t get discouraged when you reach the second page (out of ten) and you run out of ideas. There has to be another point in the issue, or else you wouldn’t be studying it in class.
3. If you want to take the essay to the writing center, don’t think you’ll be the only one (in a class of 300) to go the day before the essay is due. Believe me, I speak from experience, you will not get a place.
4. If you have three essays to work on, don’t jump from one subject to the next after a few pages of reading. Your TA will not be amused if you do an anthropologic study of a geography piece.
5. Ask your friends!! They are all really smart and have great ideas (at least mine are).
6. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that your class is an easy class just because you don’t have a midterm (unless it’s Creative Writing 202).
7. Good Luck!!!
At home I didn’t really listen to music, just what my sister listened to. Now, to remind me of her I keep playing some of it, even if I don’t get most of it (it’s in french and portuguese) :)
I hope you guys like it!!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBoTRF2aK4s[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIuyVAXvf1k[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSltbtS8h6o[/youtube]
It’s been a while since I put up a post (oh no! are we seeing a recurring pattern?) and a lot has happened…
This weekend was busy. Saturday we had Vanier Olympics (Color Wars in Totem) and well, I don’t even need to say this but I’ll say it for the people that don’t live in Vanier: my house was sooooo cool. It was very fun, I feel bad for the people that missed it. Saturday night was Graffiti night. Basically, lots of strangers writing on you, kind of weird, but it’s always good to dance!!
I also went to the VP Emerging Leaders Program, if you missed it, don’t worry. All it is is a way of keeping track of your involvement on campus, which you can do on your own.
And…talking about involvement!! here’s the list of the clubs I joined:
– Association of Latin American Students – for obvious reasons, went to the BBQ, it was OK, a little quiet though.
– The Italian Club – they organize movie night and discussions, I might as well practice my italian before I forget it!
– Africa Awareness – we don’t really get to learn about African culture in Guatemala, so I think this is a good way of learning new things while having fun :)
– International Student Association – again, for obvious reasons.
I also joined the mailing list of:
– the UBC Farm – I’m really looking forward to volunteering with them, I miss my plants from home!!
– Common Energy – check them out, I think they do some really cool stuff in the area of sustainability
– Best Buddies – a program that pairs you up with people with disabilities and you see them throughout the year once or twice a month. I’m actually looking for something similar but with children, can anyone help me??
I also wanted to join the Food Society but I was too late to the SUB, so I’ll have to do that some other day…
I don’t know if I joined too many things, but today I found myself writing 3 e-mails to clubs saying that I was busy during the info sessions but I would still like to participate. I just realized that maybe this means I’m doing too much?? :p I’ll let you know when my nervous breakdown happens!!
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to be as involved with the AUS elections as I wish, but I plan to read about all the candidates before I make my votes and I encourage all of you to do the same!!
And finally, to end on a happy note: today I had a spectacular day! it was WE DAY!! an event organized by Free the Children. Amongst many amazing speakers was the Dalai Lama, one of my personal heroes. He spoke about making this century a century of peace through compassion. I really recommend you all to check out his speeches, they are awesome.
Ciaooo
I am proud to say that today I made two great discoveries that I really want to share with all the other soon-to-be-panicking first year students. As my calendar fills up with assignments, quizzes, readings, etc. I decided to start trying out some of the much advertised “academic tactics” (can’t think of a better word, any ideas?)
Discovery #1 – studying in the library! seriously, today I was a little bit early to class and instead of coming back to my room I decided to venture into the Xwi7xwa library (right in front of the Geography building). It is, as Morgan would say, AMAZING! All the books and the silence and the studious faces somehow magically prevent you from using facebook or skype or whatever it is that you use as a distraction from reading. Now I don’t have to think about the tempting bed or friendly neighbours anymore :). Please, please, please try it!
Discovery #2 – LEAP! or at least a tool in LEAP. It’s called Assignment Calculator and this is how they explain things for you to make it easy:
OK, this will break up your assignment into little actions with dates, so you can actually do a little bit at a time. BUT! that’s not it! you can set it up so that it sends you e-mails reminding you everyday of what you have to do. If this is not enough for you I don’t know what to say… at least you’ll feel bad and you’ll have to think about it every time you get an e-mail!
I haven’t updated this blog in a while, but … who can blame me? this first week has been crazy, fun, but crazy. I don’t have Frosh, but I did have Jump Start, Gala and Imagine. A quick note on that for arts: WE CAN MAKE MORE NOISE!!!
Anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to write down what I think about my classes, if you’re in any of them please comment, I’d love to hear what you think! :)
It has been more than two weeks in UBC and I can’t believe it!
Jump Start has been totally amazing, I can’t imagine how my UBC life would look like if it wasn’t for this awesome program. Really, I am ready! I know the basic campus structure (it’s so big that I don’t think I’ll ever know everything), I got my computer (lovely mac), I met lots of people (including Em, my fellow blogsquadder) and I had A LOT of fun.
So, if you see me around campus when you come in with bags and maps, ask me for help! I can help you! :)
Moving on to my favorite places on campus…
I know that I have been to almost nowhere when you take into consideration the size of this place, but I have found some really memorable places.
I have now moved into my shared room in Tweeds. There’s enough space for everything but it’s quite white. So if you haven’t packed yet, do yourself a favor and put some colorful stuff in you bags!
I know this is going to look very cliche, but he really does inspire me. I have spent this summer reading some of his speeches and I absolutely recommend them to anyone.
I know a little girl that always goes around saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression!” soooo… here we go!
I absolutly love it. I’ve been in Vancouver for about 36 hours and I keep telling myself that yes, it’s real, not only am I going to live in a city, I also like the city!… I have found Vancouver very green (maybe because I’ve only been in a small part? someone correct me if I’m wrong please!) There are trees in every street and the houses all have little gardens, it doesn’t even feel like a city!
Now, UBC.
I went yesterday and walked around for about an hour, got lost and accidentally ended up in front of my future dorm! Is that destiny of what? First of all, it’s clean, and I mean really clean. I don’t claim a lot of knowledge when it comes to universities, but the ones that I do know made me think that I was in the wrong place. Really, where is the graffiti? After counsciously looking for it I found a small one in a tiny corner. That’s something I’ll have to get used to, not that it’s bad or anything! …just, interesting to think about.
Today I went again, but only to leave my bags! I signed in for Jump Start, met a really friendly Colombian girl, enjoyed the view from my 15th floor, got lost in the elevator (I’m still trying to figure out how I managed to do that), and I left! I have a good excuse to my aparent lack of interest but it’s too long of a story to write it in here.
Anyways, I spent the rest of the day riding old style bicycles in East Vancouver, having dinner at an Italian restaurant and sitting in a park until midnight. And I have very good news, I was able to see the stars!! Not as many as I see back at home, but enough to make me happy :).
I have to go to sleep now, I want to be fully awake tomorrow for my first real UBC day. To all of those that haven’t left home yet: don’t worry! it’s great! and check your bags again, you won’t need half of the things in there (I don’t know if my back is ever going to be like before after bringing in all my luggage!!)
Also, thank you everyone for the nice comments!!! as soon as I get myself a computer and some time I’ll be answering them!!!
good night!
I’m heading to Vancouver tomorrow morning and I’m terrified. I know it’s a great city, and that I’m going to have A LOT of fun, but I can’t keep that little voice in my head from thinking “what if I don’t like it?”
Still, I’m sure that these next four years will be amazing and totally worth moving across the continent for!
We’ll see how it goes then :)
cheers!!!
