Category Archives: Campus Life

I’ll be a MUG Leader Next Year!

I opened my email Friday afternoon, saw the subject line pop up in my inbox and hurriedly scrolled down the message to see

“Congratulations! 

We believe that you would be an excellent addition to our program this year, and we would like to offer you the position of:

Music MUG Leader”

Yay!

In two weeks I’ll get to attend a “March Welcome Event” and meet my fellow MUG Leaders, and I’m sure it’ll be one of those fun and spirited days that become one of your UBC experiences you’ll always remember. I’m looking forward to it!

I’m super pumped for next year’s Imagine Day already. This past year, I wasn’t a MUG Leader, so I kind of wandered around campus, feeling the energy of the day but not directly being a part of it, and I kind of regretted not applying to be a MUG Leader last spring. But next year will be different! I’m already excited to meet new music students and get to know them a bit and be a part of their first year (first day, even) at UBC.

I remember Imagine Day as being incredibly energized and inspiring, and the first day that I really felt as though I belonged on this campus. If I can be part of that again, and also create that experience for someone else, you can count me in!

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An Ode to Yoga

This post is not actually going to be an ode, because I am not a poet and I don’t really know what an ode is (I’m sure I will by the end of term though; I’m taking second-year poetry at the moment). I am, however, going to tell you why I love yoga so much:

  1. Building strength. Depending on what type of class you choose, some yoga classes can be really intense and build all sorts of muscles you didn’t you you had! And in a more relaxed environment instead of a a loud, bustling environment of a gym or sport.  If you want an intense muscle workout try vinyasa or power yoga!
  2. Increasing flexibility. We tend to ignore our bodies. But really, do you think that hours hunched over a desk are good for you? Stretching and opening your body makes you feel good, less stressed out, and in less pain from sore muscles. (This part is especially good for me since I have chronic muscle pain in various areas.) If you want even more stretching, try a yin class! They hold stretching poses for 3-7 minutes.
  3. Time to focus on the present. Yoga incorporates a lot of elements of a technique called mindfulness (which I’m also learning about in my stress management class with Counselling Services – post on that to come).  Basically, you get to set aside an hour and just focus on the present moment. Concentrate on your breath, on your muscles as they hold a pose.  Stress can get us overwhelmed, but if you take some time to focus on the here and now, it can really calm you down and ground you. Not to mention, our lives can be pretty darn hectic and taking a moment to slow things down can really help your mental health.

Interested in trying yoga? I’d suggest starting out with a hatha class, as it’s more gentle and is a good way to start out. On campus, you can take a class with UBC REC, or try the UBC Yoga Club. REC classes average $80-$100 for one term for UBC students. The UBC Yoga Club charges $10 for a membership, and then all classes are drop-in and cost $2. I’ve done both, but this term I joined the Yoga Club and I like it way more because it costs less, there are more types of classes at more times, and if I have to miss one it’s no big deal since I haven’t already paid for it.

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Thoughts on Leadership

As you probably already know, UBC’s Student Leadership Conference (SLC) was this past weekend.  I’m not going to go into all the details of the day, because there’s no way I do a better job saying all the things the speakers I listened to said on Saturday.  What I will say is that it’s a must-do-at-UBC-before-you-graduate experience, it’s very motivational and inspiring, and I’m going to share a few of my own thoughts after listening to the very wise keynote speakers and presenters.

It seems to me that all great leadership starts with passion.  Passion makes all the work that goes along with accomplishing something seem like play, and passion inspires your team mates to do their best and get passionate about the project as well.  Without passion, you can still get stuff done but it won’t be as invigorating and satisfying and may even bring you down rather than lift you up.

After attending the SLC, I thought about my own leadership, or lack thereof. I am definitely involved on campus, but I haven’t started any huge initiative or headed projects.  Maybe that means I lead in small ways, by example, maybe, rather than in a group-project setting. Well, I don’t know.  I think that I haven’t really found my leadership yet; more to the point I haven’t found my passionyet.

Yes, yes, I am passionate about music.  But at times I don’t feel particularly passionate about the way I’m applying my skills in music while being constrained by degree requirements. I have my own goals and ideas that I think I will be very passionate about, when I actually get the chance to implement them. I’ve already started on some of them (such as making arrangements and making videos on Youtube), but a lot of my musical life is consumed by school, even in the summer and holidays.

I am not inspired by writing papers, and generally I’m not inspired by lectures. I am smothered by the general atmosphere of the classical music world that I feel seems to say, “If you make a wrong note, you’re worthless.”  Playing in the orchestra isn’t exactly my jam.

This isn’t to say that I’m not enjoying my time at UBC, but I do look forward to when I graduate and can freely explore my passions on my own time. And although we all strive to better ourselves, become better people and better leaders, we don’t have to have everything figured out right now. Don Alder, a guitarist and friend of Rick Hansen who I listened to on Saturday said, “I can’t tell you how to be a great leader. I’m still figuring that out myself.” So I’m not too concerned about not being the next “Faces of Today” award recipient right now. My passion, and my opportunity to lead and become a great leader will come with time.

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Free Hankies – Nothing to Sneeze At

You know what’s gross? How much we dispose of unnecessarily every day. According to the Ubyssey, the SUB produces 40 bags of trash every day, just out of the bathrooms. Picture that. Picture your bedroom, full to the ceiling of barely used paper towels. Now imagine that happening every day. I mean, really?

A student project has been created with the intent of reducing the amount of paper towel waste UBC students produce (Ubyssey article here).  They’ve set up a booth in the SUB handing out handkerchiefs in exchange for a donation to the Ancient Forest Alliance (you can also pay five dollars for a prettier hanky, which will help make the project more sustainable in the future).

I picked up mine today, and I think it’s time for a behavioural change.  Yes, it’s a bit easier just to take the available paper towel and throw it out after and not have to worry about washing your hankie or how to dry it after use.  But in a lot of ways, doing things that harm the environment are born out of laziness and convenience. Taking just the little bit of effort here by using that little towel could result in hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds of paper towels not being used. And in turn, less trees would need to be cut down. And more living trees = healthier planet!

A few other ways you can cut out needless disposables out of your life: bring a reusable travel mug for your morning mocha and keep your own chopsticks handy for when you’re craving sushi.  In the kitchen, opt for a rag instead of paper towels and tupperware instead of plastic wrap.

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The Value of Involvement

This afternoon I had the pleasure of being part of a workshop brainstorming ideas about how UBC should organize its approach to getting more students involved on campus. A lot of great discussion was had, and I really want to comment here on how different kinds of involvement are valued.

First of all, I think it’s important to broaden what we define as “involvement.” Yes, starting your own club or heading a committee is an involvement, a huge one, but sometimes it can feel like if you aren’t doing a BIG thing, it doesn’t count.  Something like going to one of the gardens on campus, seeing a play, attending an event, or just showing up for a recreational club meeting (you don’t have to be on the exec!) all count, in my books.  There is a broad spectrum of depth of involvement, ie. how much time and commitment an activity takes, but all should be counted and valued equally.  For example, someone commuting and taking six courses is probably not going to have the same amount of time to spend doing extracurriculars as someone taking three courses and living on campus. If the six-course commuter gets involved by attending the occasional AMS event or club meeting, there is nothing “less” about that in any way than the three-course rezzie being an SLC co-chair. They’re just different experiences, and both are important.

Secondly, the type of activity one is involved with can sometimes vary in value.  I am going to use myself as an example this time: personally, committees tend to drive me nuts, and while I commend those who love charity work, it’s just not for me. My life can be a hell sometimes, and I want involvement to be an escape from that, just to be fun. To be a place where I make/be with friends. I want to help myself. If that’s selfish, well, quite frankly I think that’s a rude label because all human beings are selfish at some time, so excuse me for being selfish. So I joined knitting club. Now personally, I don’t think that joining a recreational club should be any “less” than say, joining a club that fundraises for cancer research, or being a residence advisor (also not my thing).  Wanting to get involved for the sake of finding your “people” or your “home”, or just purely to have fun, does not make you a worse person, or a less important person, than someone getting involved to give back to the community or hone a skill set.

The main thing I’d like to see more of, I suppose, is all involvement in its myriad forms to be recognized equally.

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Meeting People vs. Making Friends

I’m assuming that by now everyone has heard of whatweshouldcallubc.tumblr.com; I discovered it last week and went through the whole thing. Something that stuck out to me was a post about how people are “dying of loneliness”, and there was at least one other consisting of upper year students also saying how they’d only just found their place or still haven’t.

It made me think about how 1) it’s very common to not find your niche immediately as some people feel they should, and 2) how it’s very common for various organizations on campus to shove lots of ways to meet people down your throat and saying “Yes making friends is so easy here, you’ll have a group in no time.” Because seriously, meeting people and making friends with people are two very different things.

Some good ways of meeting people include:

  • Introducing yourself to the people you sit near in your classes.
  • Attending residence/AMS events.
  • Hanging around in common areas, if you’re in residence.
  • Joining an intramural team, or participating in other UBC REC events.
  • Joining a club.
  • Chatting up random people in line for Starbucks or at the bus stop.
  • Wearing a nerdy t-shirt. It’s amazing how many nerds who love the same stuff you can attract.

It’s true, the above list is slightly skewed towards on-campus students. It’s an unfortunate fact, but if you want to meet people as a commuter, you have to put in effort. It evens out in the end though, because here’s the thing about making friends: it takes effort. Except for a few exceptionally outgoing individuals who are certainly not me, meeting someone does not equal being friends with them.

Some good ways of making friends with people (a skill that I am always trying to improve upon):

  • Initiate conversation. I know you want them to start talking to you, that you want to feel like they like you, but realistically they’re probably sitting there thinking the same thing. And if you don’t speak up, no one will. And friendships generally aren’t born out of silence. (Not good at speaking to other humans? Start with, “Hey, how are you?” And ask questions. Ask them about their weekend, any exciting plans coming up, ask them about themselves, their preferences. Don’t give up, it takes practice.)
  • Arrange a time to meet up where you can have some solid get-to-know you time. The five minutes before class starts does not count. Go for coffee, have a movie marathon in your dorm room, explore downtown, see a concert you’re both interested in, a one-on-one study session. Or it could be a group thing, too.
  • Get their number and text them. Don’t be creepy or obsessive, but some casual banter can keep you on their radar and if you’re scared to ask them to hang out it can take some pressure off.
  • Do/say nice things. People like people who make them feel good. Again, don’t paint their name on the side of the clock tower, but compliments and remembering their birthday or saving them a seat can go a long way.
  • Meeting people and making friends go together best when you meet people in a place where you’re doing something you’re interested in; lots of the time they have the same mindset as you and you’ll have something to talk about and do together.

It kind of sounds like I’m giving dating advice here, but honestly, a good friendship takes nearly as much effort as a romantic relationship.  If you don’t go out looking, most of the time, it isn’t going to land in your lap. Lots of people I know have made friends through their classes, and I met most of my friends through residence and knitting club.  It’s not guaranteed that you’ll click with every person you make an effort to talk to, but if you never try, then you’ll never know.  Just keep trying, because your kindred spirit is out there, looking for you too.

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Getting Involved

People will always tell you over and over, get involved on campus, get involved on campus, it’s one thing that will make your university life complete!  And while I agree, I find that sometimes there seems to be a sort of cookie-cutter approach when telling people how to be involved: become an RA, join the executive committee for the Student Leadership Conference, join a club. And while these are all valid ways of getting involved, they aren’t necessarily well suited for everyone. I think the poster child for involvement is the outgoing person who seems to know everyone and fills all their hours outside of class with extracurriculars.  For someone like me, an introvert with not a whole lot of time to spare outside of class, this format doesn’t necessarily work.

There are lots of ways to get involved on campus, definitely. Clubs are a good way to start, but maybe there aren’t any that catch your eye (although there are over 300) or maybe you don’t have the time to commit to one. That’s okay, too! If you don’t have the time, a good way of being involved on campus is participating in events: Day of the Longboat, Storm the Wall, the Apple Festival, AMS events, events that clubs put on with a small fee for non-members.

Another good way of getting involved is participating in sports, if that interests you. The REC centre offers many instructional classes at discount prices for students as well as intramurals. Don’t like to play? Show your support at a Thunderbirds game.

An often-overlooked opportunity is Student Directed Seminars.  You get to work with a professor to create a course that you want to take that isn’t currently offered at UBC. Talk about taking charge of your education!

The university also has amazing fine arts programs for you to take advantage of – the School of Music regularly puts on recitals and concerts in both the Barnett Recital Hall and the Chan Centre for Performing Arts (many of which are free), the drama program puts on plays year-round at the Freddy Wood Theatre, and the Belkin Art Gallery has always got art on display (also at no cost).

Getting a job on campus, especially a Work Study/Work Learn position, can get you really involved. You get to work with faculty members (networking, anyone?), often in the field of your choice, for a small amount of hours and pretty good pay, and you learn a lot, too.

Ultimately, what makes your university experience meaningful is up to you.  For me, involvement means blogging, playing in and attending concerts, taking advantage of all the places you can get into with your UBC card, taking part in events like Day of the Long Boat (and I also intend to Storm the Wall this year), knitting club, taking yoga at the REC centre, and above all, having a community of friends who I can share this experience with.

University is this really neat space where you aren’t quite a kid anymore but not quite an adult, so take advantage of that – have some fun. For more information on getting involved on campus, visit the Centre for Student Involvement website, or go to the CSI in Brock Hall for Involvement Coaching.

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A Story of Loving Rain

As many of you probably know, the Student Recreation Centre here at UBC does this wonderful thing at the beginning of every term called Shopping Week.  You can go try out any class for free to see if it’s something you want to sign up for.

Originally, I had looked at the schedule and said, “Aw man, none of the yoga classes are at good times for me!” And I thought I’d try going to a place off campus. And on Sunday, that is, yesterday, I was going to go check it out, but I discovered that because of awkward bus changes it would take me nearly an hour to get there, and back. This is despite the fact that it would take a car less than ten minutes to get there.

So I took another look at the Shopping Week Calendar. Sunday Night Vinyasa. Sounds good, what time does it start? 7:30 PM. Time on the clock: 6:45. I quickly signed up for the class (they want you to do that now; you didn’t have to last year) and then dashed out the door in the pouring rain toting my yoga mat and bag filled with water bottle, wallet, cell phone, etc.

In fact, I had to dash to catch the bus coming up the road behind me, but made it sort of dry to REC Centre. I walk inside, and what’s this? Oh, the lights are off inside the studio. I take a closer look at a poster for Shopping Week. It starts on Monday. That is, today. My class won’t be starting until next Sunday.

Initially, I felt disappointed. It hadn’t been a great day, and now this. But then, I just sort of didn’t care; I found myself feeling positive. Oh well, I thought to myself. Now I have a whole hour that I didn’t think I’d have before! The only logical thing to do now is to go home, drop off my stuff, and take a walk in the rain to Menchie’s and buy some delicious, delicious, fro-yo.

I walked to Wesbrook Village with my hood down, the rain soaking my hair. Now, I am not normally a person who likes rain. I rather dislike it, in fact. In Winnipeg, when it rains, it rains hard, each drop cold and stinging, painful even. But as I walked to Menchie’s, I just thought of the delight that was ahead of me, and noticed how the rain was soft on my head. I liked it, and welcomed being soaked. The clouds were dark, and I appreciated that. None of this nonsense where it’s raining hard but still bright out, with white clouds. That, to me, is just silliness.

The cheerful bight pink and green of the frozen yogurt shop welcomed me inside, and I picked my flavours – they always have new ones and the choices are so exciting! – pineapple and green apple tart, and then put maraschino cherries on top. Oh, happiness in my mouth. I had a peaceful walk back as the rain dripped down my face and clung to my glasses. When I got home, it occurred to me that without even realizing it, all the stress I’d been feeling earlier that day had just melted away.

I’m trying to describe to you how peaceful I felt in that moment, but it’s hard. I guess what I want you to take away from this is that you’ve just gotta roll with the punches sometimes. Sometimes, it’s just gonna be a hard day, but when something else goes wrong, just laugh and say, Of course! Just go with it. God knows the sunshine isn’t going to last forever and sometimes, you’ve just got to learn to love the rain.

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Official Knitting and Sewing Club

In case there is anyone wanting to join a knitting or sewing club at UBC, there is now an official AMS Club!  My friends Natasha, Kim, and Christie started it up along with the other exec memebers, Anaïk and Angel. (I’m sort of an unofficial exec :P)

Visit the website at: http://knittingsewingatubc.blogspot.ca.

Email: knittingsewingclub@gmail.com

Come visit the table in the SUB during Clubs Days!

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Wreck Beach

With school starting tomorrow and the sun shining in this rainy city, what else was I do to do but go to the beach? Yes, it’s true that Wreck Beach is clothing-optional, but I like to keep mine on and if you keep your eyes mostly on the ground you shouldn’t see too much of anything you don’t want to see.

The mountains, as always, were beautiful. The scene was serene, but full of life; after all, it is a holiday.  Wreck is actually a place I like to come in the winter, when I can just be more or less alone and stare out at the sea and the mountains, contemplate life and find inspiration. But a busy day is is pretty inspirational too.

Among the freshman, booze-vendors, nude tanners, and pot-smokers were also vendors set up towards the trees, selling skirts and scarves, jewelry and bags. I actually spotted a woven bag I liked but didn’t have any money, so I’m seriously considering going back next weekend…

Natasha and Christie and I had a picnic on the beach, punctuated by Christie shaking up her salad, when the lid of her Tupperware popped off and her food flew everywhere, and in her surprise, she kicked up a bunch of sand that went flying into Tash’s peanut butter. My sandwich was safe.  Needless to say, there was laughter. (One of my favourite things!)

Now, we had come to go swimming. I had never actually swam in an ocean before, given that I’m from pretty much the exact centre of the continent, so lakes have been my swimming location for most of my life.  The water was cold – of course, it was only 20 or 21 degrees – but somehow it was easier to keep walking and splashing in as the water crept closer to my head, whereas in the lakes of home I usually have to be pushed in before I’ll let the water get past boob-level.

The waves were huge! I’d gotten waves that large when I’d been sailing on Lake Huron, but never when I’ve been swimming. They kind of scared me, but it was actually pretty exhilarating to time my jump as the wave came, and be suspended a few feet above the sand as the wave pushed me back a meter or two. The salt came as a shock when the water splashed my face and got in my mouth, although Christie (who is from Oregon) said the water wasn’t actually that salty here.

And of course, any mention of Wreck Beach would not be complete without complaining about the stairs. I’ve never counted them myself, but there must be at least four hundred, if not more. It is tiring work, climbing back up, let me tell you. But then again, I guess it’s good exercise.

With Imagine Day tomorrow, it’s a good reminder: try something new, have some fun, dream big dreams. Here at UBC, the world is yours for the taking.

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