Tag Archives: academics

Second Year in Review

It’s hard to believe I’m already done the second year of my university degree. Heck, it’s hard to believe that it’s nearly June!

Looking back on the past year, I can see that I have grown immensely in many ways. I feel like first year was for dipping my feet and testing the waters and trying to get comfortable in a totally new environment, whereas this year has been about exploring and expanding in my now-familiar community in Vancouver.

I have become a much better harpist and musician this year; pieces that would have given me headaches trying to learn before I can pick up in a few weeks! I learned a lot about how to practice properly and how not to become sabotaged by stage fright. I successfully played an opera (and the maestro said we were the best student harpists he’d ever worked with!) and greatly improved my ensemble playing skills. I was also able to join the Gamelan Ensemble and experience the music of another country while learning from of the best gamelan players in the world.

Academically, I learned a lot about the various subjects I studied and kept my grades high, and also about myself. For example, I realized that I  absolutely detest writing papers. I would rather go learn Wagner’s Magic Fire Music with a bazillion pedal changes than write another paper! I rejoice at the fact that I don’t actually have to write any more for the rest of the degree! (This is also a reason why I feel that pursuing a Masters degree might not be for me…)

This year I also gained a lot of responsibility and maturity while living on my own. I can buy my own groceries, cook, clean, pay my hydro bill, set up home internet, and unclog the toilet all on my own, while also balancing school and my social life! I’m quite proud of myself for this, actually. I really enjoyed having that kind of control over my daily life, and it feels a bit weird being at home where most of that control is in my parents’ hands. Not bad, exactly, just kind of strange.

The friends I made in first year became even closer friends this year. It was slightly more effort to see each other since I had to hop on a bus to see most of them instead of walking down the hall, but we made it work. My friends and I also started playing Dungeons and Dragons in second term (because yes, we are nerds, although I prefer the term “awesome”) and it was a blast – it’s like playing pretend for grownups and it meant that we got together regularly to hang out!

One of the best things I did for myself this year was take Mindfulness classes through counselling services in Brock Hall. It helped me a lot in how I deal with stressful situations (no more meltdowns!) and has actually improved my general outlook in my day-to-day life.

In terms of involvement, I feel like I slacked a little. I was part of the Knitting and Sewing Club and I also joined the Yoga Club (which has helped my fitness in no small way), I took part in some promotional photo shoots, and attend the Student Leadership Conference, but I feel like I could have done more. I didn’t feel quite as connected, so next year I plan to try to find another involvement activity that will make me feel more of a part of the UBC community.

Overall, this year was amazing. It passed in a blur that simultaneously felt like an incredibly long time and just a few weeks.  It was not without challenges, but when we are challenged is when we grow the most and realize how strong we actually are. This year was rewarding and special, and I can’t believe I only get two more of them.

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How to Not Cram the Night Before: Samantha’s Approach to Midterms

Time and time again I’ll be reading some poor student’s blog or twitter feed and what I see is basically this: “OMG my exam is tomorrow gotta study all night omg omg I’m so freaked out my brain is exploding!”

More or less, anyway.

Now, I am not a crammer.  I’ve never done it, and I very nearly always walk into my exams feeling confident and relatively anxiety-free, at least when I compare myself to those around me.  And, most importantly, my marks turn out just like I want to, as evidenced by the scholarships UBC keeps offering me.

What’s my secret? Easy: start studying a week before your test. (At least.)  That’s really all there is to it, besides figuring out how you study best.  What I do is do about an hour or so of reading for about three days starting a week before the test, so the material is all fresh in my mind. You can’t start memorizing if you can’t even remember what you’ve covered in the last month.  After those three days, you do some hard core studying in the next three days (preferably on a weekend). Condensing your notes, guessing and practicing answering questions you think will be on the test, testing yourself.  Then, the night before, you get to breathe. Relax. Read over the study notes you made, test yourself a little bit more. What you should find is that as you read over those notes, your brain goes, yes yes, I know this stuff already. And you know why? Digesting information over a longer period of time is going to make it stick way better than if you stuff it all in your head the night before when you’re all stressed out.  And, you’ve accomplished what the course is actually about: learning, as opposed to memorizing for one test and then promptly forgetting everything after it’s over.

If you have several midterms a week, it can be easy to focus on one subject and forget about the other tests, and just study for each test as they come. But, if you do an hour or half an hour of studying each day for each subject a week before the exam, you’ll know your stuff better, and have less work overall the night before each test.

A bonus for using this method: now you have great study notes for when finals come around! Not to mention, you’ll remember more of the material from your midterm when it comes time to write that final exam.

I hope this helps you through your time of midterms!

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Balancing Academic and Social (And Health)

Have you ever heard of the university triangle? Basically, it goes like this: grades, social life, sleep — pick two.  And for many people, that’s the case. There’s only so much time in a day, so if you want to study and hang out with friends, often there isn’t enough time for sleeping. Or maybe you can’t function without sleep or hanging out, so then your grades take a hit. Or perhaps you’re so focused on getting good grades and keeping your health up that you never have time for fun stuff.

In my personal opinion, none of those options equal a fulfilling university experience.  Somehow I managed to find some balance between the three points of the triangle.  My secret? Time management, my friend. Time management. It makes everything possible. And there is one little friend I have that makes my life sooooo much easier and helps me manage my time: my agenda.


If I was to recommend getting one thing for university, it would be an agenda, or some kind of calender, even if that’s on your phone.  My agenda contained everything I wanted to do, like on this picture here, I’ve got homework assignments written in, research, readings, lessons, rehearsals, performances, involvement events, dorm spring formal, dinner with my boyfriend’s parents, my mom coming into town.

That’s the main thing: you need to write down everything you’re going to do, on the day you’re going to do it. I would prioritize what needed to happen on a given day, figure out how long I would need to do it, and then schedule it out in my mind.  That way you can make the most of your time that isn’t spent in class.  Write down deadlines so you can see them coming, and start working on projects long before they’re due (I usually take two weeks to write an essay).  If you can do little bits at a time, you’ll be less stressed before the due date and you’ll have more time for other things.

So, balancing out time for a social life? No problem.  Schedule that in too.  Keep in mind you might not be going out every single night, but if you can even hang out with friends once or twice a week, that counts as a social life to me.  It’s easy in a dorm; you can spend time with your pals just by going to supper together, and you needed to go to supper anyway, so bam, two birds with one stone.  Studying in groups can also be a good way to get some friend-time, while still getting some work done. Personally, I don’t work well when I’m surrounded by people, but it can work for some people.

And your health?  There are all sorts of ways you can keep healthy in your hectic schedule. Eat good food.  Make yourself go to bed at a time where you can get at least 8 hours of sleep. Staying up all night cramming is not good for you.  Get some exercise: sign up for a class at the recreation centre. That way it’s just an hour each week that’s already set aside for you, and since you’ve already paid for it you’ll be motivated to go.  And that schedule in your agenda? Schedule in time for yourself! It’s important so that you can have time to unwind and not go insane. Maybe it means reading a book, taking a walk, or just derping around on the internet. Just a word of caution though, make sure your “you time” doesn’t go on forever and you don’t forget to do everything else on your list! If that’s a problem for you, set a timer or an alarm so that when your fun time is up, you actually get back to business.

So that’s my personal recipe for balance, but there’s certainly more to say on the subject.  You can attend workshops at CLASS in October or the SLC in January.

Any questions? Shoot a comment my way.

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Ensembles

Okay, I think I’ve finally got ensembles figured out.

In terms of large ensemble, ie. symphony orchestra, the four harpists will share parts, but the other first year will get probably the majority of parts and the hardest ones, since she’s actually been playing the longest.  The orchestra won’t be having any harp in it until October, so I get a few weeks with free nights, which is nice.

For small ensemble, I’ll be doing harp duets with a third year harpist who has the same teacher as me.  (And in case I haven’t mentioned this, my harp teacher is SO NICE.)  This will work nicely, since we have group lessons every other week, so I won’t have to fit another rehearsal into my schedule somewhere.  I had kind of hoped to be in a string quartet sort of thing so I could meet some more people, but this is good too.

 

P.S. I discovered The Honor Roll – a great sushi place in the basement of the SUB.  You can get a California Roll for $3.50, and they take UBCCard, too!  Made my day.

Peace – Samantha.

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Filed under Academics, School of Music