The Really Tough Week
April 7 - 14
Taking my Google Calendar and throwing it into a table we'd get the following:
April 7 - Work
April 8 - Co-op interview
April 9 - UBCEA meeting + studying + REVEAL meeting
April 10 - MATH 105 Final
April 11 - CPSC 320 Final + PSYC 307 Final
April 12 - Making dumplings with the OL squad
April 13 - nwPlus interview, UBCEA event, Oliver's birthday dinner
April 14 - Kai's birthday dinner
Everything ended up being packed into this week and at the beginning I had no idea how I would get through it, but I did! I took the days one by one as they came and made it out alive on the other end. To quickly go over everything:
Work was fine as usual, it was a shorter shift than usual so not bad at all. The co-op interview was really good for me, my interviewer made it so easy to talk to her and I've never had such a smooth interview experience in my life. I only hope that I can be like her one day when it comes to conducting interviews.
 |
| This picture has nothing to do with what I'm talking about but I felt bad for giving you a block of text so here you go :) |
The MATH 105 final came and went. It was difficult but I ended up with a passing grade (better than last year at least) so it's time for me to move onto MATH 200 in the summer and work hard to pass that course.
As often is the case with computer science classes (and CPSC 320 not being an exception) I found it difficult to study for the final. For me most the learning in these very abstract and conceptual classes happens primarily in class when we are going over content, so studying felt more like reviewing. My CPSC 320 mark still hasn't come out yet but fingers crossed that I did alright!
PSYC 307 was honestly a wildcard for me. I took the course on a whim because my friend was taking it and I actually ended up failing the first midterm (before it got curved, thank goodness). It was my first experience with a high-level Arts class and I was not prepared. My second midterm was much much better thanks to motivation to study with aforementioned friend and her friends. They really helped me study for this midterm and the final. I honestly feel like I did pretty poorly on the final, but other students felt the same way so I guess the curve was nice enough to land me an overall grade of 77 :)
With the majority of my finals out of the way it was time to relax. The day after my finals the OL squad went to Kim's place to make dumplings, which was an interesting but very enjoyable experience. Most of us ended up sleeping over in a spur of the moment decision and the morning after I hauled myself to UBC for my...
nwPlus interview! Yes you heard me right, I applied to join another club! The interviewer ended up being a senior from my high school so it was super cool to see her and it was really easy to talk to her. I applied for the position of Marketing Director and (spoiler alert!) I was offered the role of Marketing Coordinator. But more on that later :)
 |
| This picture has nothing to do with what I'm talking about but I felt bad for giving you a block of text so here you go :) |
Once the viewing party was over I met up with my friend Andrea at Commercial station and from there we went to our friend Oliver's birthday dinner! We've been invited to his gatherings before and while it's a little scary because we don't know his friends too well I always have a good time and make the most of it. Sarah (bless her soul) picked us up from the party and then dropped us off at home.
The day after I had some time to recover so when Kai's birthday dinner rolls around I'm feeling up to the task :) I met two new people that night and rekindled with friends I haven't seen in a while. After dinner we headed to an Airbnb that Kai booked and then we watched BBC's The Hunt and played some Wii games. Anson was my bus buddy for the trip back home and it was an enjoyable night overall.
=====
It's crazy to think that so much happened in one week, but it was a week of new and old experiences and one that helped me grow as a person. I've probably said this before, but in the past I was envious of the people who would always say, "Oh I have a meeting this day and I have this that day, sorry I can't make it!" Now that I have somewhat experienced that feeling I feel humbled and surprised - it didn't feel like anything changed from that past me.
We love bowling
April 18
April 18th the Carl's Jr group decided to do something fun now that most of our exams were dealt with and what better recreational activity to do than bowling?!! Somebody had the brilliant idea to come up with a dress theme and we ended up doing our best Hawaiian tourist impressions that Thursday night. It was great getting to see everybody again and I appreciated that we tried something new and fun (not that our usual hangouts aren't a boatload of joy already).
The coworker's weekend
April 19 - 20
The night after bowling there was a work party that I was invited to. I didn't make it out to the last one so I was looking forward to this one. Overall it was a fun and relaxing time, though there were a lot of unfamiliar faces (new people and +1s) so I felt a bit uncomfortable at times. One of my coworkers drove another coworker and I to the nearest station so that we could get home faster and I'm really thankful for that.
One of my coworkers really wanted to go hiking so she planned it out and we ended up going with another coworker and some of her friends to Deep Cove on the morning of April 20th. We met up, made the transit to Deep Cove, and then we were on our way! The weather was pretty moderate, which was good for hiking, and when we reached the summit we had some snacks, took our pictures, and hung out for a bit. Once we got back down we replenished those calories we lost with some ice cream and then we set off back home. A few things that I took away from the experience - Deep Cove is a seriously cool place, I find a lot of enjoyment hiking, and I am out of shape.
Sunday Funday
April 21
The day started off with some much needed ultimate with my VUL team for the upcoming summer. It was really good to see some old faces again and I also realized how out of shape I was. I am so excited to play another season with the SBL family again and I hope that I can also improve my skills as a player.
After the practice I went home, showered, and got ready for... a nwPlus orientation! As spoiled above, I was accepted to the role of Marketing Coordinator and tonight was orientation night. Another friend of mine (Shirley from the OL kids) was also accepted but asides from that I didn't know anybody else who was attending, so I was pretty nervous.
In the beginning it was somewhat awkward, but even then I broke out of my usual habit of staring at my phone in some corner. I made small talk with some people who were just as scared and nervous as I was and then things just happened. There was a weird and newfound comfort going through my body, and I found myself loudly recalling a funny memory with the OL kids to a group of us seated at the couches. What was surprising was how quickly I felt comfortable - it's not a feeling I am used to.
The dinner was great and we ended off the night with some Wii games and some other board games.
Overall I am still somewhat in awe that I am a part of such a cool group. When I was a wee first year I distinctly remember thinking, "Wow I couldn't even dream of being with such a cool and close knit group of people." I am very excited for what my future in nwPlus looks like!
We're going on a trip in our favourite transit system
April 30
Phil, Marcus, Shannon, Meg, and I made a day trip out of April 30, a well needed outing after finals stress had accumulated in our bloodstreams. We met up at some mall in Richmond and then from there we headed to Samsoonie, a Korean restaurant with (what I thought were) pretty large portion sizes. All of us enjoyed our meal and afterwards we headed out to Terra Nova park to walk around and let out the inner kid in all of us. There was a lot of walking but it was balanced out by comfortable conversation and posi vibes.
Afterwards we all headed back to our respective homes. On the way back we stopped by our local and favourite UNIQLO Metrotown to buy some clothes and that about did it for the day. It had been a while since I had done something like this so it was a breath of fresh air for me and I'm glad that we got around to it!
16Personalities
And we've changed (slightly) again! We see more of a balance between extroversion and introversion but that's a closer representation of what I believe to be true. I'm not all too sure what the rest of the changes mean and how they could have come about as a result of April, but ultimately change there was is pretty minimal.
In Conclusion
Sorry for making you all sit through that and posting this a month late. May has absolutely flown by so while you might not see that until the end of June, keep your eyes peeled!
