March 2019

We're finally here! As we break the halfway mark of April I'm finally writing a post about March :)))

Storm the Wall
March 25th


A lot of stuff happened in March, but Storm the Wall was definitely one of the greatest highlights of the month. For anybody unfamiliar, Storm the Wall is an event put on by UBC Recreation where students sign up in teams of five and compete a relay course that includes swimming, sprinting, cycling, running, and then scaling a 12-foot high wall.

Some my high school friends and I made a team in the "for fun" division and when the day of our heat came up we just all tried our best and we had a really fun time. As my friend said: "Kevin sprinted this team to victory. Sarah too one for the team with her swim. Jean risked her life for the team on a bike. Grace ran her way from the pool. And Carolyn pulled the team together at the wall." It was a day where I let loose and tried my best. I hadn't done much exercise at all for my second year so the long distance run was taxing on me, but there's that sense of accomplishment when you're completely fueled out and you know you gave it your all.

Highly recommend for every UBC student who is even remotely interested :))) Catch us in a competitive division next year ;^)


Battle of BC 3
March 30th - 31st

As a member of the UBC Esports Association (UBCEA) I had the chance to volunteer for Western Canada's largest Super Smash Bros (SSB) tournament, Battle of BC 3. Going into the two day event, I wasn't sure what to expect; I had never played any SSB game (asides from the after-school Wiimote button mashing at my friend's house) and my knowledge of competitive play was pretty much non-existent.

I went anyways and man was it a blast.

For the majority of the two days I was running the SSB Ultimate ladder, pretty much a place for slightly competitive friendlies. Volunteering in that position was extremely rewarding as I could see right up front what the fruits of my efforts were, and I suppose you can extend that to the nature of games like SSB - having to be there in person to play makes SSB stand out from other games I've had exposure to.

My good friend from high school, Calvin, was also attending the event as a viewer and he taught me a lot about competitive SSB Melee and Ultimate in what little time we spent watching the games together. I also bumped into Jennifer (coincidentally a friend of Calvin and I) at the event, as she was helping take photos, so it was a nice little reunion.


UBCEA things
Most of the month

Very soon into my time as a proper executive of UBCEA I found that I loved the club and its people, and when you love something that way you want to do your best for it. Cheesy stuff aside, it was around March when elections were coming up and I had to start thinking about what role I wanted to take on next year.

Eventually I set myself on a Vice President position and resigned myself to taking whatever department was left untouched in the pre-election scramble. As the dust started settling it seemed like I would be going for VP External, however after some discussion with other members of UBCEA I set my sights on the role of VP Human Resources.

When all was said and done, I ended up running unopposed. So there's my announcement - I am officially the next UBCEA VP Human Resources! I am very excited to take on this role in the cub and I hope that I will be able to help the club in a significant and meaningful way.


My 16Personalities Test!
I forgot this so here it is now - April 27th 2019

I changed! By the end of January I was slightly more introverted, however since then it seems that I've become slightly more extroverted (not to mention assertive). This is definitely hindsight bias, but there are multiple things that probably contributed to this change.

I didn't write about this because it slipped my mind, but I did this little project thing on my Instagram called "Reflections" where I posted a picture of myself in a mirror every day alongside a thought I had that day. Historically I've never really liked the way I looked in photos, so the positive response to the picture and my thoughts definitely boosted my self-image. That in tandem with Battle of BC 3 and my campaign as VP HR definitely drew out the more outgoing, confident, and extroverted side of me.

Guess we'll see by April if this is just a fluke or if it might be here to stay ;^)

Wrapping things up!

The OL squad got together for our now monthly gatherings and it's always really good to see them from time to time (spoiler alert: we also hang out in April). Asides from that there were a few food related events: a potluck with UBCEA, a hotpot with some good friends, and dinner and watching How to Train Your Dragon 3 with some other good friends!

Lots of fun things happened in March and I made some really awesome memories :)

As an aside, I feel that only having these monthly recaps is somewhat bland, so I'll try to switch it up and write some posts that don't sound like the answer a six year old gives when you ask him how his day went. Catch you around in the next post!

February 2019

Holy moly this post is about a month too late, but here we are!

February 2019 was a month full of new experiences for me - I was out of my comfort zone a lot and I am proud of myself for doing that. It definitely didn't feel as "busy" as January, but it was still a pretty decently crowded month!

BizHacks 2019

We kick off the very first day of February with BizHacks 2019! The entire event was pretty exciting and though my team and I went in blind we resurfaced on the other side with a whole new experience under our belts. For the uninitiated, BizHacks is the lovechild of a traditional hackathon and case competition - you can choose from a selection of cases released on the day of the competition and develop a solution within x hours.

My team consisted of Candice, Daniel, Heather, Raymond, and I, with me being the only tech-oriented member. For us we had 24 hours to rack our brains at UBC, and we had no idea what the next 24+ hours had in store for us.

We check in at about 4pm and after settling in and doing a bit of room scouting we have dinner at 6pm. At this point it's only four out of five pieces of Exodia as Candice is away doing a midterm, but by the time she arrives at 8pm we've got a pretty good idea of which cases we want to tackle. With all members present we go full throttle into building our solution until around 11:30pm.

We take a break from the work to ask a mentor for his input on our work so far and he reacts very positively to it. Team morale skyrockets and we decide to ask another mentor for a second opinion.

And that's when The Great Calamity happens.

The second mentor (nothing against him at all, he helped bring us back into reality) absolutely picks apart our approach to the case, with the main critique being a lack of technological innovation.

We've got about 16 hours left in the competition at this point so all hope isn't lost, but we get pretty mopey and depressed after that roller coaster of emotion. Heather retreats to slumber soon after and the rest of us try to do some damage control in a futile attempt.

This part is pretty much a blur to me; I felt awful because I had just been eating pepperoni sticks, beef jerky, and granola bars the entire night, I didn't bring my toothbrush, and I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated. Around 2am the rest of us follow Heather's lead and try to get some sleep in hopes that we can wake up and do something in the morning. Raymond fashions a bed out of the chairs, as does Candice, and I sit in one and shut my eyes.

I manage to fall asleep for about half an hour before I wake up again. My rustling alerts Daniel, who is still awake at this point. Before we had given up to go sleep we had been talking about how to incentivize customers to install our app, so uses a still half asleep me as a board to bounce ideas off of.

At some point I get frustrated and start working on a mockup of an app, just so that we have something to hand in when the competition ends at 4pm, and well, things just took off from there. The app looks alright and as the other members wake up they are on board. By 8am we are back in working mode, with each of us working away at some part of our presentation.

In retrospect our idea was not groundbreaking or super cool, but we pulled off something. We made a (in my opinion) killer presentation and while maybe our submission was not anything special, I think the audience really liked the way we put it out. I feel bad for letting the team down in terms of the tech, but in the end it is what it is, and I am glad I had the chance to do the event with them.

Unfortunately we didn't make it onto the second round, but I learned a lot of things from BizHacks 2019. I learned that you definitely need an experienced "techie" (which I was not) for any hackathon-related events. I learned that team morale is a very important thing and you should never overwork yourself because you will just burn out. I learned that a diet of various cured meats and clementines will make your stomach unhappy. And I learned that you should always bring a toothbrush and change of comfortable clothes to these things.

You can feel the despair

Thanks again to my favourite OLs

David, Kim, Shirley, Tiff, you guys are awesome. It's crazy to think that I might have never met you guys if it weren't for the fact that I became a Transfer Orientation Leader because I have so much fun whenever I'm with you all.

I already wrote about my adventures in February with these kids, but I just wanted to express my gratitude one more time (also they are now aware of the existence of this blog). Thanks again! I know I say it a lot here, but my life is so much better because of you.


Quickfire round + teasers for March

Alright it's getting kinda late for me so let's fire through the rest of February!

The UBCLOL team hosted UBC Cup League of Legends on February 16 and 17. It was a fun time overall and although we could have done a few things better it was overall well done :) Congratulations to the UBC Premiere team for winning the tournament and shout out to the UBCLOL team for their hard work (and Andrew for driving there and home, god bless). While we're still on the topic of UBCEA, I'm excited to make an announcement in my next post ;)

Austin, Philman, Sarah, and I recorded a podcast episode! It's been something we always joked about doing but we finally did it over the spring reading break. Austin brought his equipment over to my place and podcast aside, it was super fun to dedicate some time to talk about random things with people I love spending time with.

And to finish it off I played some volleyball during the last weekend of February. My love for volleyball has somewhat resurfaced, but I'm still pretty rough around the edges so it's been a learning experience for me. It feels amazing to spend a few hours at some remote volleyball center and just get away from the everyday stress of school and work.


March coming soon :))

February was hard to type up so I'm pretty surprised that I finished all of it just now. Overall a very solid month from me. I did not do the 16Personalities test at the end of February so we will be missing one month of data, but I will do one tomorrow (I guess today now) for March for sure.

Thank you for tuning in and sorry for the one month wait. Look forward to seeing you back here for our March post :)))

the weekend

The weekend of February 8 - 10 was one of the most jam packed, balls to the wall and turbulent experiences of my life. It was a ton of fun and looking back at it, none of it seems "real" so I want to write about it here in order to be able to look back at the memory fondly.

february 8

One of my lovely friends, Kim, who I met through being an Orientation Leader (OL) spontaneously invited our group to go up to Cypress and ski/snowboard. At first I didn't think too much of it - I've never been too big on snow-related activities and I assumed that I wouldn't end up going.

But it happened.

They somehow coaxed me into going and before I knew it I was calling my aunt to see if she had any snowboarding gear and wear for me to borrow. She pulled through and I couldn't wait for classes to end. David (another friend I've made from my OL adventures) and I bused from campus to meet up with Kim and from there we began our ride to Cypress. I had the pleasure of meeting one of Kim's friends, Annie, as well.

On the ride there we blasted what I like to call "oldies but goodies", songs from the 2000s. They have this magic that makes you feel young and free again. I think one of my favourite things about spending time with people who are slightly older than me is our shared tastes in music.

We made it up to the mountain eventually and from there time passed in a blur. One second I was grabbing my rental snowboard and gear and then the next I was falling flat on my face in the snow. It was my absolute first time snowboarding (same goes for David), but Kim has been doing it for a while so she tried her best to teach us the ropes (bless her soul). I had a lot of fun, though it was frustrating at times! It felt exhilarating to learn something completely new and adrenaline packed as snowboarding.

After a few hours of snowboarding, we headed back down the mountain with smiles and again, "oldies but goodies". We hit up my favourite ramen place, Ramen Danbo, for a late evening post-snowboarding meal and then it was time to head home. Kim insisted on driving me to the bus stop, but we were running a little late and just as we pulled up to the bus stop the bus left.

I was about to give up and ask them to drop me off to wait for the next one in 15 minutes, but somebody said something and next thing I knew we were chasing the bus. Tailing the bus for a minute or two (but what seemed like eternity), we finally caught up to it as it pulled up to a stop. I scrambled out of the car with thanks and goodbyes and I made my fastest sprint of the year to the bus. I got on successfully, shot them a text saying so, and I was on my way home.

Looking back at it, I am really glad that I ended up going. I actually bought a Gold Medal Card so I'm committed to going at least once more with them, but from this experience I wouldn't mind that ;)

february 9

Waking up I immediately notice that everything was sore. I had plans to meet up with David and the other people in our OL group who didn't go skiing - Shirley and Tiffany - in the afternoon, but fortunately we all agreed to push it later in the day.

At some point in the afternoon I arrive at David's place and Shirley and Tiffany join us shortly after. We get some chicken nuggets and settle into the main event of the day: Settlers of Catan. It's one of the first (and only to be honest) board games we played as a group and we always use it as a catalyst to gather and hang out.

Anyways, we play a game (Tiffany won) and then chat a bit about life. I always enjoy talking to these people because they have a different perspective and air from who I am usually around. I think it partly comes from them being a little older, but more just their personalities. I like it because we talk about things that make me want to be a better person and achieve greater things.

David and Shirley have a volleyball intramural match to attend and I have a meeting, so we disperse for our respective activities. Tiffany tags along with the other two to watch their game. I get to my meeting and we talk about setting up for the UBC Cup League of Legends tournament coming up next weekend. Overall the meeting could have been a bit more focused or productive, but I think it went well.

The other three finish their volleyball game and pick up food since I'm still in the meeting. Once I'm done I meet up with them at the Nest and we eat and talk. We finish eating and I remember that I still have math WebWork to finish, so David suggests that we all do it together for fun. I didn't think it would be that fun, but there was definitely something comedic about four students huddled around a laptop arguing about integrals and other math-y terms. With their help we finished my assignment and I was free for the rest of the night.

Shirley actually was planning to go to drop-in badminton, but we just kept talking and talking, then we said we wanted to play Smash Ultimate so that happened. Eventually we passed the point of no return and we ended up hanging out for the rest of the night. Sorry Shirley (but thanks)!

Basically I spent the whole day with a bunch of goofs but we had fun and that's all that matters.

february 10

I've noticed lately that waking up in the morning for work has gotten more and more difficult, and today was no exception. For a moment I consider calling in sick but I dispel that thought and force myself to get ready. I spend too much time preparing myself for the day that I miss the bus so I ask my mom to drive me to work. Even so I arrive a few minutes late and man I was ready to have a bad day at work, but I underestimate how happy my coworkers make me feel.

A huge thank you to whoever made my work schedule that day - it was really chill and the day passed by like a breeze. I genuinely enjoyed my day at work. I walk outside and the world has changed! In the morning the weather was relatively "normal" but after spending 8+ hours cooped up inside the mall I didn't see the beginnings of Vancouver's first snow of 2019. The whole thing feels magical and there's some instinctual joy in being warm on the bus as I work my way back home.


thanks for reading!

The entries for the 8th and 9th were actually written the day after the weekend, however my creative juices dried out by the time I finished them so this post has been sitting in my drafts for a while. Finally got around to finishing it though :) A lot of more exciting things have happened this month and I really want to talk about them! At the very least they will be mentioned in the monthly summary if I don't find the motivation to write a dedicated post for them.

See you next time!

January 2019

This month flew by really quickly and if time keeps passing like this I will be done uni before I know it (admittedly that's terrifying). Every day has been different and special in some way and I hope that trend will continue into February and onward. There were a lot of different things happening, but here are the major elements of my January 2019.


UBC eSports Association

By far this month saw more participation and time dedicated to the club. One of my favourite things about our president is the work she puts into setting up casual dinners for our executive team. Those dinners have helped me come out of my shell and become drastically more comfortable with other members of the team. I also started taking more shifts watching over the gaming lounge, which combined with the nights out make up most of my involvement with the club.

More importantly though, my mindset and attitude about the UBC eSports Association changed. I have become complacent with my contributions to the group and I believe that I can be doing much more. The League of Legends community does not feel as alive as it should be for a school of our size, and I used to pin blame on the community for not coming out to the events when I should have been criticizing myself. How can I blame the people for not wanting to go to events they don't like?

With this current understanding I hope to strengthen my resolve and reignite my passion of improving the League of Legends community. Even now I am thinking, "I'll leave it to next year, this year is done for," but I remind myself of this proverb: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.


Off-White

One important part of my growth was learning how to be single. For obvious reasons I struggled with the absence of a partner during the months (year maybe?) after my breakup, but the effects resonate to this day. Up until very recently (two weeks ago) I had this notion that I was a relatively attractive partner. I was confused as to how my romantic life was somehow more dull than the off-white walls of my room.

At some point I thought, "Well if people aren't attracted to me, then it's probably me." Just out of the blue. My theory is that I tried way too hard to make myself seem like a good partner, but to be honest I can't even say this with conviction.

So I am going to do what has always worked for me - stop worrying about it. I'm less than halfway through my time at university. I shouldn't worry about it so I won't. One might call this running away, maybe it is, but to me the act of actively restraining my behaviours is tackling on the problem head on.


16Personalities

An idea I had for these monthly summaries was to do the 16Personalities test when I write them and compare how I change over the year. While the test is not entirely accurate, it does give a rough gauge of one's personality. I'm looking forward to seeing if any cool changes happen and I hope you are too!

Historically I have been a mediator more often than not, but I was surprised to see this result after January. I feel like I changed a significant amount this month, especially in my understanding of how others viewed me. Though it is the pilot month so we will have to wait another month before the fruits of our efforts are revealed.

Things to improve and honourable mentions

Dude my dedication and discipline regarding school sucks.

People around me are seriously smart and I need to work hard to catch up. That's all (well not for what I need to improve, but this glaring issue of mediocre academic performance needs to stop).

Honourable mentions for significant parts of January: ultimate intramurals have started up again and it helps so much with my physical and mental health, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was really good, not having morning classes is bliss, and there may or may not be a podcast next time you visit here :)

See you all in Feburary.

The First Step of 2019

I've had trouble thinking about what to do for the first post of the year but it's already 10 days into 2019 and I don't have any concrete plans so we're going to play this by ear :)

Kevin's Might-Definitely-Do Goals for 2019

Good chance things will be added onto this list as the year goes on

1. Write a monthly summary for each month

Recently I have been getting caught in this mindset that negative events will have extremely lasting effects, regardless of how trivial the happening may be. I neglect to look at the bigger picture and let that one thing adversely affect me even though it will likely be nothing more than a blip in less than a month. For that reason I think this goal will help me look at everything in perspective and benefit my mentality.

2. Pass my road test and get my N

Kevin strikes back in a second attempt to get his driving rights. Stay tuned for more.

3. Start working out and eating better

I want to feel good about the way I look and I would like for my health to be better in general. 

4. Achieve over 90% in a course

I assume that I will achieve similarly on the majority of the exams for this course if I reach this goal, so no need to put down "Achieve over 90% on an exam" :)

5. Go on co-op or start the process of doing so

There is some training and the actual process of searching for an employer, so I will consider this done if either of those are started.

6. Make the trip to Japan!

My original plan was to go on a Japan trip in the summer of my first year but things obviously didn't pan out that way (not that I'm upset about that, rather it ended up being the opposite). Hopefully this will be the year!

7. Start and finish a substantial coding project
Whether it be through a hackathon with others or in my free time by myself I want to create something that is useful and well-made.


My 2019 so far

With new classes and new people every day has been exciting and I feel this renewal of energy within me. I genuinely enjoy the content that is being taught in all of my classes and I am excited to see what's in store for the future.

One thing I want to improve about myself is my attitude towards school. I want to look at assignments, quizzes, exams, and all that as challenges and opportunities to improve myself, as opposed to things I dread. I didn't write this goal above because there isn't an end point or tangible line to cross - it is a continual process. So far things have been going along well and I hope that I will be able to persevere when things get more difficult.

Something surprising that I discovered about myself is how comfortable I am being alone. In the past few months I've eaten at restaurants by myself, just whenever I get cravings or am out running errands. In the Lower Mainland it's pretty acceptable to have a meal by yourself (not that I know how it is in other environment) so me doing so isn't groundbreaking, but I am still happy that I do it.

I think I am also slowly, but surely, getting closer to my friends. I've always thought that your closest friends have to be people who you connect with immediately and spend all your time with, but upon second thought I see that I am wrong. Those deep and complex friendships I so long for may just come from friendships like the one I have now - they just need more time and love as they grow.

Looking forward to 2019.