Five Songs to Describe My First Two Weeks at UBC

(This is a post that I made on my UBC blog)

My first two weeks at UBC were composed of wide variety of overwhelming events, emotions, and experiences which will be imprinted on my memory forever.  They made an impact so huge that I cannot even summarize them through my own words.

So, being the music lover that I am, I decided I would borrow phrases from some of the most famous songs in the world today. I'll use the help of my friends (like Bruno and Taylor) to convey the feelings that define my first eight days of studying here at UBC.


1) "A whole new world is waiting / it's mine for the taking /
I know I can make it, today my life begins"

These were my exact thoughts throughout the Imagine Day. When I first heard of UBC, I knew immediately that this was where my dreams would come to life. Even just being admitted into and studying at this globally-renowned university is already a dream come true. So when I hopped off the 49 bus last Tuesday and saw the genuine excitement painted on the faces of my fellow freshmen, a sudden stroke of epiphany hit me. "I am now in a place full of possibilities. This is where I will spend the next four or more years of my life, so I better make this place mine", I thought to myself. By "place", I was not really referring to the physical campus of the university. I was talking about the world that is waiting for me to claim, the life that I am going to make most out of, the diem that I am going to carpe.


2) "I'm up all night 'til the sun" (not to get lucky, though)

In spite of being really exhausted on Tuesday night because of Imagine Day (I was all-out in showing my Arts pride during the Pep Rally), it was extremely hard for me to sleep that night. I'm sure it was because of how I was feeling about the next day (the first "official" day of classes for this term). I wasn't sure whether I was excited or nervous (maybe I was both) about it, but it sure kept me up late.


3) Just gonna stand there and watch me burn / That's alright because I like the way it hurts.

Go ahead, Math 184, just stand there and watch the complexities of functions, limits, and derivatives mercilessly burn my brain. In Grade 12, I detested functions so much that I think I have developed a fear of them since my Pre-Calculus 12 final exam. Clearly, when I added Math 184 to my timetable, I was hoping that functions would play a smaller role in my life. BUT GUESS WHAT? Our Math 184 prof started his first lecture by talking about exponential and inverse functions. The funny thing is, when he started going over them, I didn't feel scared. I was thrilled. I was positively challenged. I felt like that was my chance to finally be friends with Math.
...then newer, more complicated topics were introduced to us afterwards. My fear of functions came to haunt me down again.


4) We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time / It's miserable and magical

My first two weeks were layered with a steep zigzag of emotions. I must admit that these two weeks weren't all butterflies and rainbows. Of course, I'm extremely happy to be here. Yes, I feel free that I am going through this journey independently. But it also feels lonely at times to start this journey in such a big university, where each individual seems to be focused on reaching his/her own destination.
Taylor's right. It's really magical and miserable at the same time. Miserable because it just hit me how time flies so fast, and now I'm afraid I might not be able to feel this exhilarating journey while I'm in it. Magical because I know that no matter what happens during my time here at UBC, it will have an enormous impact on my life.


5) You've got the words to change a nation / But you're biting your tongue / You've spent a life time stuck in silence / Afraid you'll say something wrong / If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?

These are my own words of advice for myself. Honestly, I feel like I have been holding myself back a lot lately. I haven't been participating in lectures as much as I'd want to, haven't been introducing myself to as many classmates as I'd like to, and haven't been attending freshmen orientation events at all. I know I should start being proactive. I know I should start taking more risks. I know I should start building my confidence again. And I promise you I will. I will have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and finally make things happen. It might just take a bit of time.

If you want to know more about me, don't hesitate to check out the "Who am I?" page! :)

Choosing the Right University

    Getting into a well-known university is one of the many factors that contribute to one's success. There is this societal notion that attending a globally-respected university equals having an impressive résumé—and society believes impressive résumé attracts top-notch job offers. Because of this notion, graduating high school students all over the world are burning their lamps at night to be in the best universities of the world. If I go out to meet a graduating high school student tonight and ask him what his dream university is, Harvard would most likely be his answer.

When I was still a young lad, older students around me always looked up to Harvard, like it was some sort of divine paradise. Everywhere I looked—at the movies, television stations and newspapers, they always paid respect to that big H. Even my parents adored Harvard. Their reverence for that school drove me to think that Harvard solely dictates one’s fate. I had this childish belief that going to Harvard is a matter of life and death. If you’re a student in that school, your success is already guaranteed; if you are not, say goodbye to your dreams. As I grew up, realization came to my senses that everything about Harvard was a product of overhype after all.

Though I eventually realized that there is so much more to life than being at Harvard, I understood why thousands of students dream to go to this university. It has committed to providing high-quality education since 1636. It has produced a long list of notable alumni (current U.S. president Barack Obama, movie actress Natalie Portman, and NBA player Jeremy Lin to name a few). Its admissions are one of the most competitive in the world. It has consistently ranked high in internationally published university rankings. With these reasons, one can easily assert that Harvard is indeed the best university in the world. Or is it?

Harvard University (from britannica.com)

Vij’s, a Vancouver restaurant that is known for its unparalleled Indiancuisine, is Canada’s best restaurant of 2011 according to an annual survey byVacay.ca. The survey was answered by fifteen judges that include the country’s leading food critics, food bloggers, and culinary enthusiasts. Although these industry experts loved this Indian restaurant, many customers who dined here, surprisingly, were dissatisfied and upset.

            Evan T. R. Rosenman, a Harvardstudent, wrote about his and his friends’ struggles in Harvard. In his The Harvard Crimson article entitled “The Upside of Hating Harvard”, he tells his unsuccessful attempt in finding real happiness due to Harvard’s unaccommodating atmosphere. "Happiness only at parties, or in the twenty minutes after you turn in a problem set, or when you get to meet Mark Zuckerberg, is not real happiness. A happy life is one that is enjoyed in the living of it--one that we take pleasure not because it is an 'exceptional' life, but because we actually wake up every morning with a sense of hope and anticipation", he writes. He claims that Harvard students are prodigies at pretending to be happy, even if they wholeheartedly know that they are not. "We are well aware of Harvard's miniscule acceptance rate, and the fact that students all over the world would gladly take our spots. To admit unhappiness, then, would seem wildly selfish and ungrateful. So we convince ourselves that the problem isn't with out day-to-day lives--it's with how we are looking at them. We tell ourselves we love Harvard. We lie."

            Isn't it astonishing to know that Harvard, the world's "best" university, is not well-loved by some of its students? Of course, "not well-loved" is quite a bold statement, but people can't love something that does not make them happy, can they? Evan further explains, "For me, the problem of Harvard has boiled down to a desire for a lot more friendship, love, and sincerity. Though I fit many of the Harvard stereotypes--sardonic, competitive, ambitious--it took me years to admit that I struggled with Harvard's unsupportive environment. Problem sets took precedent over friendships. Leadership positions superseded relationships." Even though he agrees that competition ignites motivation for some students, he still admits that this kind of environment is not for him. "It wasn't the ideal place for me to get my undergraduate education.", he bravely confesses.

“We knew going into it that [Vij’s] was highly reviewed and that we would be waiting regardless of the night. So to be fair, I did have high expectations”, writes Turboca, a restaurant reviewer from California. She had two main problems with this restaurant: the long waiting line and the taste of the food. “On a Monday night, we waited for close to an hour”, she says.“Others have commented that the food is very spicy. The problem for me was not the heat level- but the lack of balance in the dishes. The flavor and spice came through only in the oil. For example, in the spot prawns you miss completely the freshness and light [sweetness] that you want from shrimp. Instead you get shrimp covered in intense spiced oil. That was the case for every dish we got.” She finishes off her review by sending out an advice to people who are planning to dine at Vij’s, “Don't overspend and overwait to eat at this 'in' restaurant”.

Another reviewer on dinehere.ca, Murdoman, writes, “We ordered some crab bites and samosas to start, followed by beef ribs, lamb popsicles and yam curry. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed we were in everything. The portions were adequate in size at best for the prices charged but lacking flavor. The lamb pops were nice but very uninspired as far as taste. I had read other reviews on this place raving about it and I cannot figure out why. Vij's is the biggest rip off in greater Vancouver.”

If Vij’s is the best restaurant in Vancouver, why can’t it live up to the standards of some of its customers—customers who need not be food experts to be disappointed? It is simply because not everyone has the same taste buds.The taste buds of the judges who answered the survey are completely different from those that posted negative reviews on the restaurant; they have their own biases, perhaps, due to their different norms.

            The best way of knowing the greatness of the restaurant is to find it yourself, and not chiefly rely on somebody’s opinions, or people’s words of mouth. Had Turboca and Murdoman not gone to Vij’s chiefly because of the positive reviews they read, they would have chosen a restaurant that better fits their taste buds.  Consequently, they would have had a better dining experience.

            In the same token, Evan’s story should serve as a lesson for us not to be easily enticed by a university’s reputation. In spite of the pressure that most of us, senior high school students, are facing, we must allot time and effort to find the university that is right for us. University rankings are created to know which universities are the best at different aspects of providing education. University rankings are based on various factors. The QS WorldUniversity Rankings, for example, are accumulated using six different indicators: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%),faculty-student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international facultyratio (5%), and international student ratio (5%). If you are someone who desiresto study at a school that would allow you to dive into a sea of academic research, then the QS World UniversityRankings can be a guide for you. On the contrary, if you care more about the diversity of the students and faculty of a school, then you should not pay close attention to this list since it gives the least importance to international faculty and international student ratios. Unfortunately, most people look at these rankings without scrutinizing the methodology.  They just focus on the universities that arehigh on the list, the ones that they believe are most reputable. They often forget that a school’s reputation is not an automatic reflection of the quality of education that a school provides. Judging a school by its reputation is no different than judging a book by its cover.

Universities are essential bridges to our dreams. They are not just providers of education, but also of opportunities, friendships, and meaningful experiences. Societal notion and school’s reputation can’t hand pick the right bridge for us, but our personality, needs, and ambitions can.