Looking Forward: The next 4 months.

The next four months: a time I both welcome and fear.

For the most part, I believe that I will enjoy the next four months - the weather will (hopefully) be summery and show signs of life blossoming everywhere, energies will be high, and a reprieve from school will be mine. However, he is going to be back at home, and visits will once again become once-every-few-weeks sort of occurrences; I do not know what job I will be holding (I would really rather not return to my old safety net and have chosen to search elsewhere). 

1. Weather.
- Get all the Vitamin D!
- Wake up by natural light streaming in early through my window.
- Be rid of the chills by simply laying down for 30 seconds outside.
- Rain is exciting and rejuvenating and makes me happy for the plants.
2. School reprieve.
- I love school, but my body feels the strain of spending too many hours 'loving' it.
- Social life, work life, and other 'lives' become independent of one another. 
- Must come up with a schedule of my own when work is not in the picture.
3. Absence.
- Visits will be the most exciting of times.
- Alas, my heart shall ache often and yearn for its partner in crime. 
4. Employment. 
- Where have I applied? Let us take a look: Chocolate cafes, healthy living cafes, jobs with the city in event planning, program coordinator, communications assistant, internship with local produce delivery company, summer camp counsellor, restaurants.
- Where might I apply? Let us take a look: Favourite UBC-local cafes, restaurants, healthy living themed shops.
- During the school months, I miss work! I miss that income and sense of having done a job well and making others satisfied through my service. Next year I suppose a great deal of my involvements will revolve around a sort of employment - even if it isn't a regular paycheque like those I would receive during off-school months.
- I want to try something new; I've had good times with my ol' pal Safeway, but I'd like to feel challenged in what I do this summer.

I expect excitement, friendship revival (for which I'm very excited), painful yearning, lots of family time, and hopefully a bit of travel this summer. It would be my wish to feel that I've grown a bit more, learned a few new things, and seen one or two new places. Many photos should be taken, and perhaps even a new friendship is to be made!

Recognition Banquet in Photos

Hello, and welcome to the NRHH/RHA Recognition Banquet of 2014!

Here, we take a moment to recognize some of the hard work and successes of student leaders at UBC within the National Residence Hall Honorary, the Residence Hall Association, and the university as a whole.

Gerri the gender-neutral giraffe welcomes you to our event, hosted on April 1st.

And this was a little bit of my perspective, as an outgoing RHA executive, as the event played out that afternoon!

Shaina has a talent for aesthetics.

 

The RHA had a
strong team this year.

I'll be sad to leave this executive team, but happy
to have gained new friends and colleagues for
the upcoming year!

 

NT and KT, VP partners in crime!

Back from Hiatus

Hello, M&M.

If I'm not mistaken, it has been quite some time since we've interacted! My hope is to be back more regularly for updates as classes end... and the season of studying for final exams begins.

In the last two weeks...

My mom made special homemade soup for me!

My sister turned nineteen and we went DANCING!

I obviously ended up baking cookies (CCK recipe).

In addition to birthdays, baking, and breaking it down, I have been preparing for the end of this term and what the next chapter of 2014 will hold. 

For the end of this term: 
- My final paper (the first paper I have written in about 16 months!)
- The transition report for the incoming RHA Vice-President
- Final events and socials for the RHA as a whole

The next chapter:

- Job interviews! One last Saturday, and one this coming Saturday with UBC REC

- My official induction as a member of the 2014-15 NRHH

- Applying for summer jobs!

- Preparing for my stint as a residence advisor next school year

Amidst all of these exciting upcoming opportunities and ongoing year-end preparations, I have been trying to get all of my socialization squeezed into these final weeks!

There was the Welcome to Wonderland Boat Cruise:

There was also the 2nd annual Barn Burner:

I also participated in my third Storm The Wall event! We placed first in our heat which was very exciting, and advanced to the next race - something I haven't accomplished before with my team!

Wall Me Maybe 2.0

Wall Me Maybe 2.1

Beyond attending and organizing events, I have been reflecting on what I've done and been a part of over the last eight months. 
~ Academics have been at a relative high for me, and my involvements have balanced well with school. For the first time in a while, I will miss courses that I've taken this year along with the professors that taught them; I also feel that my major has become more of a place that I feel at home, particularly in my gender and sex differences course (and my personality and behaviour disorders courses last term). 
~ I struggled through another visual arts class but enjoyed being able to use my camera for projects and was pleased that I applied something I'm passionate about in my final project (uploading to blog is currently being contemplated).
~ Being an executive member of the RHA has been great - it puts me in touch with every part of residence (mostly) and I have been a part of a forward-moving year for the organization. I regret the lack of closeness developed with my fellow executives early on, but am grateful that we've done so much as leaders and that we've bonded more in the last little while!
~ My personal life has expanded and evolved in terms of family bonds, friendships, and my relationship - all in ways that I think are taking me in a good direction. I don't know what this direction is, but it feels like a good and enjoyable one.


Overall, this year at UBC has been a good one.
The summer is always a mysterious next chapter - travel plans, new job opportunities (sorry Safeway), and time for friends and family in abundance!
I look forward to seeing where things go.

Once my camera's most recent photos have been uploaded,

I'll get back to this and update on the more recent events following

the Boat Cruise! Barn Burner, food adventures, and more!

Our cityscape view from the boat last weekend.

These are a few of my favourite things - ongoing

• Family, loved ones
• People
• Their relationships with others
• Health
• State of mind
• Well-being:
• Physical
• Mental
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Nutrition
• Equality - sexes, ethnic groups
• Pay
• Representation in career fields
• Social media, administration

Something is Growing

I cannot identify what it is, but every so often during the last few weeks I have felt this "something", and it seems to be expanding within me. It may simply be a sense of anticipation for the upcoming months that will determine what my involvement and living arrangements for the next academic year will be, but sometimes it occurs in the classroom - a context that makes me wonder if something I'm learning about is "clicking" and guiding me in a direction that I may choose to follow. 
While I remind myself that the path I choose is not the only path, or even the only realm that I will know (in my schooling, career, etc.), I am eager to find a short-term goal to pursue that will lead to longer term prosperity - until I find the next adventure, at least.

It is my hope that this "something" is a sense of what my first of these adventures will be.

Third Time's the Charm? Interviewed Again

Tuesday night marked my third round of the carousel interview process of becoming a residence advisor. It is not part of the process that occurs once you KNOW you are an advisor, but rather part of the process leading up to one of the following three points of contact:

1. The phone call: You've got it! You will hear from the Residence Life Manager of the residence area that you have been assigned to, and will be informed that you've been offered a position to be an advisor the following academic year.
2. The "who knows what might happen" e-mail: You have been placed on the alternate list; it is not a "no", but it is not a "yes". Based on others accepting their offers, and the retraction of some of those offers throughout the next several months, you may be hired later on. This will be dependent upon how your conveyed personality and attributes (during the interview process), along with perhaps your schedule, will complement a tentative team of advisors that has lost one of its members through one of the aforementioned processes.
3. The e-mail: You have not been offered a position as a residence advisor. There were many applicants and many strong contenders, but unfortunately what was collected through the decision-making process did not leave you competitive above those who were hired.

This year's interview felt different than the two before it, as I went into it without expectations about what was going to happen after. I was not trying hard to impress anyone with my bouncy personality and peppy, cheery tone; I was simply being me, and presenting my honest assets and what I felt were the contributions I could bring to a team. Additionally, I had gone in without 100% commitment to the idea of being an advisor - a large part of me wants to, because I think it is a path that would fulfill me and lead me towards something I could really enjoy doing for the first part of my life (whatever it is); another part of me is resistant to the moderate control over my schedule (required to be "in" 4 nights every week). That is the biggest concern, I think, which goes hand-in-hand with being placed where they think I am suited which will most definitely be far from that guy I'm fond of.

I have several other opportunities: Peer Wellness Coach, Wellness Peer, UBC REC, Residence Hall Association (take 3), amongst other things that may arise; more feedback and interviews still lie ahead.

The usual order of events goes like this:

- Apply for residence lottery

- Apply for advising

- Get placed around 2,500 on the residence waitlist

- Hear that I have been "alternate listed" for advising

- Go for council instead

- Get council position

In less than two weeks I will hear about residency, and advising by the end of February. In the beginning of February I will hear about interviews and more applications to fill out.

The next couple of months will be full of craziness and elections and tests and fun times and frustrating times, I am sure. I look forward to finding out what may happen.

---

As a celebration for my third interview being completed, we decided to go out for dinner - I wasn't wanting super filling food, but I was hungry and had not eaten very much, so I thought of a place I had been wanting to share with my fella: Nūba!

Halloumi Cheese, pita, Garden Falafel

Not pictured: Najib's Special (crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt)

Dessert: Various baklava - vegan varieties!

Careers Workshops

After attending half of the Careers in Student Affairs Workshop and half of the Arts Careers Xploration, I do not know what I want to do with my life.

I attended only half of the first workshop because it overlapped (most unfortunately) with the second. It was disappointing for me to leave early, as I was engaged in the panelists' stories and their enthusiasm about their work at UBC made me feel excited as well.

I attended only half of the second careers exploration because it didn't pull me in - I suppose I was not mentally invested in it in the first place. So much discussion of careers and post-graduation plans works its way into my daily life that listening to some established individuals discuss how they recently transitioned from students to professionals was almost frustrating for me. There were descriptions of luck and chance and killing time after they received their degrees before landing the jobs they are currently in; however, something about it just didn't engage me. Perhaps it was that particular session about careers in marketing and communications that didn't 'speak to me', but I left before the second session so now we won't know!

Potential takeaways:

• People working at UBC in student affairs love their jobs and it made me excited.
• Working as a barista can be a good time-killer before being hired by a world-class marketing firm.

Personally, I think that those are adequate takeaways. With no goal in mind right now, I think the best I can do is continue on with what I'm doing and reach out to opportunities that pull me towards them. It is those that I believe will ultimately contribute (directly or indirectly) in some way to what I decide to make my next big step. I keep reminding myself that my first career or path does not have to be the only one I commit to, though I do want it to be a meaningful one that I can enjoy for some time and gain new skills and knowledge from.

My time as a member of the RHA has been something I've really enjoyed, perhaps it will take me somewhere I cannot see yet.

We shall see.