Day 21-24 - July 17-20 - I don't want to leave you now

So I am finally getting a chance to sit down and write. I have like 10 min, not even sooo....


On Sunday I went to church...a United Church to be more specific. It was pretty interesting. Different format and structure. They gave us cookies and juice afterwards. We then worked the rest of the day on our house project and stayed up till 4am that day doing so. It actually wasn't that bad. I got cold and tired at 3am, then recovered 15min later. We worked long and hard all day long. PS HAPPY BELATED WILLY :)

Monday, June 19 was presentation day. I got up at 7:30am. My group finished off our business plan at 10:45am. We then had to send it off to Staples to print 4 copies and have them bounded. We were able to get through our 20 min presentation once by the time lunch came at 12pm. We got dressed and walked to the Four Sciences Centre Building to present. Our group went second. The products proposed were our bracelet "Valetudo" by [b]eHealth[y], molded utensils for elders with arthritis called "Formgrip", an electronic pill dispenser called "Pillz", a wheelchair handle mechanism that acts as a break when a person stands up from their chair called the "Airis" by INH Technologies and an adhesive heat sensored sticker that detects when objects/liquirds are too hot or cold. The panel of judges thought the Airis was the best overall, and so did the rest of the Shads who voted on Tuesday. Our group won best presentation. I definitely thought we had the best product, yes I know, there might be a bit of bias in that, but still. There were sooooo many flaws with the wheelchair breaking design system. Like errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. What if someone didn't put enough pressure? Or too much? We were talking to our PA today. Our bracelet and the Airis were the top 2, by about 25 to 20. She said their product seemed to be more feasible than ours, as ours would go more hand in hand when the eHealth system is proposed to come out in 2012, and full force in 2015 (according to my research!). I'm keeping a copy of the business plan, so I will definitely bring it home. As much as I wished I filmed our presentation, I didn't because I forgot the camera errrrrrrr.

Ya, so I was CMO (Chief Marketing Officer). I was in charge of doing that portion, which was about 15 pages of the 35 page report. Mhhhmmmm, it was a whole lot of stuff. Presentation went awesome. My group was all super impressed. I was really mad with myself though because I didn't know an important fact, how many MedicAlert bracelets are sold in Canada annually. I had my laptop with me, and after the presentation I checked to find that one million are sold yearly. Gahhhh, anyway, yaaaay, super happy to be done. I learned sooo much about business. And wow, business plans take a lot of work and effort. So my product isn't going on to nationals aka the RIM Shad Cup, though I really do think it should because it is the BEST. But whatevs, so my group wants to pitch it on Dragon's Den. I can still go to nationals and represent UBC. Anyone can join. After the presentations, we were given free time and me, Sarah, Alicia, and Julian went to this cafe shop up Thunderbird Rd. I got a strawberry smoothie with whipped cream. MMHHHMMM. Me and Sarah laid on the grass for like an hour just looking in the sky, talking about our group, and how happy we were of what we had accomplished, but sad that our Shad experience would soon be over. It was the best feeling of life right there, and we wished we would have so many more of those feelings in the few days to come. We had dinner that night, and then went swimming!!!! First time for summer 2010 :) My hair was craving to be damaged.

Today, we had a workshop and had to build these links to hold weights. Each group of 5 was either a rich, mediocre, or poor country. My group was Columbia, who was given limited time and resources. We actually ended up beating bigger countries like Canada and the US. yaayy! We then did more Shad speeches, had lunch, then did rec. We played assassin. I got out super fast as Sarah Park, the girl chasing me, was waiting outside the exit to the building. We played more Fifa World Cup soccer. Adam was my partner, and we represented France quite well. Right now, I am in monthbook, supposed to be browsing through pictures. I think someone might come yell at me soon. Sh*t. It's the computer programming guy. Oh, AND ALYSHA'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Shoot, I forgot to explain my hike to Mount Garibaldi. But I am super tired. I'm thinking about it, and I feel like crying. The place was BEAUTIFUL. I cannot even explain it. I am astounded by the beauty of BC. I feel like my parents have been hiding this place from me all my life, preventing me from wanting to move out here. But too bad, because I am asap. OMG ALL OF YOU HAVE TO COME. COME. COME. It is freaking amazing. ahhhh. Gorgeous, lovely, relaxing. I will explain what we did when I'm not tired. I know I will remember. It was a day to remember for sure. I wish you were all here to share it with me. You would have been impressed. I know.

Today is Sept. 1/10 and last night I was shelving magazines at the library and I came across "Explore - Canada's Outdoor Magazine, June 2009 issue." The cover title calling my attention was Best of Canada's Parks; 32 Places to Go in: Banff, Algonquin, Garibaldi, and more... I saw this and I immediately smiled. I quickly started flipping through the pages and came across page 34 on Garibaldi and a smiled gleamed across my face. There was a beautiful picture of the mountains and turquoise water spanning almost two full pages! The picture captured the beauty of the place perfectly. I checked the magazine out and showed my mom when I got home. She asked if the picture was a painting. I could only smile more. "Explore" described Garibaldi as

"Effort equals reward on this Coast Range classic. The trail up will feel like a StairMaster as it climbs 3,000 feet from the valley to the alpine through a pleasant old-growth forest with the occasional waterfall and meadow. And then it really gets steep. But when you crest the top and look down on Wedgemont Lake - a perfect alpine tarn ringed by huge glaciers and peaks - the toil will be forgotten. Plan to spend a day or two exploring this high-country playground."

...couldn't have said it better myself!

I'm out, we going beaching demain. wahooooooo. A full day of tanning and relaxing. Someone's going to have to remind me how to do this.

See you all very soon,

-Carolyn.



Here's the account of July 20 by a fellow UBC Shad.

It’s only now that the House Project has finally ended that we’re starting to realize how close to the end we truly are.

Amid sniffles and coughs, a sleep-deprived group of UBC Shads got up this morning to eat one of our last breakfasts in the cafeteria. Others, like myself, stayed in bed from a variety of illnesses –most likely caused by too many late nights.

After breakfast, we went through some of the remaining Shad Speaks. Among others, we learned a new language and how to make origami dragons.

Today we also had our very last rec. session. We played a campus-wide game of Assassin, an old favourite. Running through the campus we now knew so well – or at least better than before – brought back bittersweet memories of our first week at Shad. Even now, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been at Shad for three whole weeks. In a whirlwind of events that just seem to be one incredibly long day, we’ve gone from wary strangers to family.

Shads spent the evening in small groups, either slaving away on Monthbook or starting preparation for the Variety Show. Others just sat in circles, reminiscing about all the unbelievable things that have happened. The winner for the House Project was decided on, and amid many tears, valedictorians were picked as well.

Even as I write this, Shads around me are discussing ways to keep in touch, places to hold reunions, and holidays when everyone will be available. Although deep down we all know that no reunion will ever compare to the experience that is Shad, each one of us is determined to keep hold of the lifelong bonds we have made with one another.

Nina Chen, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario

Day 19-20 - July 15-16 - These are a few of my favourite things!

Bonjour!

Going to bed soon to guarantee a nice rest because tomorrow Shad UBC is going on an 18km hike up some mountain!! And we are leaving at 6:45am, nbd, I know. Anyway, I know this will be my last 7hr sleep, so let's make the most of it I guess?

Soooo yesterday we went to a workshop by an electrical engineer, at least I think that was his discipline (my short term memory is failing me this past month). We constructed circuits on breadboards, my first exposure to them. I was able to draw on my knowledge from Gr. 11 Physics to help me out there. Series, parallel circuits, and motors, switches, light bulbs and transmitters were all used. I really enjoyed that workshop. It took place in the engineering building, which by the way, is super new and nice. We then had lunch. I haven't really talked too much about food on this blog, pretty much because it hasn't been too much to talk about. Breakfast is my favourite. Always eggs, home potatoes, sausages, ham, and either pancakes, waffles, or French toast. A variety of cereals, bagels and breads is always offered. At the start of the program I always had eggs, sausages, potatoes, and the pancakes or whatever. But now I am just getting sausages, peaches, and cheerios. My biggest problem here is overeating. Man, all the food is so good. For lunch, there is pasta everyday, with some sort of sauce, rice, pizza, garlic bread, veggies, and some vegetarian dish. They have sooo many types of squares and brownies for dessert, along with jello, cookies, and the odd cake here and there. They have a salad bar open at lunch too. At dinner it is the same as lunch, just without the pizza. I always drink chocolate milk for all meals. Mmmhmmmm, my favourite. A lot of people here complain, but it really isn't that bad. There could be more variety, but there is only so much you can do to please everyone here, as sooo many people stay at the residence. Unfortunately the rugby players from New Zealand and the track stars from Australia have left :(, but the computer nerd camp is still here, along with the new arrivals of the 6 year olds from China learning to speak English!

Ya so, moving on food, and gorgeous boys. After the circuit workshop, a lady who is a speaker for Al Gore came, and pretty much embarrassed herself. She delivered a good slideshow, but her speaking was bad as you could tell she was just reading off some paper. It was obvious she had no science background when we challenged her data. She had fool written all over her face. A lot of people were sleeping, but not unusual I guess. It's not rare for Shads to sleep during lectures. I'd say at least 5 of us always have our heads bobbing everyone morning and afternoon haha. After this horrible presentation, we did rec and it was sooo much fun. We did a campus Amazing Race. We were put in random partners and given tasks to fufill all over campus. We had to decode the clues and such. One task we had to find a math equation on a certain page in a certain book in a specific library. I found the book and after copying the equation I "accidentally returned the book to it's wrong spot on the shelf because I just don't get the Dewey decimal system, even after working for 3 yrs in a library!" Haha, all the Shad after were like, "we spent minutes searching for the book, but couldn't find it, so we just left!" Anyways, I believe my partner Helen and I finished in the top 10 couples overall, out of 25 I guess? So not bad at all. We then worked in our committees, mine being monthbook. It's going pretty well. I helped Nick, the computer program guy, who does the yearbook for his school with the ladder of the monthbook. Trying the learn stuff here from this guy! We still have a lot to do. Sooo many pictures to go through! We then worked on our house projects till 12am.

Today we went to the earthquake simulation centre on the UBC campus. People were obviously tired from the night before working on their projects as people started sitting on the floor in the warehouse like building. One girl, Michelle, actually fell into a deep sleep sitting there haha. It was pretty interesting. Once again, I was able to apply the concepts I learned in the waves unit from Gr 11 Physics. Terms used included frequency, period, cycle, altitude etc. Some people didn't get his simulations, but I did! After we went to this workshop where this biomedical prof did a simulated orthopedic surgery on a virtual knee on this new computer system they just got. We then did this lab where we did our own simulation of this simulate surgery! We made two homemade cameras out of cardboard boxes and made this grid on the floor. Then we lit a candle, placed it on the grid, and individually looked through the cameras taped to the floor to give the candle a coordinate. We then plotted the coordinates. It was kind of interesting, enough to keep me awake. We came back to rez, on the way singing all the tunes from the Sound of Music, kind of surprising how many people, both girls and boys knew the lyrics. We had lunch, then had a mini presentation on applied science from a mechanical engineering prof here at UBC. It lasted probably 15 min. But we enjoyed cake at the same time because the ladies at the front desk of the Frank Forward building, where the majority of our lectures are held, felt we were such a friendly group of people! After cake, we had rec from 3:30-6pm. We played Quidditch!! It was a blast. I really enjoyed it. I will have to teach you all when I come home. It's almost exactly how they play it in HP, but without brooms. Shoneth, the rec PA, said that it's actually played competitively amongst universities. We are actually divided into 4 teams here at Shad, and all our rec activities are apart of the Shad Olympics, and so whenever we win, we gain points. Unfortunately my team is in 3rd place haha, but we did win the spirit points a couple of days ago. We then had dinner. I had a shower immediately after because I was sooo sweaty. So I missed the announcement that we had to be the FF Building at 6:45. The last I had heard was be at the lounge in rez for 7pm. So while everyone was walking over the some lecture, I was cleaning my room haha. Ya so I was fashionably late on a presentation a 3rd integrated engineer girl was doing. She was trying to promote UBC Engineering to us all (ya, nice try). After her bragging, all the PAs sat on a panel and we got to ask 1.5hrs of questions to them on university. It was really helpful. I learned that I will not base my choice of university on $$, but I will on the campus, and the spirit of it because all PAs nodded it does. Specifically Shoneth said it makes a difference. She was in some engineering program that required her to transfer from St. F of X to Dal. She said X was a much better environment, with tonnes of spirit, whereas Dal is full of serious people too concerned about their marks. I don't think that's bad though, but maybe some other factors play a role. I also learned that I MUST live in rez first year no matter what. One of the PAs, Kailey didn't because she wanted to live with her mom, and she said she regretted it a bit (sorry mom!). Ya, got some great advice today. Anyways, they sent us back to our rooms immediately following the panel that ended at 10pm. It's 11:40 right now. I've really got to go. So much for a quality night's sleep. I don't really think that's heard of here at Shadd...

-Carolyn



Here's the account of Thursday, July 15 by a fellow UBC Shad.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do […] Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

I draw inspiration from this quote each day but I feel that these words of wisdom resonate no stronger than here in the Shad Valley program at UBC. I speak for all my fellow Shads when I say that I truly appreciate that so many opportunities have been presented to me - exciting, new things that I have never done before and other things that I have never dreamed of doing.

After breakfast in the Totem Park Cafeteria, we headed over to the Irving Barber Learning Center for an engaging workshop by Dr. Jon Nakame, the lab manager for UBC's Engineering Physics department. We were introduced to the wonders of electronic circuitry- breadboard, batteries, LEDs, motors, switches, accelerometers, capacitors, and much, much more. In pairs of two, we all tried our hand at constructing various circuits in increasing complexity. After, we made the short trek to the EngPhys Project Lab to witness UBC students in action. They are currently working on entries for a robotics competition. The theme changes year from year; this year requires competitors to put together a robot that races a rival robot around a winding race track. The catch is - there is a shortcut that eliminates the difficulty of several sharp curves but the robot must confront a ramp instead. After lunch, the Shads went to the Department of Forestry building for a lecture "Climate Project Canada, YesBC!" by guest speaker Judy Fanstein. We were interested to learn that she has just recently returned from a weekend training session with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore where participants were trained to make presentations based on Gore's acclaimed documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". Half of her presentation was devoted to raising awareness of the cause and impact of climate change around the world. The second half was about the greenroots environmental leadership program that she founded herself - YesBC! (Youth for Environmental Stewardship). YesBC! also has received a grant from the Steve Nash Foundation with which they will purchase tree seedlings for participants. For rec, we all participated in "Shad Valley UBC Campus Chase 2010", which is inspired by the vastly popular television show: "The Amazing Race". Randomly paired with another Shad, we had to complete tasks at stations dispersed throughout the UBC campus. For the first task, we all had to collect 5 distinct items from a list. My team collected a maple leaf, a red pen, velcro, non-UBC lanyard, and a business card with an area code not in the Vancouver area. For the other tasks that were required to successfully complete the challenge, my partner and I did had to unscramble cryptic clues in order to find the next waypoint including the following:

This ain't no carnival, foo!

Don't be cheeky! There's no time to stop and smell the roses when there's a task at hand!

We quickly deciphered this clue and ran to the Rose Garden at the far end of campus. There my partner had to face-paint on me Nintendo’s Mario character to a PA's satisfaction. For the six tasks, my partner and I took a little over an hour to complete and to our pleasure; we came in the top 10 of the 25 team field. After dinner, we were given an hour for committee time and the rest of the time to work on the house project!

Our time at Shad Valley is winding down but I am ecstatic that I got to share my incredible experience here with 51 other talented and motivated Shads. Good luck with your house projects and good night!

Adam Hsieh, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Day 17-18 - July 13-14

Hiiiiii,

So yesterday we went to Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, in the mountains, just outside Vancouver. They call it the lower mainland, similar to the GTA in Ontario. We had no idea where we were going until we got there. It was a 2 hour bus ride and I slept :) We listened to a speaker, a Shad alumna in the morning who gave us more cliche advice. She said she also had heard this advice all her life, but never actually listened to it, but that she wished to engrave it more in our heads, so that maybe she would be the one person us Shads would listen to. She was in her 5th year at SFU in Biochemistry, but was on her way to becoming an elementary school teacher so that she could hopefully influence and share her passion of science with them, before they begin saying "I hate science." We then went to tour some labs, one on mitochondria, optics, and water flow in rivers. We then toured the campus, which I believe is ugly. It is full of concrete, concrete, and more concrete. Most of the campus is covered, so that you can walk between buildings to get to classes, because supposedly it rains there a lot? Oh, and I think they have a high suicide rate too. They seem to be big rivals with UBC also because our guide kept dissing them. We then did a workshop in the afternoon on marketing. We designed a lego jeep and had to market it. We called ours "Boss Authority." And we won best group for team spirit! YAYY! SO I got a little treat bag with an eco-friendly mug. YAYY! Anyways, we left the campus in the late afternoon. We had dinner, and recently I've been playing a lot of soccer. Well, more goalie I guess. We play Fifa World Cup style, and I am also becoming quite the goalie while at it. We then worked more on our House Project. It's going really really well FYI.

Wednesday July 14 we had a PA workshop and I went to this engineering one. We had to design a method to get clean water to people in Haiti following the massive earthquake. We were judged on our product and presentation. Unfortunately, my team didn't win, but we learned a lot. Shonneth, the one who ran it, who just graduated from Dal with a mechanical engineering degree, based our workshop n engineering competitions she goes to. They seem extremely intense. We then had lunch, and had a lecture on materials, which I did not understand at all. We then went to this president's BBQ on the campus. We all dressed up. I wore the dress I bought in Vancouver. We just sat with a person on the UBC administration at our table. No networking or mingling or anything of that sort. We came back and enjoyed a Coffee House night. Some amazing acts for sure. Very impressed with my fellow Shads. Makes me love em even more. I filmed the whole thing, so I will def have to show some clips when I get back. We got more house time after coffee house. Time is running out, so we now stay up till 12 every night. So ya, I am going to bed, it's 1:30am. NBD(no big deal). Lataaaaaaaaa

-Carolyn

p.s. I am in the front row of the pic, wearing a black cardigan, and black dress!

Day 14-16 - July 10-12

Forewarning: All future posts will be VERY short.

Now that we are getting closer to the end of Shad, it's crunch time for house projects and such, so please don't get upset when my posts aren't as detailed as my previous ones. I am really tired right now and cannot remember what I've done in the past few days, so forgive me if some things sound sketchy. Oh, and I haven't posted for a while because people have been late showing up for lectures so they have been giving us curfew @ 10:30pm, and we don't stop working on our house projects until 10pm, so there is no time for any blogging, or facebook, or email, or anything really. But today was an achievement for us Shads because we were all on time all day.

Yesterday we went to Vanier Park to Bards on the Beach to see a Shakespeare Play - "Much Ado About Nothing." Supposedly this theater is world famous, and so it should be because it was really well done, funny too! We hung out at the beach there (check out pic) and sat on the rocks for a couple hours. We ordered pizza and ate there. Today we had a super awesome speaker. His name was Alex Shipillo or something along those lines. He was a Shad alumni 5 yrs ago at Memorial U. He works for Impact (Entrepreneurial Group), and has created tonnes of oppurtunites for himself. He has gone to a black tie affair, afternoon tea and had dinner with the Royal family at Buckingham. Google him, I was sooo inspired today and received awesome advice. I'll tell you more about him when I get back because there is so much. We did more rec today. Which reminds me, two days ago we had 4hrs of rec at the UBC gym. We played badminton, basketball, and volleyball and did gymnastics!! Gymnastics was the best part. I went on the beams and was able to a full 360. I was so proud of myself. I still run every morning, but not tomorrow because I am up so late now and we have to be ready to go @ 7:40am tomorrow for who knows what. Everyday is a surprise and I love it.

Man, so far I am enjoying myself so much. These Shads are awesome and I love them all so much. They are completely normal people and are NOT nerds haha. Many of them are super athletic and we do exercise every morning. For eg, one is a speed skater and trains at the oval in Calgary. Ahhh, i don't want to leave at all. I know I still have a week or so left, but that's not enough. I am dreading leaving this place and the people. I have experienced so many wonderful things, it's so upsetting knowing that it will all end so soon. This month has been a blur, and too scared to see it go.

Grrr, got to go. Battery about to run out. Talk soon,

-Carolyn



Here's the account of Monday, July 12 by a fellow UBC Shad.

Waking up to the sound of my alarm clock…
Then groggily brushing my teeth and wolfing down my breakfast…

At last, I arrive at the auditorium to hear two awesome—and no doubt very informative—lectures: one by Ken, our Program Director here at SHAD UBC, and another by a rather special guest…a guest who had been in our very shoes five years ago (a little SHAD with some very big dreams and ego), who, through his commitment and hard work, has attained international recognition. He is of course, none other than Alex Shipillo, who has traveled far and wide, and finally back to his home in Vancouver to share his success story, and push us towards the right direction. Ken was, as usual, incredibly animated during his lectures, and combated fiercely with fellow Shads about the validity of Classical Economics.

But the day doesn’t simply end there: our Program Assistants graciously organized workshops. Each workshop is unique to the PA who designed it-and just to illustrate their diverse skills and interests, our choice of workshops included: Rubix Cubes, Philosophy, Karate, Graphic Design, Kilts, and Poetry. I, along with a cozy group of two other Shad buddies, tapped the hidden poetic potential of our brains and followed our chirpy PA to one of the coolest buildings of UBC: the library. But Not just any library, this library has a little room with a rather peculiar interior design—it was vaguely inspired by the Great Hall of Harry Potter. Have a look!

Upon returning to our residence with a renowned appreciation for nonsensical medieval poetry, Victoria love ballads, sixties hippie poetry, and of course much much more, we continued the vigorous competition at Rec, and fortified our group projects.

At last, I’m relaxing on a couch in our common room, with the relaxing beat of the drum and piano, sharing yet another incredible day at SHAD Valley UBC.

Signing out (and goodnight),

Angela Bo Wan, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ontario

Day 13 - July 9 - Tourist for the Day!

Today was a blast! We woke up this morning expecting to attend yet another full day of lectures, but instead we were told that we were going to VANCOUVER!! We left around 9:45am and took Vancouver city transit to the heart of the city. We went on the new "Canada Line" that was created for the Olympics. It's pretty much a subway system, but the loading zones/terminals/underground is air-conditioned, and the ride is much more comfortable and smooth. We got off the subway, and headed past Canada Place I think it was called, straight for the Olympic torch. The torch is a lot smaller than I imagined, or at least what it looks like on T.V. It is placed in a pool of water with a little fountain/waterfall in the center. No fence though! We were then given the opportunity to travel Vancouver in groups of 3 all on our own-yay for freedom! Ricky, Andjela, Julie, and I proceeded onto Stanley Park, and boy was it a long hot walk in 30 degree weather. It probably took us almost an hour prancing along the coastline. My feet killed. If I were to do it again, I would highly suggest renting bikes. Everyone was either on roller blades or skates. There are actually lanes designated by a median for those on bikes/skates. We were so tired and beat by the time we made it to the main entrance of the park, that we walked just past the Vancouver ROWING Club (got a pic with that!!). We never actually went into the park, which was a bit upsetting. Andjela wanted to shop, shop, shop. We met up with a group of 7 boys, with whom we went to an authentic Korean restaurant, BBQ style. It was so good, and guess what?! I have finally mastered the art of chopsticks :) We ordered 11 dishes of food consisting of BBQ chicken, BBQ pork, fried chicken, rice, and more. It was super good!

After lunch, we carried onto Robson St, the shopping district of Vancouver. Very similar to Toronto. Me and Julie split from the rest and went in some stores together. I didn't buy anything except a $40 dress on sale for $20 from French Connection. That was it, not too successful really. Shad Valley UBC is hosting an alumni BBQ for those in the Vancouver area so I figured I could showcase the dress then. We eventually made our way back to the torch, our meeting place @ 4:30pm.

All in all it was a very pleasant day. I absolutely love Vancouver and have officially fallen in love with it. The landscape is breathtaking. The water surrounded by mountains is so close to you, something I have never quite witnessed. I regret having toured with the people I did though (shhh!). They were a hoot, but I would have loved to have done more "touristy" things. I would have liked to have gone into Stanley Park, visited the Aquarium, seen the Steam Clock, gotten marble ice cream, and shopped at an official Olympic store. Next time for sure though, with bikes. So we got back around 6:30pm. We had take-in Chinese food because the caf had closed. We had some Shad speaks, and that was pretty much it. Tomorrow we are attending workshops organized by our PAs. We had to choose, and because my group won the scavenger hunt on the first day, we got first choice. I chose one on ethics-should be interesting. I'll let you know all about it tomorrow. Until then,

-Carolyn

Day 12 - July 8 - Progress

Good morning!

Today we had a lecture on marketing from our project director Ken. We then worked on our house project an it seems to be going really well. We are all eager to continue work on it later today!!! We toured an aerospace lab and robotics lab today also. I played ultimate today as well, huge improvement guys :) And duck duck goose! It was soo hot today! Sweating buckets today! Also played tennis today. My friend Andjela is giving me private lessons. I'm pretty lucky seeing as she charges $30/.5hr lesson!!!!! We were also honoured with the presence of Shad Valley's President Barry Bisson who is on his 4th campus visit out the the 10 hosts. He went to the labs with us, ate with us, listen to our Shads do their speeches, and he later gave some remarks concerning the program and how prestigious it was. He mentioned that the people who review Canadian applications at MIT first look to see if they attended Shad Valley. He said 1000 student applied this year, 80% of which were all qualified candidates. They accepted ~500. He said 60% of 2010 Shads are females. He said that UBC, Waterloo, and Queens are the most requested universities to attend Shad Valley. He also said that the students with higher marked applications generally receive their first choice of campus (so I guess I was in that pool :)). Anyway, I've G2g, going running in 5 hrs.

Later,

-Carolyn



Here's the account of July 8 by a fellow UBC Shad.

Today, Thursday July 8, 2010, after waking up to British Columbia’s beautiful sunrise and UBC’s mind blowing campus, we started the morning with an entrepreneurship lecture, and then moved into the afternoon with workshops on robotics and aerodynamics. Personally, this was an amazing experience because I was never exposed to such studies on practical engineering.

Not only does Shad provide us with a profound world of intellectual thought, it also teaches us the importance of maintaining a well balanced life. After some physical activity, we explored the campus. I cannot express its beauty – the atmosphere, the trees, the environment, the people – everything was absolutely perfect! After dinner we had the pleasure of speaking with Barry Bisson, the President of Shad Valley, who taught us how we can transform this one month experience into one that lasts forever through active participation in Shad Valley and its eternal growth.
We ended the night with beautiful Shad Speaks. I love this time to learn about the great people I’m living with. Many times their amazing skills are initially unseen. Thus these mini presentations provide every Shad with the opportunity to share a part of them they may never have been able to share in a simple conversation.
Simply through this busy day, I can express that Shad Valley UBC has opened me to an world of unlimited possibilities. This experience is definitely helping me grow into the person I hope to become. I loved the past twelve days and will cherish it for the rest of my life. I cannot wait for the next 15 days of adventurous journeys that lie ahead of us.

Midila Anton, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Day 10,11 - July 6,7 - WOW!

Bonjour!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post a blog yesterday. Our free time is limited these days and I have lost all internet connection in my room. So, I'm going on memory now when I post about the previous day's happenings.

Yesterday, we listened to a lecture on a mechanical engineering prof here at UBC talk about a new design he made to purify DNA. I forget what it was called...I'll have to check my notes. Anyways, the physics nerds here really really enjoyed it. They said it was the best lecture we've had so far. We toured the lab in which they come up with and manufacture their product. We played capture the flag for rec and it was awesome! I had sooo much fun. We played around the campus. I ran though the forest and have bad scrapes all around the fronts of the bottoms of my legs. They still sting! After dinner (which I must say is lacking in variety, only consisting of pasta, rice, and the same sauces everyday), we had ANOTHER lecture. It was really good though. We were exhausted however. It was more of a panel of 4 presidents/CEOs. There were some huge head honchos there from various big companies. One of the guys had a meeting earlier that day with the BC premier, and another had his own handler there sitting in listening. Our PAs couldn't get over who these people were and kept stressing how important these people are.

This morning I got up at 6am to go for a run, getting up 1.5 hrs earlier than I usually do! It was really nice out, I went running with 5 other Shads. We had more lectures today. We had a conferency type lecture over Skype with these people who are doing this study called Pavillion Lake. And then we talked to CHRIS HADFIELD, CANADA'S FIRST ASTRONAUT to go to space!!! We got to ask him questions and another astronaut who has been to space 4 times! And we also received a lecture from an astrophysics prof at UBC who is an officer of the Order of Canada! He was really quarky, but sooooo good. I actually listened. We played dodgeball later for Rec. We had another lecture from a Shad alumnus. He talked about privacy. Oh!! and I have to tell you something really weird that happened to me yesterday, but I don't have time, my battery is running out. I'll fix this post up later. G2g to bed. BYEEEE!!

-Carolyn

Day 7-9 - Jul 3-5

Hi Everyone!

I'm back!! yay! I had an awesome time camping, well I wouldn't exactly call it camping, more like luxury camping haha. I got to travel in the van with my project house because there wasn't enough room on the bus with all the bags. It ended up working to our advantage because our driver was the program coordinator, Ken who gave us many tips about entrepreneurship. We were also put on a different ferry than the rest of the Shads, so it gave us the opportunity to interview "Canada's aging population," which hopefully gives us a slight edge on the competition house projects because they did not know our trick. We left around 8:30am Saturday morning. We drove to the ferry place, wherever that was, for 50min. The ferry lasted 2+hrs. It was a smooth ride, but cold and windy up on deck, so we didn't stay for long. We played the card game "President" for just over an hour until we came up with the great idea to interview Canada's aging population! We learned a lot from them, and we asked for their opinion on our proposed product which is an electronic medi-bracelet.

We are hoping to have a digital chip part of the bracelet that people with allergies etc. have, that will contain the past-medical history of the patient, in times of emergencies. This will allow doctor's quick access to a patient's records at the hospital or on the accident scene. In addition, access could be allowed in foreign countries, for eg if the patient is travelling. Furthermore, we are hoping to incorporate a GPS type navigator or dad's idea of a RFID thing which my group seemed to like. It would be used to track patient's with Alzheimer's, dementia, etc. We would design this product with tight security. So, what do you readers think? Would you agree to wear this bracelet? Do you feel comfortable having ALL your past medical history in this bracelet? Including blood type, diseases, emergency contacts ect? Do you see any errors, or loopholes that could be covered? Just to inform you all, because I don't think I made this clear, there are 5 groups of 10 Shads here at UBC that will each design and market a product that will compete against each other. The product with the most votes made by their peers, will be sent on to compete against the other 10 host Shad Valley campuses across Canada (Dalhousie, Queens, Mac, Waterloo...). Judges will be present to provide their professional input and possibly influence the Shads' decision making. Anyway, got a bit off topic, so CALL ME, EMAIL ME, COMMENT THIS POST, whatever you do, my group would greatly appreciate your input, it could be one sentence. Whatever it is, be honest, that's what we value most.

So back to my trip, we got off the ferry at Nanaimo, Vancouver Island (home of the nanaimo bars). We then drove 1+hrs to Horne Lake, our camping site. We set up our tents all on our own. I was put in a tent with 6 other girls, the max capacity. But it was good in the end because the nights were sooooo cold. Thank goodness for my sleeping bag. We had a campfire later that night after an amazing dinner that was...catered! haha. We sang songs on the campfire to a guitar and made smores. After witnessing some poor organization with my rowing team and student council this year, it was so nice to see some here at Shad. In fact, always. I feel so stress free here, and I am never worried. The atmosphere they create for all the Shads is warming and you always feel at home, which, I love :)

The following day, Sunday, I went canoeing and rappelling. Canoeing was an absolute blast. My new friend Julie (yes, I made a friend here, what a surprise eh?!) and I partnered up. She contributed her canoe steering, and I, my rowing muscles. Together we made an awesome team. After that, we played this game where you and your partner stand on the gunnels of the boat and try to make the other fall off. I partnered with my PA Lars. It was SOOO much fun. He's like twice my size and I was trying sooo hard to knock him off, and we stood there for a good minute. I listened to all the tips the tour lady was giving me, but I couldn't even tilt the boat to one side because he carried so much weight. I ended up falling in the water, but shortly after, he fell in too! I definitely encourage you all to do this. Oh, and I totally forgot, but the landscape there at Horne Lake=GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!! It was absolutely breath-taking. The mountains were like those in a National Geographic Magazine. Man, all I can say is that us Ontarians are missing out on a whole lunch. It was magnificently beautiful. The mountains were extremely high, but at the bottom were lakes of water where we canoed, and I just couldn't help stop admiring this. Just fantastic. Anyways, rappelling was fun! Not scary really at all. Rock climbing is MUCH more difficult. I rappelled down a 25ft wall of a mountain up in the forests where heli-logging was also happening. The climb to the top was really steep and tiring. Later that night we went caving. Which was AWESOME!!!! This was by far my favourite part. We went for 4 hours. We went up in the forest and looked at trees. Our tour guide was so passionate about caving, oh, and did I mention an ex-firefighter ;). He actually knew a tonnes, and we were lucky to have him because he was the Chief cave guy at the park. We went in three caves. It was actually really hard. The rocks were slippery and wet, and all you had to see with was a helmet with a light-there was no artificial lighting in these caves. But I loved it, everybody did. We even climbed a waterfall in the cave!!!! And the passageways were super tights, that you had to turn your body sideways, and even that was tight for me! If you could do anything, go caving for sure. Not scary because you are with so many people, but it definitely helps if you are smaller in stature! But either way, GO GO GO GO GO!! Anways, in the end, by far the best nature trip in my life so far. I learned so much, and have a better appreciation for nature. Btw, my frisbee skills have improved tremendously. During our spare time at the camp, I improved by catching skills haha and my forehand throw (the one where your hand flicks towards you), and my hammer is progressively getting flatter! Oh, and I want to do yoga now. When we returned today, we did that for rec, and it was so relaxing and exhilarating for my body, ugh, wonderful is all I can say. And, we went through the city of Vancouver on our way back home. Soooooo nice. Definitely want to go and see it again. It's very similar to Toronto, but the weather here just seems so much brighter and fresher. Anyways, here I am now. Finished yoga and talking to some French guy. I made a pac with him today, that I would only communicate with him in French. I'm super excited to take on this challenge! So I've made some goals for myself here as the days go by, so far they are: become awesome at frisbee, tennis, french, and do the bear pose in yoga. I think that's good for now!


Talk to you all soon

-Carolyn



Here's the account of July 3 by a fellow UBC Shad.

On this Saturday we woke up extra early for an 8:15 departure for Horseshoe Bay so that we could board the ferry for Nanaimo: we were bound for Horne Lake Camping Grounds! Everyone was uber excited to go camping and full of energy during the two bus rides and the ferry ride to the campsite. Everyone sang along to the songs that our kind bus driver put on the radio, and I sang for the whole four hour ride to the campsite.

We arrived at the campsite and were immediately hustled to our first activity: rock repelling. We had two guides who radiated competence from the first time they spoke. They expertly led us through all the steps of climbing down cliffs and helped many of my friends overcome their fear of heights. The climb down was exhilirating: I wanted to go down higher cliffs than the ones I had been repelling, but unfortunately, it was time to head back to our campsite.

My group got lost for around fifteen minutes and so arrived at dinner late. Even so, dinner was amazing. The desert, which was ice cream sandwiches, were melting, and so to help the caterers reduce waste, I swallowed three before my groupmates had time to collect their tacos, fruits, and vegetables and get to the dinner tables. Understandably, I didn't feel too well afterward...

The whole group went to the beach to cool down after a hot day of activities and sweating. The water was surprisingly cold and my fingers had a blue tinge to them when I left the water to dry myself. I, along with many other Shads were severely chilled and rushed back to the campsite to find solace in our fireplace.

During the night we had a campfire in which everyone sang songs and told scary stories. We made smores, passed around sunchips, and drank fruit juices for snacks while talking around the campfire. Eventually, a massage circle formed and everyone enjoyed soothing massages after a long day of hard activities.

After the campfire, we brushed our teeth and went to the bathroom...in the bushes, but were disappointed to find out that the campsite lacked shower facilities! This was worse news than when the boys found out that they were limited only to three meals per day. Sweaty, sticky, and smelly, everyone went into their tents to sleep, awaiting a new day full of adventures at Horne Lake Campgrounds.

Ricky Leem, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Coquitlam, BC



Here's the account of July 4 by a fellow UBC Shad.

Celebrated south of the border as a day of independence, today was one of the most free-spirited and invigorating days of my Shad experience so far. Lectures, projects and committees have all been set aside this weekend as we bask in the natural beauty of Vancouver Island while camping. This second day of our trip has been nothing but action-packed; from canoeing in the morning, to rappelling in the afternoon to caving at night, there was no time to rest.

Caving was indubitably my favorite, for not only were we immersed in geology as it dictates, but Biology and Chemistry as well. Our superb guide Nick talked about everything from minerals, to troglobites, to carbonic acid formation and how it breaks limestone down. He also explained how limestone is primarily composed of billions of shells of prehistoric sea-creatures.

We were also given the honor of entering a cave that was gated from the public, which was very exciting for all of us. One of the most interesting things we did while caving was absolute darkness. It’s exactly how it sounds; we turned off our headlamps and there was no light whatsoever, which is a humbling experience to say the least. I encourage readers to look up proprioception, which became very blatant in that experience.

We then had a campfire and after singing a few songs, everyone returned to their tents; all save one. This one camper decided to fervently write his blog while this all was fresh in his mind. With that being said, I can finally succumb to these aching bones and drooping eyelids. As I lay my pen down, I have but one thought in my mind: even though it’s still the beginning, I already know I don’t want Shad to ever end.

Jared Valdron, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Riverview, New Brunswick

Day 5 & 6 - Happy Canada Day!

I know I say this every time, but this will be VERY short and brief. My internet is gone in my room, even with an ethernet cord, so I can only go on internet in the common room. But they are kicking me out in 13min @ 12am as we need our sleep because we are going CAMPING tomorrow. Yes, camping. I know. Don't scare me. 3 days, 2 nights of h-e-double l. I am only bringing the Head backpack full of clothes and stuff, and of course a sleeping bag.

Yesterday, we worked on our monthbook and on our house projects. For monthbook, it seems like it is coming along. A boy in our group for monthbook is very tech-savy (he's the one who discuss Scheme). I know I could have done this, but he created a survey over google docs which will generate stats for our yearbook. They will be nerdy stats, like which Hogwarts house are you in (Ravenclaw etc) and are you asian or caucasian haha, you are only given those choices. Oh and guess what dad, he has a tablet and everyone here was admiring it today. Oh and a boy who goes to a private school in TO (St. Andrew's College) said that every student was given a tablet, and they ALL takes notes on them, even in math. They never have written notes anymore. All I could hear in my head when he was describing this was dad's voice saying "I told you so". So I say, another point for you dad-you are always right... Our project house is not coming along. When I get time (which seems to get more scarce everyday) I will have to discuss our progress. BUT PLEASE, comment if you have any suggestions on how Canada's aging population can live better. I know it's broad, so comment, comment, comment! All of you, we need ideas.

So, today was good. We had a full day workshop with this amazing guy who works for Oracle. He taught us more about the design process which he said should follow the process of identifying user profiles, creating a task flow (what are their needs) and write a scenario. He told us to focus on the consumer, and what the technology can do for them. He said engineers think too much about what technology can do for them, not for the user. Anyway, long story short, loved the lecture (which we have everyday). Ahhh, I have to go!!

I won't be home until Monday, so I will post again soon. Sorry for the limited details. But know that I am having a ton of fun, learning soo much, and the people here are amazing. Our PAs are awesome, they are the nerdiest, yet coolest people I know. And my fellow Shads are just fabulous. We have all become a lot closer since the first day. Music is played every night, and this guy is awesome at the guitar and we all sing along. AHHHH they are kicking me out!

Talk soon, common later!

-Carolyn



Here's an account of Friday, July 2 by a fellow UBC Shad.

I have heard over and over again that Shad Valley is a life changing experience. Even though, I came with my doubts, it’s been six days since I landed in Vancouver airport and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Although I struggle with the names, I’ve been able to meet an amazing group of people who share many of the same passions as I. This was a day of preparation for our house projects. We had a speaker in from Oracle to talk about design and problem extrapolation. As a result, from nine in the morning to noon we were in the lecture hall. After we practiced what we had learned by solving a problem about food distribution of food for the homeless - an interesting topic that had a lot of possible results, something that isn’t really discussed the presentations at the end were very interesting, it showed the individuality in our group. The evening was filled with lots of packing for our camping trip tomorrow. The evening was rushed in the sense of needing to find our gear, but after that we spent the rest laughing, playing soccer and using the musical instruments in our dorms. Included in the evenings affairs was laundry. A very difficult task for someone who has never done his own laundry before. Thankfully there were a number of Shads eager to help. It’s amazing how quickly our group of Shads have become friends. Every day we feel more comfortable around each other and build upon our relationships. I can`t wait to look back upon this experience and see how much it influenced me.

Jordan Bertagnolli, Shad Valley University of British Columbia 2010
Hometown: Rocky Mountain House, Alberta

Day 4 - Jun 30 - I Think I Might Like it Here

So I am seriously making this quick as it is 1:06am. Yes, I just said am.

So breakfast was good once again. However, I'm definitely going to have to start cutting down on my portions. This whole buffet style of greasy foods really isn't doing my body any good. We found out our Project House topic, which in brief is a product we have to deign to assist the aging baby boomer population. It can be whatever, so if ANY of you have ideas, please comment and let me know, we'd love to hear your thoughts. I'll give you the actually question when they give it to me in writing. We had another speaker today. This lady is a doctor and is researching ways to prevent Alzheimer disease here at UBC. She said how she really loves working with students and was impressed by our intriguing questions. She gave us her email address if we had any questions in the health care field, whether it be applying for Med school, or doing research work in her lab with her during the summer. I'd say half of the Shads here are interested in health sciences. It's astounding. We were also put into committees today that we are responsible for on top of the house project. I am in charge of "monthbook". In other words, a yearbook. In my group of 14 I am surprised how people know so much about graphic design and layout. I am hoping to learn a few tips and tricks off of them here. By the way, do you know what Dropbox is? My group was trying to explain it to me but it just wasn't clicking. We then went to the Museum of Anthropology, very interesting. They just finished huge renovations. Mom would have really enjoyed this. There were totem poles, canoes, weaved baskets and carvings everywhere! Later in the night, after supper, we had more Shad speaks. Today there were more interesting presentations. Yesterday, this girl gave us a physics lesson on relative something. I was clueless after 30s of her 15 min presentation. People are SOOO smart. Another guy described his experience in some lab, his project was definitely capable of Intel Science Fair. Today, this boy my age who calls himself the "biggest nerd you will ever meet" , introduced programming to the rest of us. Not as many Shads as I had thought knew what computer programming was, only about 5. He described specifically Scheme, a simple program that no one uses, but thinks that people should. He described it as having a good interface, and a good place to start learning. It was interesting hearing familiar terms from home of C+ and C++ and Java. I felt so smart, even though I actually had no clue know what he was talking about. He self-taught himself all that. And our PAs seemed extremely impressed and were even asking him computer programming questions! This boy is a wealth of information. I was talking to him yesterday, and he is one of the tens of Shads who have UW on their mind. I spent my evening the common room again. Chatted with a few people while also learning how to play the drums!!! I can hold the simple basic rhythm pretty well :) I talked to a guy who just graduated and is actually going to UW for systems designs engineering. So, I told him about what your experiences was Matt and where your first coop job was. He said that was why he had chosen Waterloo-for it's coop. He chose systems because it was "inter-disciplinary and the most general engineering".

So ya, after speaking with him and listening to a girl named Julie play the song "Billionaire" on the keyboard, I started my post. We decided we may perform the song for the talent show coming up. Check out the lyrics, I think you would agree it goes with the whole entrepreneurial theme. Oh, and guess what? I was poking fun with another Asian, who was questioning me on my true Asianness as I am what they call me here, "mixed" (everyone adores my freckles!). He asked me if I take a shower at night or in the morning. I responded night. He said, good for you.... I think us Chongs could all understand why. We shared quite the laughs.

-Carolyn