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