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