One year as a Champlain Alumnus

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog but I have been an active follower mustering up every effort to read the numerous posts about life at Champlain College. It has been a year since I finished up at Champlain/Trent. I finished in April and graduation precipitously sneaked up on me. Before I knew it, I was wondering the streets and absorbing the urban life and excitement of Hong Kong.

Being at UBC now, I have joined new communities that I have come to cherish very much. Indeed, I live in a graduate residential community that is made up of dozens of students studying various subjects from engineering and the sciences to law, medicine and history. This community is not simply an academic home for me, but one where I interact with residents and share experiences through socials, sporting activities, theatrical performances and much more.

I write about this experience because my time at Champlain really fostered an appreciation for belonging to something special, that is, a place where residents have time to update each other on their hectic lives and talk about subjects beyond the academy. A place where residents could par-take in a weekend sporting event, social or even a lecture in a field unfamiliar to them.  These are the sorts of events that bring vitality to community and college life. They remind us that universities are not just places of academic pursuits, but places where we form incredible relationships with others and build our capacities as leaders, academics and social beings.

A year has passed since I have moved on from my undergraduate life as a Champlainer. From time to time, I reflect about my time in the concrete jungle. While I am not trying to relive my experiences as a Champlainer at UBC, I reflect about how much one can gain from their respective college and community of friends in their university journeys.

To conclude, for current Champlainers, this is the time in your young lives to enrich your university experience through getting involved in your college and participating in events. Apathy is driven by boredom, self-interest, diminished opportunities and a lack of leadership. You can overcome this by getting involved and promoting your college events to those beyond the university. The sense of belonging and appreciation of community can be highly rewarding and will stick with you for the rest of your life.