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
