Everything Matters
by Sikai Yang 杨斯凯 University of British Columbia ‘12
It has been nearly three months since I started my university life here at University of British Columbia. Looking back, I could still remember vividly the times back in high school when I was paging through the fancy viewbook of my future school and happily imagining how it really looks like. Like all my friends who found their new schools adorable, I was no different.
UBC was the only Canadian university I applied in high school. The reason that I picked UBC instead other schools in Canada is that I couldn’t stand the coldness and dullness of living in anywhere else. However, there had been some people telling me things like “Walking down the streets in Vancouver, you will hear dozens of different languages but English being spoken around you” or “You will have to hang out with Chinese kids cause there are so many of them” whatsoever. Also, I was told that UBC has a nickname of “University of Billions of Chinese”. All those unpleasant comments, I have to admit, indeed rumbled on my minds for a while before the final decision was made.
Only till I stepped onto UBC’s campus, I was glad that there wasn’t anything stopping me from coming here. I would say, these rumors are, to a great extent, misleading. Such bogus comments exaggerate the negative aspects of having large Chinese population at UBC. It is true the number of Chinese Canadians and Chinese students at UBC was somewhat larger compared to some other universities in Canada or in the world. But it is absolutely not that the case you have no choice but studying and hanging out with Chinese kids or people speaking Mandarin. Making friends with certain groups of people solely depends on your own choice. In fact, I was surprised by the considerable number of international students from other countries. It’s a great thing to have diversity. You could really learn from other cultures. Here you might see people who’d rather stay in their comfort zone and hanging out only with people of their own nationality or culture. Needless to say, these kinds of people exist in every college in the US and in Canada anyways. On the other hand, I’m sure that you will also meet people who make friends with people from across the ocean and sharing completely different culture. Instead of asking questions like what kind of people you would meet at UBC, I suggest you to think what kind of people you want to meet here.
Another great thing of having great diversity is that you could have more choices when it comes to food. Besides traditional Canadian/American food, here you could actually find whatever there is around the world, like Italian food, Mexican food, Singaporean food, Korean food and countless Japanese restaurants, not to mention incredibly various kinds of Chinese food. Like several weeks ago, I went to this Shanghainese restaurant with friends and enjoyed very REAL SHANGHAINESE dishes like Zao Liu Yu Pian (糟溜鱼片), Jiu Niang Yuan Zi (酒酿圆子) and Xue Cai Rou Si Mian (雪菜肉丝面). What’s more amusing is that we were served in a home-like shanghainese-speaking environment through all time. Isn’t that sweet?
Regarding academics at UBC, I want to clarify that UBC actually has very high standard of English requirement, which might not be realized through the university application process (especially compared to complicated American college applications, I bet you all find UBC’s application process much more relaxing). A notorious English test called LPI, Language Proficiency Test, is part of the story. Every year, most international students and a number of local students have to pass this test in order to take 1st year English courses, which are required towards a bachelor’s degree. While some people think it’s totally like a joke, a lot of people might have to take it for up to 5 or 6 times to pass it. Even for engineering students, English requirement is no less different. After passing LPI and taking 1st year English courses, engineering students have to take another English test called ECCT in order to take a 2nd year English course specifically for engineering students, APSC 201 – Technical Communications, which is also required towards an engineering degree. I was told nearly half of the class fail APSC 201 every year and have to take it during Summer Session again. All in all, please don’t be misled by UBC’s relatively low admission requirement for English. Remember English is important no matter what you study. Ignorance of this fact will make your four years in college a miserable experience.
As far as I know, usually high schoolers paid much more attention on the actual college application rather than the process of college selection, which I don’t think is a healthy balance. Because you will later realize that EVERYTHING matters when it comes to university life as a whole. Like I was being told one year ago, now I’m giving you the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE, do not care too much about rankings, it’s the life that you will have for four years matters the most. Be smart on that. I wish all the perspective college students at Pinghe best of luck on your college application.