If I were to tell you my experiences thus far were completely by skill, I'd be lying. I've lucked out on so much in my life, by no more than being in the right place at the right time. Coming to Green College was an exercise in luck.
A bit about me: I'm a wise-cracking journalist whose general hobbies include scotch and tea sipping (but not at the same time), critiquing movies, and wearing tweed and a deerstalker. I basically try to channel as much Sherlock Holmes as I can. Add in a sword-hilted umbrella, a TARDIS mug, and fanatical love of The Tragically Hip, and you have the makings of a full on weirdo.
I had the great opportunity of working full-time for my student newspaper during the previous year and knew I would have to do a Masters if I wanted to continue in journalism. I knew UBC's journalism program was the best in the country but, like Moses before a burning bush, I had to come up with every conceivable reason not to go.
A very "Greenie" welcome
The biggest challenge I had to overcome was the quintessential Vancouver question of where to live. At this point in time it seems like the only things that could bring down Vancouver housing costs are decent government policy or that overdue earthquake—and the latter is way more likely to happen sooner than the former. But moving also includes the hassle of finding furniture, buying food and the 20-or-so other items you forget to pack. Then after all of that, you're going to be isolated in a strange new place.
I was fortunate enough to not have to jump into that abyss uninformed. Two of my friends from the student newspaper I worked at had gone to UBC and lived at Green College. Looking over those Facebook conversations, it's amazing how little convincing it took. Green College sealed the deal on coming to UBC. I probably owe them both a lifetime supply of scotch because coming here ended up being one of the best decisions I've made thus far.
I don't think the scope of the whole thing hit me until I got there. Green College really lives up to the name. The viridian-coloured buildings are organized in a V-shape with the administrative building and meal hall at the end of each arm. In the middle is a open green area with a kitchen for residents and trees bigger than any I had seen. Four towers lead up to a terrace where the upper floor rooms are and the terrace is protected by a wooden rail. In short, Green College does not look like a residence—it looks like a resort.
It was incredibly welcoming. A Greenie (as we call ourselves) introduced herself quickly and escorted me to the Dining Hall. In a completely Brent way, I ended up arriving just in time for a steak dinner.
We ended up sitting across from the visiting faculty member for UBC Journalism, Steve Woodward. Steve was a wealth of knowledge and his help on multiple project I did over the year was invaluable. He was one of the cohort's favourite instructors. I was somehow lucky enough to be able to bump into him during meal times and get his advice on the latest story I was doing.
After dinner a bunch of the residents went on an impromptu skip to Koerner's, the on-campus pub about a block from the College and right across from the journalism building. Many a Greenie can be found there and I'm pretty sure I left a sizeable amount of my student loan there as well.
The right place
If that wasn't enough to speak to the social atmosphere in the first month here I ended up going on several mountain climbs, birding, doing walking tours of downtown Vancouver and campus. Toss in a few concerts and films at the Vancouver International Film Festival and I was pretty sure I was living in some kind of paradise.
That's not to say I didn't do work while I was here. It was a very busy year. For most of it I was writing stories, learning how to create data visualizations and figuring out how to use social media in my journalistic work.
But the second I was done, I would find myself playing board games with other Greenies in Graham House, rehearsing for the Green College Players' spring performance, going on hikes or concocting coma-inducing breakfast burrito recipes.
Thinking back on it, I'm not sure how I managed to get back to my room on that first night here. Before I collapsed onto my bed due to a combination of travel exhaustion and the night's libations, I can remember somehow knowing I was in the right place. While I've changed a lot over the past year living at Green, that thought has always remained the truth.