(back)

Going out of province?

Picture this: white-capped mountains and the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean; lush green grass and majestic trees in full bloom; people in T-shirts and shorts basking in the warm rays of the sun above…and squads of people scrambling up a 12-foot-tall wall.

Yep, it was just another normal day at UBC in March and another normal day of competition at Storm the Wall, a crazy intramural challenge where teams of five swim, bike, run and finally scramble up a wall to finish. This was my introduction to UBC, my very first visit to check out the campus.

Fast forward to the present. It’s been a while since I left my hometown of Ottawa for the University of British Columbia and the bright lights of cosmopolitan Vancouver, but I haven’t regretted it once.

I was one of only five people from my high school who went further west to university than Waterloo. To my family, it seemed a bit foolish for me to go all the way to the coast when I had my pick of schools anywhere in Ontario. But back on that day in March, something just felt right, as if I truly belonged there. It wasn’t just the sense of energy and enthusiasm that I felt in the people around me that made me want to be part of it. Nor was it just the relaxed atmosphere or the rich international and multicultural feel of the campus and city beyond. It was all of it…and a gut instinct that said, “step up to the challenge!” And that’s how I saw that huge wall in front of me that day: a new challenge.

In truth, going far for university hasn’t always been a bed of roses. I was a little homesick at first after moving more than 4,500 km away from home. I was nervous about leaving my friends and all of the comforts of being home.

But coming to Vancouver has opened more doors of opportunity than I could have ever imagined. It’s the fun things, like skiing and snowboarding at Whistler on the weekends with my friends or learning how to scuba dive with the university Aqua Society in the cool waters of Howe Sound. In the morning, I could be hitting the fabled North Shore mountains for some serious mountain biking with the cycling club, and in the afternoon, I could be lying on the beach at English Bay.

But most of all, it’s been the amazing people out here. I met guys like Tomoharu (a new friend from Japan), Gard (from Norway) and Chris (from England), with all of whom I still keep in touch. And let’s not forget living in residence as well. With the rest of the guys living on my residence floor, I’ve had plenty of memorable moments, like when we serenaded all the women in residence with the tunes of Billy Joel. In retrospect, it’s been these friends and memories that I’ll treasure the most.

More than 10 years have passed since I first left for university, and since then, I’ve had my own chance to climb that huge, honkin’ 12-foot tall wall I saw that day. Some say that Storm the Wall is a metaphor for getting your university degree: You need strategy, determination and a little help from your friends. But for me, leaving home and climbing that wall is only a first step to new possibilities!

Marlon Tang is a 2002 graduate from UBC, from which he earned a BSc in biochemistry. He is preparing for grad school.

Article provided by