I felt the slightest sense of uneasiness when arriving at the Vancouver airport after being home on the other side of the country only earlier that day. It was relieving to see Shad Valley staff members waiting to assist at the baggage collection area. Shortly afterwards, the casual drive to the campus of UBC was reminiscent of my family's vacation to Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista because of how UBC is isolated by forest from the rest of Vancouver.
I had, unfortunately, already missed the first 'scavenger hunt' activity that would have allowed me to become familiar with the campus grounds near the residence building. On the upside, I enjoyed being introduced to my own personal room. Initially, as the last of the program participants arrived, we were given time to unpack, introduce ourselves to one another through a few different card games, and to design decorative name tags for our rooms. Soon following, the dinner service was generous with a buffet.
Next, after a walking tour to sightsee the traditional monuments for newcomers to the campus, there was only three minutes notice given to gather together our pre-program challenge, the biotiles. Mostly all biotiles were of great quality such as, but not limited to, those that were hand-painted, embedded in a clever design, or presented as a 3D pop-out display. We gathered in the recreational area for a light-hearted activity, where we were selected in a random order to describe, off the top of our heads, another Shad's biotile.
Clearly, it is important to mention that the people that I had been newly introduced to were of diverse talents, applicable to science and technology, and of high motivational intensity. Upon reflection of the first day's events, in such a short time span, much insightful conversation had been demonstrated for passion in such areas. Finally, to add to the celebration of Canada Day, our day was ended with the serving of cake in the recreational area of the residence.
Mark Farrell, Shad Valley UBC 2012
