Christine is currently serving as a Kin sociocultural research assistant and personal trainer. Her goal is to pursue a Master of Physical Therapy.
Expectations:
Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, deans/directors, distinguished members of the faculty, honoured guests, family and friends, and of course, fellow graduates, My name is Christine and I will be graduating with a bachelor’s of kinesiology.
I’m not here tell you about the roller coaster of a ride my undergraduate experience was, but if you want to hear about, let’s chat after. I am not going to be the most inspiring speaker you listen to today, I trip going up the stairs in the Nest and I give myself internal pep talks before speaking up in class, I am very much your average student. That being said, I did not expect to have the honour to speak to you today, but expectations are weird to me. For example, I’m sure we all had expectations of what our experience at UBC would be like. I had really simple expectations, just stellar grades, amazing work experience, a good social life, and mental wellbeing. Now, which those did I actually achieve? That’s up to you to guess.
My point is, expectations are powerful, they kept me driven and motivated (or it could’ve been my absurd consumption of Yerba-Mate, I don’t remember), but they were also my biggest source of distress. I set my standards according to others’ achievements. I had to match, or be better at, the things that I saw was impressive in others. I was juggling 3 jobs alongside a full course load, with work and learning experiences that I should be proud of, yet I still did not feel like I was enough. If you remember anything from my video, other than how flashy my braces are, it is to not let others’ success define your path. You will only be content when you start doing things to fulfill yourself rather than your resume. For me, it meant quitting 2 jobs to become a research assistant and do a directed studies project. Was this what I expected, no! But it opened up new avenues for me and brought out potential in me that I didn’t even know I had. Whatever your next step is, don’t compare your journey to the person next to you, expect greatness from within yourself and you will exceed your own expectations.
Even though you’re probably in your PJ’s, munching a bag of chips right, maybe even halfway across the world, I want you to take a deep breath, smile and acknowledge your many accomplishments in the past couple of years. Amongst the hundreds of unexpected things thrown at us, we made it, congratulations graduates!
It gives me great pleasure to announce this year’s Graduating Class Gifts to the University:
- $20,000 to commission a mural in the UBC LIFE Building to celebrate student experiences at UBC, including academics, celebrations, student issues, and more.
- $20,000 to the AMS Food Bank to support their operations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and allowing them to serve more students who are in need, and lastly
- $20,000 to be given to UBC to support students with financial need during the COVID-19 pandemic.