My Audacity of Hope (3) - Start a Journey, Leave a Legacy

My first day at SFU Surrey was eventful. The campus back in 2004 was situated at the end of the Central City Mall. It was referred to as the "beta place", which made sense because we will be moving to our new campus in 2007. To be honest, I wasn't impressed with how it looked from the outside. It was a small campus. In fact, I was able to walk around the entire campus in merely five minutes. In the mean time, I am hearing from my friends out at Queen's and UBC, enjoying their views and their daily strolls on campus. Sure I was jealous, but I was determined to make this a positive experience for me. I later realized that it was with this optimistic mind that enabled me to go through a lot of obstacles that I would eventually be facing.

The TechOne Program was truly unique by all measures. It was an inter-discipinary program designed to allow students to try out different fields in a relatively short of time (two semesters). I took classes in Interactive Arts, Teamwork and Communication, and Computer Programming. To my surprise, I did quite well in these courses. This gave me some confidence on my ability to do well in school. Besides from the core courses that TechOne required me to take, I took Financial Accounting and also Micro/Macro Economics. I must admit I wasn't quite sure on what path I would pursue. Thus, I based my judgement on courses by focusing on the strengths that SFU is well known for - its Faculty of Business Administration.

Several things occurred to me during this time period. First, I did exceptionally well in Financial Accounting and in my Economics courses. To me, it seemed as if I am more of a commerce type person rather than an engineer. I would rather spend time on figuring out the marginal utility and journal entries than on memorizing formulas or spending my life being a code monkey. Having said that, I would later regret that I never really challenged myself in the field of engineering. I attribute my lack of superior critical thinking back to not going through the engineering program. Nevertheless, I found tremendous joy and passion in the study of business organization and strategy and I was, for the longest time, content with my decision.

Another thing that cheered me up was that my application to become an Orientation Leader (OL) had gone through. Ever since my first orientation at SFU, I've always thought about contributing back to this program and making it better than before. My chance came when the annual application for OL came out. I applied and aced my interview. The interviewer, also the Student Life Coordinator, at the time, was impressied with my energy. Thinking back, I think this was the beginning of everything that I would eventually do. If I was not accepted as an OL, it will probably take me longer in figuring out my interest in volunteering and making a difference.

The 2005 Orientation came in a blink of eyes. I was assigned with another partner to lead a cohort of 25 new students. It was my first time representing SFU and the first time for the students to know about their campus. I was determined to make it a fun process for both me and the participants. I led ice breakers, gave a tour around the campus, fielded questions and had a great time making small talks with almost every individual within my group. Till now, we all share some kind of bonding of being Clan H even though we didn't take the same courses.

I would later receive very positive feedback from the student life coordinator regarding my performance. For one part, I made a name for myself for being actively participating in campus events. Most importantly, however, I gained some confidence about my ability outside of academics. These skills that I've obtained are what I would later found out to be referred as "leadership", "teamwork", and "communication" skills in the so-called real world.