AGM Recap!

Welcome to the first blog post of the UBC English Students’ Association for the 2017-18 year!

Thank you so much to all of our members—those new and old and not yet—for eating our ice cream cake and having a good time at the AGM. You invigorated the executive team (certainly myself) and we are so excited to serve you for this year and give you more opportunities to mingle, express yourself, and excel as a UBC English student.

For those of you who weren’t there, have no fear! Here’s a recap:

We began with human bingo while waiting for people (and ice cream cake) to arrive and of course I can’t speak for everyone’s experience, but I found it surprisingly difficult to find people among the ESA membership who have lived in another country, spoken another language, or have met a famous person. If you have done one of those things but don’t yet have your membership, please feel free to join the ESA and diversify our community!

After a few words from yours truly about what the ESA is all about (sentiments which will be replicated here), we provided attendees with the reason they came, which was themed after the Canterbrrrry Tales this AGM. (Get it? It’s ice cream cake. Cold. Brrrr.) If you’re thinking you have no reason to get involved with the ESA anymore because you missed out on ice cream cake, have no fear! A $2 membership will still buy you a slice or two of ice cream cake at our AGM at the end of the school year, some member-exclusive treats at our other events, a snazzy ESA button, and a free copy of The Garden Statuary. Email us to find out how to get your hands on a membership.

We capped our meeting off with a fierce game of UBC English-themed Pictionary while a few others mingled and continued to enjoy ice cream cake. A few takeaways from our first Pictionary game:

1. There are easier ways to represent Infinite Jest pictorially—an infinity sign and a clown, say, instead of the book’s cover. There are multiple editions! Multiple covers!
2. Your ESA Secretary draws a sketchy-looking lion. But if you put it next to a witch and a wardrobe, it makes sense.
3. One does not simply get Catcher in the Rye by looking at a fat hand (supposedly a catcher’s mitt). That’s just not fair, somehow. I couldn’t exactly tell you why it’s unfair, but it is.

The fun will continue at our two October events: our meet the professors event, “They Came from Buchanan Tower”, which is happening next week (!!!) and our Halloween event on October 30th (more details forthcoming). You can also look forward to board game nights and pub nights where similarly fun will be had, the Garden Statuary’s launch parties, and our 4th Annual Colloquium in the new year. We will also be working closely with the English department to bring you professional and career-focused events.

If you’re wondering what the Garden Statuary is and you make some sort of art (written, visual, musical, etc.), then today is your lucky day: find out more about our undergraduate multimedia journal and submit!

If you’re reading this blog post and thinking, “I can do that!”, you absolutely can! We are always looking for bloggers, regular or one-time, and you can do that by shooting our blog manager, Alex, an email.

We’re also still looking for another member of our executive team if you’d like to get involved in student government and get some leadership experience.

There are so many ways for you to get involved with the ESA! If none of the ideas above appealed to you, then let’s get creative. If you can see yourself getting involved in other ways—suggesting events, helping create graphics, [insert your own idea here]—then talk to us! We are here to enrich your lives as UBC English students.

I can’t wait to see you all at “They Came from Buchanan Tower” on Wednesday, or at whichever event you can attend next!

Until then,

Jia
ESA President