University Life is Hard !
Believe it or not University can be challenging.
....Even for the best of students.
When I went to University I stayed in the dorm there. I left my friends and family to go to a new city, new way of life and new academic challenges. That is a HUGE change. No more parents to wake me up in the morning. No more mom to cook my food. Have to make different friends to hang out with. Then add on the stress of trying to find a girlfriend and just to make it all just a little more challenging...add on the stress of trying to have enough money to live and pay tuition.
The workload at school is considerable. Essays to write that have to be excellent to maintain grades. Exams where you must know everything inside and out. Copious amounts of homework for challenging curriculums. Then add a few long labs just to add a little more "work" to the homework.
One Simple Place
Yes. I had my dorm room at University. A nice place to hang out and very convenient. However, it was a place to sleep and study. Not a refuge.
Yes. The University had beautiful gardens. UBC Botanical Gardens is awesome. The UBC Rose Gardens are beautiful. The UBC Food Science and Forensic gardens are informative and peaceful. They were quiet and calm but Not a refuge.
One simple room in the bottom of the student union building was a truly beautiful place for me and without it I would have had a much less enjoyable student experience and I wouldn't be who I am today. Probably wouldn't even be posting here on HIVE.
but why was that one place so important?.....
Food
Yup. Food.
I will admit that during University my food habits were worse than bad. They were downright awful. If I went back in time I'd give myself a good shake and tell my younger self to eat better.
However, I was young and stupid and I lived on Coca Cola, Chips, and Pizza.
The Wargamers Club was the perfect place to get all of that. It was only a few steps from PI R2 which was the best Pizza place I've ever visited. Plus it was really cheap. However, their softdrinks were $1 each. Now the Wargamers Club catered to young adults doing long gaming sessions: A chocolate bar, bag of chips, and a drink for $1. Add that to a cheap slice of pizza or two and lunch (or dinner) was ready.
It wasn't nutritious. I gained my freshman 15.
....but it was fast and tasty. I will never underestimate how awesome that was.
Friends
Friends were arguably more important.
I spent many many long hours studying, writing essays, and generally trying to learn. However, that meant that I spent an awful lot of time in isolation. Too many hours of studying and the brain shuts off.
That's where the Wargamers came in.
There were always people hanging out ready to play a game of Magic the Gathering or many other strategy games. Go at the right time and there were Warhammer 3000, D&D, Call of Cthulu and many other games being played. Of course there were almost always spots open for another person to play.
and do you know what happens when you start playing games with strangers?
......they don't remain strangers for long
I didn't make any lifelong friends there. However, I did make friends from all different backgrounds studying all sorts of different things. However, we all loved games. We were all dealing with stress and problems. Just being with them to commiserate with our troubles and escape them for a little while playing a game was awesome.
I would never have learned to deal with stress so well if it wasn't for having friends around
Fun
Of course, there is another benefit of playing games
Games are fun
Well, sure games can be frustrating when you lose. Sure there can be arguments when someone is goofing around and not following the rules. As a general rule though these were fairly mature and educated gamers. Fair play was expected and we had a lot of fun competing with each other! Smiles and laughs when winning, or maybe a surprise play, of an unexpected twist in a game. All awesome and fun.
There is nothing like a little fun to relieve the stress of life
When my brain was tired from too much studying. When my shoulders were tired of carrying the burden of all the worries at school. Having some fun with friends....even for just a little while....gave strength to carry on.
A Lasting Change
I learned some very useful things in the Wargamers.
Strategy : Wargames take strategy and planning. Thinking a few steps ahead. It is actually a very useful trait in everyday life.
Know the rules : In every game there are rules. Break the rules and you lose (if caught). Use the rules to your advantage and you can *beat the system. In real life there are rules we play by, especially when dealing with banks and credit cards. Treating those situations as a game and working the rules can really work to your advantage. Something I've made great use of
I learned to play Magic: The Gathering. Technically not a useful skill but... it was a great tool for me to meet friends when I moved to different towns. More importantly it taught me a love of collectible card games and lead me to Splinterlands. Without that I never would have joined Hive and wouldn't be here writing on HIVE today.
SO
To any prospective student going to University (and to my sons if they go).
Please find a club to join.
University is a place to learn for sure. However, there is so much more to life than classrooms. Friendships and Fun are so very important. Clubs are a great way to meet like minded friends.
As for the Food....well, I'll advise against Pizza, Pop and Chips for your diet.....but if you are young enough you might just survive them 😉🤣
Thanks for reading
and always feel free to drop me a comment.
I really love comments.