Since 2011, every October I embark on a month-long journey to consume something with pumpkin in it, in some form, every day.
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I want to show A.B. the world over the next eight months. Edible Flours became a part of this mission on Friday.
Since 2011, every October I embark on a month-long journey to consume something with pumpkin in it, in some form, every day.
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A day with many activities led to a last-minute trip for a deliciously easy item.
Starbucks has made a few staple appearances throughout past challenges, and this year is no different. I tend to play it pretty cool with the pumpkin life at Starbucks due to the dairy in the pumpkin spice syrup and the sheer mass of the pastries, but on a night where studying would go late and pumpkin hadn’t found its way into my day… Wasn’t our next step obvious? I have taken to a half-sweet chai with half a pump of pumpkin spice to keep the sweetness at bay but to ensure a flavourful fun time is still had.
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For the previous 5 years, I devote one part of each October day to consuming something with pumpkin in it. It started as a shared challenge (thank-you, J.A.) and has since become one of my favourite personal projects (in addition to the Hot Chocolate Festival – but that’s for another time). Unlike my chocolaty winter challenge, there is no higher purpose being served by my participation in this challenge – only my own personal satisfaction from discovering new foods and drinks that contain pumpkin, the joy of baking, and the delight I derive from photographing and sharing my daily selection of pumpkin consumption.
Now that we have taken some time to appreciate the noble heritage of this annual personal endeavour, I welcome you all to the 6th annual Pumpkin Challenge!
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I began October in a new city this year – Toronto, Ontario! When I am asked what my favourite part of Toronto was, Doomie’s usually comes up first (J was also obviously a really great part). Doomie’s is a vegan junk food restaurant that prides itself on no salads but also no marring of one’s conscience:
After a delicious burger with beet “bacon” and a generous serving of “Fun Fries” with pesto (!!!), I spotted what would be the first pumpkin item of my month: Vegan pumpkin donut holes.
WHAT.
My family moved to a new house recently, after staying in our previous home for nearly 13 years. I was having a lot of trouble wrapping my head around this significant change, particularly due to its being plunked right in the midst of many other changes happening simultaneously.
Up until the move, I had been telling myself that the thing to focus on was that no matter where we lived, home would be where we as a family were situated. However, this was more difficult to do than I anticipated when I was faced with the final moments I would spend in the house. I think this would be difficult in any time of my life, but this particular time came with a handful of difficult reminders: The move was prompted by a death that was coupled by another and very unexpected death; I would soon be moving back to UBC into a new role after graduating; a few really important people won’t be at UBC with me; I only have another year of clear plans in place.
I sought comfort and closure with my camera by taking photographs of the empty spaces and surroundings in and around my old home – then I drove away. I’ve got emotions flowing with gusto most moments of my days, and this day was a particularly strong example of this. The weight of the reminders of other life changes was heavy in the back of my mind.
Sentiments constrict my composure sometimes and leave me like an emotional glob, responding to any reminders of my emotions with a flood of them. I tend to experience intense and deep periods of emotion that leave me a little emotionally “dry” when one of these periods passes; it can be tiring to go from so high to so low frequently.
Despite the exhaustion, it is a kind of sickening comfort in spiralling within those low moments – I honour my emotions and those of others, but I recognize for me that I will not be okay if I don’t recognize that I must challenge those lows that debilitate me. I have to reflect on the ways that I can occupy my thoughts without denying myself those feelings. They are and will be with me, but I cannot let life stop whenever they make themselves known.
Too much free time this summer has probably made it more difficult to do this, but when things start up in August, I must make myself accountable to my responsibilities and those I work and spend time with, and I must be accountable to me in order to appreciate all that I have and can work towards. If I value these past experiences so much that weigh so heavily on me, how can I allow myself to sacrifice future experiences because I am longing for familiarity and fond memories? I can’t, because that contradicts my values.
Moving has been a very in-my-face reminder of a multitude of changes, but I have seen how it happened and in a way became normal without my notice – by going through the motions and focusing on what is in front of me and my family, we are finding ways to establish a new familiar or new ways of approaching the unfamiliar. This will need to be how I approach the upcoming changes that will certainly be challenges at time; as things that must be faced head-on and invested fully in in order to be appreciated and transformed into new fond memories.
It has been nearly two months since I finished my final exams, and about three weeks since I crossed the stage and received my diploma. It has been almost five years since I moved into residence at UBC and embarked on my undergraduate journey.
The actual “graduation” happened very quickly – I was scurried across the stage and had some photos taken in rapid succession, with more being quickly taken by family after the ceremony. However, the process of getting to the stage has been longer and is what made the brief hat-and-gown stroll so significant.
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1st year: I returned home from residence the first night I was to stay there, and skipped my Arts student frosh event. My friends came to visit me and made me feel like not all hope was lost in this new place that I was meant to call a home. I went to my first event and someone said “hi” to me and I said “hi” back and we chatted and he introduced me to someone else who said “hi” and we became friends. Confused and lost, I attended “Imagine UBC” with my “M.U.G. Leader” guide and witnessed a large and daunting place be just that but with life pulsing through it with swarms of colour-coded students bustling about. A really amazing 8 months of my young adult life was beginning.
My last post was somewhat-obnoxiously but somewhat-accurately entitled “How to Become Better”, and it featured summaries of videos and podcasts that outlined strategies and theories relating to self-improvement. These were not strategies to attain such contentious goals as eating better, achieving mental peace, or weight loss; indeed, the summaries I shared were strategies to connect with external and internal resources for achieving whatever goals you wanted to.
One of those podcasts by Freakonomics Radio featured a woman by the name of Angela Duckworth, who is a PhD in psychology and studies high achievers and the concept of “grit” or stick-to-it-iveness. I stumbled across a New York Times article yesterday that struck a chord with me before I even got past the title: “Graduating and Looking for Passion? Just be Patient.” As I read through the first couple of paragraphs, I suddenly felt that I was familiar with what was being discussed, and checked to see if the author was – yes! – Angela Duckworth.
I highly recommend checking out this New York Times article on fostering – not simply finding – a passion. If you’re similar to me, you have wanted an “ah-ha!” moment for some length of time (I’ve clung to this phrase since a presentation I saw nearly 5 years ago); Duckworth’s article ties back to my previous post and reminds me that I have control over a passion coming to fruition.
One of the most significant takeaways for me was that one might have to go with the option that makes the most sense and is better, not worse, even if it doesn’t seem ideal.
A series about the ways I work towards being cognizant through decisions that make me more mentally engaged with various facets of my day-to-day life.
Cognizance (noun): Awareness, realization, notice, knowledge, perception.
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The title is a little bit off-putting (or perhaps inspiring depending on who you are), but hear me out.
Inspired by the Freakonomics podcast and their recent series of episodes for “Self-Improvement Month” (ongoing), I wanted to share some of the resources that Stephen Dubner and his team at Freakonomics shared with their audience, as well as a concept I learned about in Psychology and my work last summer.
All of these resources bring together concepts and tools for improving your skill at just about anything, increasing your grit/stick-to-itiveness, and reshaping the way you think about your own abilities.
I first learned about Carol Dweck in a childhood and adolescence psychology course, and then again in my work last summer. Her work has changed the way I think about what I can and want to do.
Study: Gave 10-year olds problems that were slightly too hard for them to solve. Some of them reacted in surprisingly positive ways, saying things like, “I love a challenge!” Others felt it was catastrophic and that they had been put up for judgement and failed. Those students performed downward social comparisons next time they faced a difficult task and did not succeed (downward social comparison: comparing oneself to someone perceived as inferior in order to prop up one’s own sense of self).
2 mindsets discussed by Dweck:
Fixed mindset: The belief that one’s abilities are “fixed” and cannot be changed.
Growth mindset: The belief that one’s abilities can be developed through effort/work.
A series about the ways I work towards being cognizant through decisions that make me more mentally engaged with various facets of my day-to-day life.
Cognizance (noun): Awareness, realization, notice, knowledge, perception.
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It’s that time of year for university students: The hunt for The Summer Job.
Or, even more daunting, the hunt for The Real World Job.
Many deadlines have passed already, but it’s not too late to apply some strategies to find that job that will make you some money, keep you occupied through the non-academic months, or move you closer to a career that you aspire to.
Here are 3 steps for preparing to land that job:
1.) UPDATE THOSE DOCUMENTS.
Résumé: Before you do anything else, set yourself up for easier success by getting your résumé updated, spell-checked, and bolstered. Visit with a friend to go over the general flow of your document. Keep it to 2 pages maximum unless otherwise stated in the job description. Keep a longer document to draw experiences from that you update and refine depending on the job you apply to. Always make a new résumé for every new job you apply to. Be sure to have the following components, ideally in the following order:
Cover letter: This one simply must be individualized every time for every job. Your standard cover letter tips online will probably tell you to do the following:
Say hi, tell them your name and what you study/studied and where, where you found out about the job, and how excited you are to apply. THEN you’ll use a paragraph or two to talk about your past experience in more detail, elaborating on what the résumé said. Then you’ll wrap it up with a thank-you and a “hope to hear back from you” sort of sentiment.
All of that is great, BUT… It could be more exciting. I encourage people to think of their cover letter as the way to make the employer want them not only for their skills, but for them, as an individual. Picture that you and someone else are both applying to this job with identical résumés and skill sets, and this cover letter will make them want you over the other person because you are great and truly desire the job more or would make more use of the opportunity. Don’t feel like you’re 100%, or even 50% qualified for a job that you really want? Use the cover letter to talk about how great of a learner you are, what your career goal are and how they align with this opportunity, or how passionate you are about the employer’s mission or values.
Instead of the above example, use the following components to create your cover letter masterpiece:
Say hi (by name, job title, or To Whom It May Concern). Open with a memorable statement about yourself that connects you to the company/position being applied to (e.g., “As a connector of people and ideas, my greatest fulfillment comes from solving problems for others.”). Then say something about the company/position and how you FIT into that puzzle/concept (e.g., “Your company’s goal to leverage the power of people to unearth the potential of others through innovative problem solving is a framework that aligns with my natural abilities to connect with individuals and find solutions to their problems.”). Then, tell a story. Any story that is slightly connected to any of the following: How you became interested in your career goals, the first time you realized what you wanted to do with your life, the moment you realized your “path” didn’t make sense anymore, the connection you have to the company/employer and how that developed, or something else that explains why this job makes sense for you and why you make sense for them as an employer. Then, wrap things up with a nice “thank-you for your consideration” and tell them that you would love the opportunity to meet in-person to discuss your qualifications OR that you “look forward to hearing back from them” – end on a confident note! You presented them this document because you think you could do this job. Use language that shows you are confident.
I believe in you!
2.) RESEARCH AND COMPILE A LIST.
Get online and find those jobs! Compile a list (save them to bookmarks, make a word document, write them down, save them to a list through a jobs site, etc.) of the positions you are interested in. Check multiple websites if you are open to ideas. Use keywords that will help filter out locations, positions, employers, and job categories that you aren’t interested in applying for. Save all of the positions of interest somewhere.
3.) PRIORITIZE AND APPLY.
Now, go through your list using a variety of qualifiers to prioritize your list of possible jobs to apply to so that you apply to the most important ones first:
Then you need to start ticking off boxes! Get through those applications. Tailor each one for each job. Make yourself want those jobs and make those employers want you.
Good luck!
Reading Week is a magical time where students have the chance to catch up on readings, catch up on sleep, and/or go off and do something that breaks up the ol’ routine. We elected to do the latter. To visit family and friends who are on the other side of the country, we planned a whirlwind trip out to Ontario and Québec (then back to Ontario).
Heading out on a red eye flight, we made our way to Toronto, quickly departing to make our way to Ottawa on a record-breaking day of snowfall (51cm in 24 hours, beating an all-time record from fifty-some years prior!). We arrived at our hostel, which was modelled as a place for travellers to sleep after being created as a place to hold criminals.
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| Landing in the snowy east and traveling to our first stop. |
The snow continued to fall and the wind blew with gusto (ha) as we sought out a place to eat on a budget after realizing we had not eaten any real food (save for two shared granola bars) for the last 9 hours or so. We found ourselves at a familiar-but-unexplored restaurant called WAREHOUSE, which also has a location in Vancouver and other major cities I have visited. The entire menu has a baseline price of $4.95, which adds up depending on what you want to add to your dish. The food was great, especially considering the affordability!
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| Exploring the parliament buildings after dinner on our first night. |
Ottawa in the daylight was beautifully sunny and snowy (but watch out for melting snow on the roofs of buildings)! I tried my first Beavertail and hiked through freshly-fallen (and densely packed) snowy fields to the Parliament buildings, the Supreme Court of Canada, and eventually an Uber driver (my frist time), who took us to the bus station. From there, we made our way to Montréal.
Upon arriving in Quebéc, we quickly established our place of rest for the night before heading out to dinner. When it was confessed that we had a vegetarian at the table (me), the waiter, knowing there were no meatless menu options, exclaimed, “Madame, I have a plan!” and dashed into a back room. Apparently, this is where they hide the vegetarian menus, and I enjoyed a superb meal with a wine that I found slightly better than tolerable (I’m not a wine person yet; the wine was very nice, I’m sure).
After a short evening of exploring followed by sleeping, we climbed Mount Royal near McGill university and enjoyed spectacular views of the city from atop its wee mountain (it is wee, please don’t take this as an insult if you are sensitive to the topic). We then meandered through the city streets, covering whatever skin we could so as to defend ourselves against the seemingly docile but harshly cold air. Our time was short in this city, and before we knew it, we had arrived at the train station, where I would hop on to my first train for a ride!
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| A portion of the view from the lookout on Mount Royal. |
We arrived late in Toronto and wasted little time getting to our destination for sleep. We hiked across the city with our suitcases, this time enjoying an easier stroll than when we arrived in this part of the world a few days ago in the newly snowy conditions. By now, the streets were drying, and we found our way to rest. After a very late meal, we slept in preparation for a full day of being welcomed to the University of Toronto’s law school (I attended as a guest of a new admit). Following our full day, we explored the city, saw a movie, and walked in circles before selecting a place called Kit Kat(‘s?) for dinner – margherita pizza and delicious Mediterranean salad (so many olives <3).
Another late night after hiking back to our sleeping place.
Another day of city exploration and a new restaurant called WVRST where I tried my first bratwurst (vegan) and was thoroughly impressed. The restaurant, from what I was told, is modelled like a traditional German beer haus, and fosters communal eating and meeting new friends. Too soon again did we make our way to a vehicle to leave the city, and we flew back with relative speed to Vancouver, landing to meet old friends and enjoy even more random food in abundance.
