July 12, 2008

From Shad Valley UBC, hello everyone! It has been a truly exciting and memorable two weeks here at Shad Valley UBC! From camping trips to Mayne Island to the showing of many talented Shads at Coffee House, I have had the opportunity to form new and powerful friendships with all 52 Shads and our program staff. With each minute that passes here, the community I experience here at UBC grows and strengthens.

Today was a certainly exciting day! Climbing onto a bus at 7:00am, we headed off to Garibaldi Provincial Park. Our activity - to hike the 9 km trail up Mount Garibaldi, rising an elevation of 1 km! What a hike! The challenging steep climb tested everyone's perseverance and the group's relationships - encouraging and motivating each other to take another step and to keep going. Soon enough, we arrived at the Valley lookout point, 6 km up the trail, and had a scenic lunch. Seeing the ragged stone face of the valley, the tall trees and snow-covered mountains was breath-taking - however, we were informed that even more spectacular sights were to come.

After another arduous 3km, we arrived at the top! The water of Garibaldi Lake was an incredible blue (like the sky, or Kool-Aid) and clear as glass! There was also snow on the ground that we could pick up! When I arrived, I knew it was certainly worth the long, continuously uphill trek!

The way back down was really challenging, especially as many Shads (including me) were quite tired at this point. However, the groups were incredibly supportive of each other and made sure that we were all managing! This could really be seen when Shads helped a couple peers who were tired along the trail. This kind of caring relationship has really grown here at Shad; it was an extraordinary experience to climb this mountain with an extraordinary group of people.

Shad Valley has been a remarkable once-in-a-lifetime experience so far - growing lifetime friendships and a unique community, developing oneself, and learning a vast variety of new areas that will certainly be something to remember!

Vivian Leung
Shad Valley University of British Columbia
Hometown: Oakville, Ontario