Bye, bye and see you later

It was -20°C in Kelowna when I was writing the last blog and now the temperature is attacking 30°C. A beautiful winter quickly changed into a very nice spring and before we got to enjoy it enough, it was summer and even though the lake had only around 15°C, Canadian kids already swam in it while I was only able to put in one finger.

I was talking about two very interesting subjects in the last blog, even though I didn’t know that those subjects will be also the most difficult ones. Every microeconomics lecture was full of new theories, models and graphs and that’s why I decided with my friends to have study sessions in order to achieve good marks at the end of the semester. Our international cooperation (Czech Republic, Germany, Canada and Kenya) was very successful because we all finished at the top 10 of the class. Financial Economics was also challenging but in a different way. I worked for the Centre for Disabled Students this semester and as part of my job, I was a notetaker in Financial Economics. Usually making notes would be fairly easy because I make them for myself in every class but during these lectures we didn’t have any paper materials and so I had to make all the notes during the lecture, including graphs and tables. The notes had to be precise because those disabled students relied on them. The Centre appreciated my work and if I would have stayed another year, which unfortunately wasn't possible, they would hire me again. I also got a job offer from my microeconomics teacher, who is the head of economics department, to be a teaching assistant - a position usually taken my fourth year students or masters’ students.

Even though I had a lot of school work this semester, I managed to squeeze in some other activities as well. I continued to play volleyball and hike with the outdoor society but I also for example went to a ballet performance of the New York Ballet Company - The Ashley Bouder project and I attended the very first TEDxUBCO. My parents came to Canada at the end of my exam period and together we visited Canadian national parks Banff and Jasper and I can highly recommend their visit.

TEDxUBCO

Grizzly bear in Jasper national park

I had time to think about my yearlong exchange in Canada and the decision to spend my second year at a different university during the long flight home. I believe that this year was beneficial not only because I learnt a lot at school but mainly because I learnt a lot about myself. I would like to thank the Kellner Family Foundation for allowing me to spend a wonderful year on the other side of the world in Kelowna.