Conclusion

As we wrap up this semester, reflecting and looking back throughout what I have done in this course  seems pretty crazy to me. One of my new year resolutions was to read more books than the previous year  (which was 1) and this course helped me achieve that! As I signed the contract, I was a bit unsure about aiming for an A- as it required me to read 9 books out of 11, but it was far more enjoyable than what I had anticipated. I enrolled for this course as it sounded extremely enticing and I wanted a change of scenery from the stats and mathematics courses I have been taking. And let me tell you, it was the change I was looking for. One of the reasons why I enjoyed this course so much was the significant freedom and creativity it granted us when writing about the books we read. This gave me less stress and pressure and allowed me to focus more on expressing what I was genuinely interested in for each book. I will admit, there were a couple of books that I wanted to just breeze over and get it over with, but there were a few that I thoroughly enjoyed analyzing. It was fun uncovering intriguing characters and delving into their perspectives to empathize with them.

My favorite book from this course is definitely "Money To Burn" by Ricardo Piglia with a close second being "The Time of the Doves" by Mercè Rodoreda.  I enjoyed "Money To Burn" as it was filled with thrilling action-packed scenes and fascinating characters that understood what was at stake. The author portraying them as a family created a strong sense of bonds and the final stand in the flat just seems like such a bittersweet ending. For "The Time of the Doves", I enjoyed reading it because of how different it was to the other books. Watching Natalia transition from living a somewhat normal family life to desperately struggling and clinging on to life for her family because of the civil war was saddening to read. However, that was what made it enjoyable to try to understand her character more.

After finishing this course, I can definitely, with confidence, declare that my management skills have improved significantly. Since I am a slow reader, the weekly book readings required me to better allocate my time to read and procrastinate less.  Honestly, the main theme of this course was death and love. Whether it be family love, relationship love or even simple friendships, every book that we read throughout this course had those themes in it and it was very enjoyable.

Thanks everyone for reading my concluding blog post and good luck for finals!

Discussion question: What's the best place to hang out during the summer in Vancouver?

Comments

  1. Jon Beasley-MurrayApril 9, 2024 at 2:05 PM

    Andrew, I'm glad you enjoyed the course! But you set yourself a pretty low bar with your New Year's Resolution, ha!

    I'm also pleased this course helped you with your management skills... the idea is for you guys to take responsibility for your own learning, and I'm happy we helped you to do that.

    To answer your question... go to the patio at Jericho Yacht Club for lunch one of these days! The food's not fantastic (but not expensive), but the view is excellent!

    Thanks for all your contributions, and have a great summer!

    ReplyDelete
  2. vibhajApril 9, 2024 at 3:41 PM

    Hello thank you for your post. To answer your question I would probably say the best place to hang out during summer is anywhere as long as your drunk. I am partial to the beach though.
    - Vibha Jayaprakash

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nathan HarrisApril 9, 2024 at 6:07 PM

    Hey Andrew,
    I too really liked "Money to Burn" for its jam-packed action. It was definitely one of my favourite books of the course. As far as your question goes, that'll obviously depend a lot on what you like to do. One of my favourite things to do in the summer is go and watch the Vancouver Canadians play at Nat Bailey Stadium. They're a minor league baseball team, and the tickets aren't too expensive. If baseball doesn't bore you to death, I'd highly recommend.
    -Nathan Harris

    ReplyDelete

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