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“I felt like I was a very small person in a really big world” – UBC Sauder Alumnus Crystal Hung wins this year’s Great Trekker award

by Tanushi Bhatnagar

Congratulations to Crystal Hung on winning the 2024 AMS Great Trekker Award!

As an alumnus of the UBC Sauder School of Business, Hung had built a meaningful connection with the spaces and buildings on campus. For her, UBC was a welcoming environment – one that she could spend most of her time in.

“I remember stepping onto the campus for the first time and I was overwhelmed. I felt like I was a very small person in a really big world. And you often feel lost on campus but the one place for me at the time was the Student Union Building,” she said. The Student Union Building has since been replaced by the AMS Student Nest and has been repurposed as the UBC Life Building. 

An interesting facet of Hung’s Bachelor of Commerce journey was that she was able to find comfort in studying till late near the UBC Hospital Emergency Department. “I was a business student that was just trying to find a place to study after hours,” she said.  But it was not just the heat and 24/7 access to the medical building that led her to spend hours on campus. She felt safe and at home. “For people who are maybe living on campus or living away from home, somehow UBC figured it out.”

And perhaps it was that feeling of home and belongingness that inspired Hung and her husband Dr Jack Chang to donate $1 million to the UBC Sauder Powerhouse Expansion Project. 

Looking back at her student life, Hung recalled working three jobs as a student and never taking a break. “I do dream about going back to school sometimes and it’s because I feel like I missed out on some parts of the student life because I was working a lot,” she said. She advices the students to “slow down, reflect and pause” amidst the fast-paced nature of every-day school life.

During her UBC journey, she found resources and support through the UBC community. “Upon graduation, I had been a research assistant for numerous professors to pay off all my student loans & had $800 leftover in my pocket,” she said. That achievement and the belief that came from a quote “if opportunity does not knock, build a door” by Milton Berle are what inspired her to succeed in her entrepreneurial journey after university.

Hung graduated from Sauder in 2008. Today, she is the CEO and founder of Icon&Co Boutique Inc., a Vancouver-based real estate sales and marketing agency she founded in 2014. She also currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Vancouver Heritage Commission where she campaigns for the integration of Vancouver’s heirloom buildings and diverse cultural history with the city’s urban planning decisions. Within the Vancouver housing sector, Hung and her team have been dedicated to tackling the city’s housing needs through mindful development projects. Her personalized and community-focused strategies have not only built her a strong reputation in the real estate industry but also won her awards.

Apart from her endeavours in the housing market, Hung is also a dedicated philanthropist. She is the co-founder of Pixels Moments, a micro-donation platform, in collaboration with the St. Paul’s Hospital to raise awareness and funds for mental health resources for the hospital, raising more than $400,000 since 2021. Her time spent studying near the UBC hospital also exposed her to the medical system which now inspires her to contribute to health science through her real estate endeavours. Being a strong advocate for alternative housing solutions, Hung’s interests also lie in helping find viable solutions to Vancouver’s housing crisis. For the past two and a half years, she has been researching housing issues in the Downtown Eastside and connecting with residents. “As a marketer, one of my ambitions is to hopefully create a new way of thinking about these issues and not see them as stigma. Hopefully, one day, I can help contribute to solutions,” she said.

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The Great Trekker Award is an honour presented to an alumnus of UBC who embodies the spirit of the Great Trek student initiative of 1922, when they marched to Point Grey to pressure the government to complete the construction of the university. Crystal Hung harbours the same leadership and ambition through her continued support of and contribution to the UBC Community and beyond.

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A Guide to Thriving Together 

It’s about halfway through the semester, and a lot of you are about to be thrown into a group project that seems like a mountain of tasks and deadlines. You look around at your group members, a mix of familiar and new faces, and wonder how you’ll ever coordinate your schedules, let alone complete the project. Flashback to my first group project at university, fraught with miscommunication and last-minute panic. Fast forward to now, as a fourth-year student, I’ve learned the ins and outs of turning group projects from a source of stress into opportunities for growth and success. Here is how my team and I mastered the art of group projects, and how you can too, in any collaborative endeavor you undertake at UBC, and beyond: 

Set clear goals, deadlines, and lines of communication. 

The most important thing for any group project to succeed is for everyone to be on the same page. Yes, the end goal for everyone on your team is to hand in a completed project by the deadline and get a good score. However, it is often helpful to have smaller goals at more regular intervals to keep you on track. I like to do this by breaking down the project into stages; literature review, planning and organization, first draft, final submission, for example. I add these goals to platforms like Trello that help track progress and let me know if I am behind schedule. This approach not only makes the project more digestible but also ensures that everyone is on the same page from the get-go. I personally like Trello since it integrates well with most calendar apps. 

It is also important to set up non-volatile lines of communication, ones that will not erase themselves after a certain period. My go-to is Discord since it is free and has all the functionality I would need for my group project, text and file sharing, voice and video calling, non-volatile. Be mindful about how long your chats are kept for. This will especially be helpful if there are any conflicts or any accusations of academic misconduct down the line. 

Leverage Each Other’s Strengths 

Everyone has different strengths and interests, and group projects let you capitalize on them. Early on, have an open discussion about each team member’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Assign roles that align with each person’s skills and interests as much as possible. This not only ensures productivity but also makes the project more enjoyable for everyone involved. Remember, diversity in skills and perspectives is your greatest asset. 

Remember, diversity goes beyond skills and interests; it encompasses different cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. Embrace this diversity within your group as it can lead to more creative solutions and a richer learning experience. Encourage each member to share their unique viewpoints and consider these diverse perspectives when making decisions. This approach not only enriches your project but also prepares you for working in today’s globalized world. 

Check-in often 

Communication is the lifeline of any successful group project. Decide as a team how often you want to meet as a team. Regular check-ins ensure that everyone is progressing as planned and allow for early detection of potential issues. Don’t underestimate the power of a quick weekly meeting to keep everyone aligned and motivated. In addition to the larger team check-ins, if you have multiple people working on the same part of the project, I recommend them setting up their own meetings as well. It is helpful to have a written agenda for each meeting to keep your discussions on goal and not miss any topics you wanted to discuss. 

While dividing tasks is efficient, isolation can lead to disjointed results. These meetings also give you a chance to bring your individual work together, ensuring cohesiveness in the final submission. Tools like Google Docs or Office 365 allow for real-time collaboration and feedback, making it easier to integrate different parts of the project seamlessly. Office 365 is free for all UBC students with an active student email. 

Practice and Promote Academic Integrity 

Academic integrity is the cornerstone of any project. Ensure that all group members understand the importance of original work and the proper citation of sources. Utilize university resources like the academic integrity website and Purdue OWL’s citation guide to learn more about academic integrity and good practices. Remember, integrity is not just about avoiding plagiarism; it’s about contributing your genuine effort and respecting the contributions of others. 

Be Proactive in Resolving Conflicts 

Conflict is almost inevitable in group projects, but it doesn’t have to derail your progress. Address any issues or misunderstandings early on, focusing on the problem, not the person. Effective conflict resolution involves active listening, empathy, and compromise. Sometimes, a neutral third party, like a TA or professor, can offer valuable perspective and mediation. 

Reflect and Celebrate 

After submitting your project, take the time to reflect on what went well and what could be improved. This reflection is invaluable for personal growth and future group projects. Don’t forget to celebrate your hard work and achievements, regardless of the outcome. The skills and relationships you’ve built during this time are worth celebrating. 

As you embark on your next group project, remember that the journey is as important as the destination. By fostering organization, using diverse skills, maintaining open lines of communication, and upholding academic integrity, you’re not just completing an assignment; you’re preparing for the collaborative challenges of the professional world. Here’s to your success, both individually and together! 

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Office hours are an extremely valuable resource, not only for direct course support but also for building relationships with your professors and TAs, further solidifying your place in the UBC community. In your first year, attending may seem intimidating. With so many questions, so much course content and limited time, how can you know what to ask? AMS tutoring has a few suggestions on how to prepare and get the most out of your office hours visit.  

Read the Syllabus and Attend Lectures

At first, the course syllabus might seem much too long and somewhat pointless to read, but many of the questions you might are likely answered in the syllabus. Any questions about assignments, due dates, supplemental materials, schedules, etc. are usually clarified by the course syllabus, so reading it can save time for both you and your professor or TA during office hours. In addition, while attending lectures may seem obvious, it can become quite easy to start slipping on attendance, especially during the second term when burnout begins to catch up on you. To avoid confusion, try to attend as regularly as possible since, given limited time for office hours, many professors may be reluctant to answer questions already covered in the lectures. 

Review Course Material in Advance

Before you attend office hours, review your notes, lecture slides, assignment questions and other relevant course materials. Make sure you can identify exactly what you understand and where the gaps in your knowledge are. In doing this, it’ll be much easier for you to know exactly what you need out of your time in office hours as well as what you might need less support with and, in turn, it will be easier for your professor or TA to know how to support you best. This will help you make the most of your time during the office hours and ensure that you are well-prepared to discuss specific topics. 

Compile a List of Questions

After you review material, make sure to make a list of specific questions or topics you’d like to discuss during office hours. This not only helps you stay focused but also ensures that you cover all the points you are unsure about. Organize your questions in a logical order so that the discussion flows smoothly. Something that might be helpful is to print off or write down the questions, so that you have your own copy to refer to and a physical copy to give your professor or TA so they can also refer to it while they assist you.  

Collect and Bring Relevant Materials

Bring any relevant materials, such as textbooks, course notes, or specific example questions, that may aid in helping identify your confusion and properly explain the concepts. Having these resources on hand can help both you and the professor better understand the context of your specific questions and facilitate a more productive discussion. If you are asking questions about a specific exam or assignment, and if you have access to it beforehand, make sure to bring it to the office hours session you are attending with the questions you need clarification on highlighted so they can be easily referred to.  

Use Office Hours for More than Just Course Support

If you need support with grad school, getting involved in research labs, learning about other research opportunities or receiving referrals to other UBC supports and services, many professors and TAs will be more than happy to assist you. Of course, make sure to ask your professor or TA beforehand if they have time to answer questions like these, as some may want to prioritize course support, especially during busy times like midterm or finals season. But, if they agree, office hours can be a great resource for helping to navigate your undergraduate degree. These types of questions can be especially useful in building great relationships with your professors and the broader UBC community.  

Remember, office hours are not only for seeking course help but also for connecting you to more members of your UBC community. Use these tips to help prepare yourself properly and get the most out of your time, making the experience as beneficial to you as possible as well as smoother for your professors and TAs. AMS tutoring will additionally be there for support beyond allotted office hour times, so always know that if you are stuck, you have numerous options to help get you through. 

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It is with heavy heart we announce the passing of Bev Teh, a long-term team member at Blue Chip. Bev began working at Blue Chip in 1993 and over the years held several positions including Blue chip manager for multiple years. Students and staff will remember Bev as cheerful and friendly, and someone who would always brighten your day.

A memorial service will be held for Bev at 6:0PM, December 2, 2023 at the Granville Chapel, 5901 Granville Street in Vancouver. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking you to consider a donation to the St. Paul’s ICU in her memory.

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Staff and friends share some of their memories of Bev:

Tery Tay

Bev was a gift for Blue Chip. She became friends with regulars. She became family to staffs. She saw the people around her as who they could become, as she had a knack for bringing out the best in people.

She mentored me to be a better manager from her years of experience, and patiently showed better ways to do things to all the new staff around her, as for many, working at Blue Chip was their first job. She was helpful, always staying later than usual to help out with another batch of sandwiches or making sure before she leaves that another batch of cookies were ready.

She kept things simple and did things wholeheartedly. She was humble, often suggesting ideas to me and insisting that they were mine, for she doesn’t need the credits anymore. She gave advice to many students and our personal lives, including heartbreaks. She was a maternal figure to those who opened up to her. She cared for the people around her by making sure we were fed, as she would bake and share her meals, and that we were wiser and ready for life, and that we weren’t alone, for she always showed her love to us.

Mariana

Bev was the kind of person who really stood out. Some saw her as this strong general you just had to listen to, while others thought of her as the bossy lady in charge at Blue Chip. But for the lucky ones, like me, she was like home. 

She was the most caring and selfless person I’ve ever known. I saw her taking care of us from behind, never wanting to take the spotlight for her good actions, just genuinely caring about our well-being. Whether it was saving the best bread ends, sharing her secret blue chip tips and recipes, or praying for me for exams and presentations, she was there.

She cared, listened, and shared everything—from her love and food to her time and example. Bev was a beautiful kind of love that didn’t come with questions or expectations; it just was.

And that’s something I’ll always be thankful for. So, thank you, Bev, for spreading your kindness to all of us lucky enough to cross paths with you.

Cathy Dryden

Bev a I started working together somewhere in 1989, when AMS use to be on the old Sub. We use to work in the back of the hallway by old Pit making sandwiches for pendulum restaurant. We also did catering together.

In 1991 Bev got promoted as Asst Manager and moved to blue chip and in couple years she was the manager. I went back to the Gallery restaurant. We didn’t really work directly together after that.

Bev was always like a mother figure to everyone. She always use to take care of the staff. Whenever she made soup at home and had extra, she use to bring it to work for all of us.

She use to volunteer for soup kitchen downtown making meals for homeless people. Also once in a week she use to support Kits house. She went to church every Sunday and use to volunteer there as well, cooking and doing outreach work.

I clearly remember that one of my staff was going on a trip and she didn’t have a car and she had to be in the airport by 5:30.  Even though she was not Bev’s staff, she still offered to help. Bev got up early, picked this girl up at 4:30 in the morning and dropped her to the airport on time.

I also remember that Carol, Bev and I were very good friends. We use to almost always have lunch together. One day Carol was leaning back on the chair and swinging a bit… Carol fell down backward.

Instead of helping her up, we started laughing and we were laughing so hard that carol also started laughing… she was not hurt.. but we laughed so hard….

Bev was a very genuine person, very friendly and got along with everyone. She was caring and very helpful, in and out of work.

Kathryn Thomson and Tom Coleman

Bev touched the lives of 1000’s of students that she hired to work at Blue Chip, and probably had a long lasting positive influence on lot of those students whose first job was at Blue Chip.

She was kind, considerate, respectful, patient and very hard working, committed to doing her best for the AMS and consequently the student body. She was a quiet achiever and a great mentor who everyone respected and held in high regard. I know she really loved working with the students

In her early years at Blue Chip she was baker and manager. She steered Blue Chip from a small counter in the Old Sub to hitting a million dollars in revenue the year that I joined.

I know she was a dedicated volunteer at her church and often cooked for 100’s of people in her church role.  

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By: Sheldon Goldfarb

Let the students drink!

The Pit turns 50-years old November 2023. Happy birthday to UBC’s student pub.

​Sometimes the toughest battles are against oneself. The struggle for a student pub on campus was one of those, pitting certain students against others, all against a backdrop of government control and archaic liquor laws.

British Columbia had experimented with prohibition between 1917 and 1921, and even though it was repealed after that, what replaced it was a strict system of government regulation. How this translated into life at UBC was that the campus was dry, at least for the students. The AMS even had a bylaw prohibiting alcohol consumption and enforced it at a ball in 1929 when three Agriculture students were fined simply for showing up under the influence of alcohol.

By the 1940s the bylaw was a matter of dispute: members of Student Council debated whether it should be enforced, repealed, or just discreetly ignored. Students drank, of course, sometimes in their cars outside official AMS dances, sometimes at drinking competitions organized by the Engineers (who prided themselves on being able to “demolish forty beers,” as the Engineers Song put it), sometimes at the Hotel Georgia (UBC’s downtown campus, some called it). People talked about hypocrisy and about the health hazards of forcing people to drink secretively (and thus often to excess). There were calls for a pub on campus, as early as the 1950s, but nothing happened until the radical Sixties, in particular 1968.

In that year the culture of protest collided with prohibition in a number of ways. First of all, there was the occupation of the Faculty Club by 2,000 students urged on by US radical Jerry Rubin, who called on them to liberate something. The students stayed overnight, and one of the things they liberated was the professors’ liquor cabinet.

A month before that the AMS opened a new student union building, the SUB, only to find a protest being held there by some of its members, including even some AMS Executives. The protesters were objecting to the lack of a pub in the new building, and were drinking illegally. AMS President Jack Zirnhelt said he sympathized, but added that an illegal “pub-in” as it was called could not be tolerated and might jeopardize AMS attempts to obtain a liquor licence.

Obtaining a liquor licence was quite difficult under the restrictive liquor regulations of the time, and the AMS in fact submitted a brief to the government committee looking into revising the regulations, but even under the existing regulations it turned out to be possible to get a licence, and a pub was announced for November 1968. This was what became the famous Pit Pub, so named, the story goes, by David Suzuki, a UBC professor at the time, who waded into the liquor controversy by publishing an article saying that a pub was exactly what the campus needed to facilitate interactions between students and between students and professors.

Suzuki, who was known for convening classes at the Fraser Arms pub on Marine Drive, said a pub on campus would remove the need to go drinking off campus and would produce revenue to support academic activities. The AMS promptly added him to its committee looking into creating a pub, and he was one of the first attendees when the Pit finally opened, as a beer garden rather than a dedicated drinking establishment, on November 28, 1968.

For the next five years the Pit became a successful, regular beer garden, where according to the Ubyssey, one could “relax, have a few beer, eat a sandwich and talk about the revolution.”  But the plan was to let it have a place of its own instead of forcing it to set up shop in various different rooms in the Student Union Building. This meant a major renovation project because there had been no thought of including a pub in the original plans for the building.

The renovation project took five years, but by November 1973 the new Pit was ready and the culture change was complete. No longer was the AMS an organization that prohibited drinking; it now became the proprietor of the iconic Pit Pub in the basement of the SUB, and when the AMS moved to the Student Nest, the Pit moved with it.

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Our 2023-2024 AMS Tutors talk about their favourite study spots and pre-exam routines.

Lydia

Study spot: Koerner Library
Pre-exam routine: Watching the exam scene from Spies Like Us
Study music: Concerto for Group and Orchestra

Most common problem: distribution and probability
How to help solve this problem: Have student walk them through the problem to understand where exactly they are struggling, help guide them through problem without direct instruction so they can solve themselves.

Top 3 study tips: Read questions carefully, sleep, try to compartmentalize problem

Anuska

Favourite study spot: Koerner library floor 1 (very quiet + lots of seats)

Part of my pre-exam routine: A fun little thing I like doing before any exam is restocking my pencil case and getting all of my stationery items ready the night before (pens, pencils and tons of other stuff i probably won’t need). Another thing that’s important to me is making sure that i get enough sleep the night before!

Current favourite study song: Dancing Queen by ABBA

Shreya

Favourite study spot: Law Library

Pre exam routine: going to office hours

Study song: any violin concerto

Sameer

Favourite spot: IKB

Favourite study song: lo fi

Pre-exam routine: not really one

Mahak

Favourite study spot: Koerners library 3rd floor

Pre exam routine: get organised, make myself a study schedule

Favourite study song: piano covers of songs (so the lyrics don’t distract me! )

Most common problem: Too much due at once and can’t keep up with work
How to help solve this problem: Ask about their current study schedule and help walk them through organizing their schedule

Top 3 study tips: Do practice problems, keep a physical copy of study schedule, make a cheat sheet

Ryan

Favourite study spot: The law library reference room,

Pre-exam routine is a big breakfast

Favourite study song: Turn! Turn! Turn! by Papa M

Gahan

Favourite study spot: Abdul Ladha. It’s not that busy and noisy.

Study routine: Flash cards and it helps a lot

Mayank

Favorite study spot: IKB, 3rd floor – by the big windows

Pre-exam routine: NOT studying AT ALL, just watching a comedy TV Show, currently Family Guy. Last minute studying just makes more nervous.

Favorite study song: Acoustic versions of pop music, anything without words since hearing lyrics distracts me.

Meghan

Favourite study spot: Ridington Room in IKB,

Pre-exam routine: Eat a full breakfast and have (at least) 2 cups of coffee!

Favourite study song: Anything Noah Kahan

Saumya

Favourite study spot: Koerners

Pre-exam routine: Sleeping alottt.

Favourite song during exam season: Not a particular song but lofi study beats

Eliza

Favourite study spot: the Jesus room in the Iona Building

Pre-exam routine: I listen to my heavy metal playlist and go for a little walk

Study song: Here I Come (There You Go) by Royal Republic