Day #5

This was one of the most dreaded days as it's the last day of the conference. It might not be the last for me, for I will be leaving on the day after today, but some participants had flights right after the closing ceremony which commenced in the evening.

We had breakfast as usual, and I found out that the strawberry yoghurt served in Totem Hall Dining Room was really good.

The activities in the CIRS building started off with concurrent sessions with various UBC student representatives who had made an impact in their community. Again, we participated in a workshop held by them, and I picked Sam Harrison's session. 

Sam was only sixteen, and both his parents were UBC professors. Nevertheless, his achievements were astoundingly impressive. 

A mini presentation during Sam Harisson's session

After lunch, we had an hour to prepare for our GAT group presentation. It was the last chance to make final changes and my group was pretty relaxed about it, since we all knew what we were supposed to do. We spent the next two hours in the CIRS building as each team delivered their presentation. 

Team Koerner before the GAT presentations start

My team threw on a sketch about IBWSC after 50 years, which would be held underwater since the future generation's ancestors (which is our generation) did not take sustainable and precautionary measures which lead to sea level rising.

Team Koerner ! 

One of the group's GAT presentation which featured a video they recorded

This is a blueprint of a model city constructed by Jonah Uyyek, which is simply amazing. 

If you thought the blueprint was amazing on its own, he even constructed a 3D model of the city. #mindblown

Everyone was absolutely awed by this demonstration - how can one create such an amazing, organized piece of work within such a limited time frame?! #salute

We had an empty slot next, which meant that we could do whatever we wanted within the campus since it was the last day. Most of us, including myself, went to the UBC bookstore, which held a large variety of goods catered for their students, most bearing the UBC emblem to exhibit school pride. 

(I have no pictures for this, sorry ! Was busy shopping :P)

Dinner was a simple and relaxed picnic outside Totem Park Residence, where we were served pizza and soda. This was the time where we spend our last times together, as some had to head off to the airport after the closing ceremony, which commenced after dinner.

The closing ceremony was especially heartfelt - most participants never hesitated to make a closing speech and they had bravely spoken about their experiences within the week. There were a lot of hugs and goodbyes, and giant thankyous to the organizers, especially to the staff members of UBC, who had spent a great amount of effort into making this a success. 

Awwww :')

Rmember the Japanese flag Sushi brought? It was filled with signatures from people around the world. The symbol of hope :')

With the amazing Karen Waugh, who, together with OSC, made this whole trip possible for me. #touched

Words cannot express how much gratitude I felt for UBC, especially to Quinn, who emceed and overlooked the whole conference. I have to say, this is by far one of the best, well-organized conferences I've been to in my life.

Also, here's a shout out to Naomi Gordon, whom I did not manage to get a picture with, unfortunately. You've been utmost efficient and I am convinced that the conference could not take place without your presence.

Many thanks to Jeni Williams on behalf of the whole of OSC, who made all of this possible in the first place.

With Xander from Seattle, one of the friendliest and entertaining people I've met in this conference.

Kentaro from Japan, who never failed to amuse me with his unique personality.

Delber from Mexico, one of the very first people I've met before the start of the conference.

With Emily and Ainslie 

With Alisha, one of my GAT team members and an amazing friend.

With Atsushi, who insists to be called Sushi. Than you for throwing such an amazing performance during World Culture Performance :') 

And thank you to everyone in the IBWSC out there, as your presence had definitely contributed to this conference in making an extra memorable, heartfelt one.