Over the past several months I have had the pleasure of having Alix as my roommate. Not only is she super funny and sweet, but she’s also someone full of interesting stories and wisdom beyond her years. I had a lot of fun interviewing her, and know you will enjoy learning a bit about her. Here’s Alix!
Name: Alix Bérubé.
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario.
Year: third.
Major: double major in English and Anthropology.
Dream Job: Being Indiana Jones.
Favourite thing about UBC: I love the MOA (Musuem of Anthropology).
Favourite class: Conservation of Inorganic materials with Heidi Swierenga. We got to study how materials deteriorate over time and how to preserve the priceless artifacts in museums. It’s really cool because you get to see what a piece looks like from start to finish by piecing it back together.
Least favourite class: Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.
Favourite place to eat on campus: Mercante Pizza. It’s a great place to share food with friends.
Favourite show: Currently, the Bachelor. Watch it every Monday with my roommate and some wine. It’s perfect.
Favourite place you’ve travelled to: Umbria in Tuscany. There’s so many winieries and they make olive oil there so there’s olive groveries all over. It’s just beautiful! Good food…you never want to leave.
How many countries have you travelled to: Seventeen: South Africa, Thailand, Burma, Germany, France, Italy, Tunisia, Greece, Slovakia, Spain, USA, Netherlands, China, Switzerland, Hungary, Costa Rica, Israel.
So I know that you took a gap year after high school. What did you do during that time: I took my TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) the summer after I graduated. In January, on New Years Day, I went to Thailand and ended up teaching French and English for about five months in Chiang Mai. Over this time I got to travel around Thailand and meet some interesting people along the way. I met up with a friend from my hometown and we went from Thailand to South Africa where we stayed for a month at the Makalali game reserve. We volunteered for the Siyafunda Wildlife Conservation organization which was amazing.
What did you do for the organization: We collected data on game drives. We’d make up at five am and gather information on the animals and the state of the reserve.
What did you do when you returned home: applied to UBCO and moved to Kelowna.
When and why did you transfer to UBC: I transferred after my first year because, although I loved the smaller class sizes at UBCO, I realized Kelowna was too small of a city for me.
What’s your favourite thing about living in Vancouver: the landscape! It’s so beautiful. I love going outside and seeing the mountains. You’re surrounded by nature; there’s not many cities that you can find that.
What’s the biggest difference about the East and West Coast: The West Coast is a lot more liberal and laid back. Also, people are lot more outdoorsy here! You pretty much have to be a hiker to live in BC.
What do you miss the most about home: Good poutine.
Interesting Fact: I speak three languages: English, French, and Italian. I also studied some Korean but I’m not proficient in it!