CENES Graduating Students. From Left to right: Delaney Westby, Alexander Davies, Melissa Phua
It’s May, which means that UBC’s spring graduation is nearly here.
Continuing with our theme of ‘CENES Wrapped’ this May, we couldn’t forget to show some appreciation to our amazing students who will be walking the stage this season. We asked a few of our seniors about their time in CENES, what they took away, and advice for both current and future CENES students.
Delaney Westby
Delaney Westby is graduating this spring with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics and minoring in Nordic Studies. Throughout her time at UBC, Delaney has been an active member of the CENES community and an upstanding student leader as President of one of CENES’ student organizations, the UBC Scandinavian and Nordic Student Association. It has been an absolute pleasure to have Delaney around the past few years, and CENES is looking forward to seeing all the amazing things she will accomplish.
During your time here, what did you take away from CENES and CENES courses?
I’ve become better at making observations in the literature and media I’m exposed to, and forming an analysis from my observations, but I’ve especially become better at recognizing the differences between observation and analysis. Now when I am looking at themes or characters or narratives, I’m aware that observation and description has to come first, before I can begin analyzing.
What’s your favourite class/ memory in the department?
I loved our nature unit in NORD 333 because we spent a class outside in the woods taking notes on the things we noticed, and what we were thinking and feeling. It was a helpful way to explore the topic we were learning about, and it was fun to take a walk outside with my classmates.
Do you have any advice for students taking or thinking about majoring and/or minoring in CENES? Or to those taking courses with us?
Anybody who takes even a few CENES courses is going to be overwhelmed by the strong sense of community from the faculty and students. The welcoming attitudes of the department and student bodies is what made me come back to CENES again and again, until I finally decided to pursue a minor.
Alexander Davies
Alexander Davies is graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and a minor in German Studies. This past year, CENES has had the pleasure of having Alexander on the CENES Advisory Council where students articulated their views on some of the key challenges and questions of higher education for the present and the future. Alexander also supported CENES’ first ever Vanier Language Day event, where CENES visited Place Vanier to introduce its languages to UBC First Years. Alexander has been a wonderful presence to have in our German courses and around the department, and we are very excited to see what comes next.
During your time here, what did you take away from CENES and CENES courses?
While completing my German minor with CENES, I was able to learn so much, while also building connections with classmates and many great professors. As an International Relations major, much of what I learned in my CENES courses often connected to concepts and topics we discussed in my International Relations classes, allowing me to have a deeper, more dynamic understanding of core concepts which featured in both fields of study. This continuity between my major and minor truly made me feel that I was getting the most out of my studies at UBC.
What’s your favourite class/ memory in the department?
I was lucky to take 9 German language classes with CENES. As someone who was previously monolingual, it was special to finally learn a new language and eventually put it to use while visiting Germany this past summer!
Do you have any advice for students taking or thinking about majoring and/or minoring in CENES? Or to those taking courses with us?
My advice to anyone interested in CENES is to try to step outside your comfort zone when choosing CENES courses. Some classes may seem, on the surface, outside of your specialization or interests, but these are the courses which I especially appreciated taking while at UBC.
Melissa Phua
Melissa will be graduating this May with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and has been an avid presence in CENES German courses while at UBC. Most recently, Melissa has been a member of the CENES Advisory Council since 2022, helping guide CENES on how to better support students in the future on a range of topics from when and how the department should best schedule its courses to potential areas of improvement as a department, from a student perspective. CENES can count on Melissa to always be at one of our programs’ events, even if they weren’t specific to the German program. Thank you Melissa for hanging around CENES the past few years, we look forward to welcoming you back as an alumni!
During your time here, what did you take away from CENES and CENES courses?
I’ve been taking a German class every semester since my second year, and my biggest takeaway from my German classes is to be consistent and take initiative in your language learning journey. Classes only meet for 3 hours a week, so it’s important to keep up with language learning outside of class as often as possible in order to learn a language effectively. For example, a great way to keep up with language learning outside of class is to consume media in the language you’re learning, such as watching or reading anything you’re interested in. It’s also important to make the process of language learning fun, so that it motivates you to be consistent and keep going, even on days where you feel unmotivated to keep up with language learning.
What’s your favourite class/ memory in the department?
My favourite class I took in CENES was GERM 406A: Putting German Studies into Action. I really like how we took learning outside of the classroom and applied what we learned in class into the real world. The class was project-based and our final project was to organize the Bauhaus Photography Exhibition in the CENES department at the Buchanan Tower. I had a lot of fun working together with my classmates in the entire process of organizing the exhibition, from the initial stages of planning the exhibition to the actual day of the exhibition!
Do you have any advice for students taking or thinking about majoring and/or minoring in CENES? Or to those taking courses with us?
For language classes, don’t be afraid to participate in class! My favourite part of all the German classes I’ve taken is the interesting discussions we had in class. It’s a good way to practice speaking the language and it promotes active learning, which makes language learning more engaging and meaningful.
