Why You Can’t Afford To Buy A House in Vancouver
Prices of houses in Vancouver have more than doubled in the past few years. It is extremely difficult for the average working class to afford a house nowadays. Have you ever wondered why?
Here’s why: the Chinese economy had rebounded quickly after the global recession. The middle class is expanding and the rich people are getting richer. The problem is that they need to spend those money. The Chinese stock market is like a roller-coaster ride so people are trying to avoid it. The government had advised the public not to invest in real estate because the housing market is a mess. Additionally, the rich are looking for good places to live in when they retired or send to kids to for better education.
Vancouver has been one of the popular choices for rich Chinese to relocate the family for better living. In recent years, they started to buy up large qualities of luxury houses in Vancouver West and Richmond. When the demand is high and supply is limited, you get sky high prices. Local Vancouverites can’t afford to buy those high end houses anymore, so they started buying at nearby cities such as Burnaby, North Vancouver, and New Westminster. This phenomenon helped boost prices up for the rest of the Lower Mainland.
Until we get more land to build more houses, prices will remain high and the rest of us will still not be able to afford to buy houses in Vancouver.
How To Get Better Grades: Become An Active Learner
Have you ever wonder why some students get better grades than others? It’s not because they are smarter. They just have better study techniques that help them learn better. Being a university student myself, I have witnessed study techniques that work and don’t work. One of the most important technique that helped me a lot in my academic career is “Become An Active Learner”.
The difference between university and high school is huge. In university, you don’t have regular classmates anymore. Classes are very large so instructors and students rarely interact with each other. The university environment forces a student to become passive. All you do is go to lectures, take notes, walk out of lectures, and go to other classes. Lecture notes and textbooks become your only learning sources. But they are never enough! Well. Maybe enough for you to pass the course, but will never be enough to be an “A” or “A+” student.
Too boost your grades to the next level you will need to be an active learner. That means learning by interacting. Try to interact with your instructors before and after classes. If they have office hours, always go to them. Ask them anything. Raise your questions or concerns because most instructors don’t mind giving you extra help. Occasionally, your instructors will give you important information about tests and exams that others don’t know about! Don’t be shy to talk to your classmates too. Ask them questions and share your knowledge with them. The best way to learn is by teaching. When you teach other classmates about things you know, you are gaining knowledge as well. Form study groups with other students that are eager to learn. You will be amazed how much extra information you will get from your classmates!
Additionally, being an active learner doesn’t mean you have to interact with others. You can interact with yourself as well! Read your textbook before going to class and on a piece of paper write down any question you have while reading. Bring your questions to the class because most instructors are basically elaborating the textbook content during lectures. Most of the time your questions will be answered without you even asking! If not, just put up your hand and ask. This will help other students too because many of them may have the same question.
Hope these techniques will help you become an active learner and get the grades you always wanted!
Recommended SFU Courses Part 2: CMPT 165
I took CMPT 165 (Computing Science 165: Introduction to the Internet and the World Wide Web) with Greg Baker in Spring 2010 semester. It was one of the best courses I took in SFU. Greg Baker is a very knowledgeable instructor with a great sense if humor. Course content was very organized and well-taught. If you are at least somewhat interested in basic HTML, CSS, and web programming, this is definitely a GPA booster class for you!
There is no book to buy since Greg Baker wrote all his course material and published it online. You will need to attend all the labs and complete all the lab assignments. They are all very easy if you pay attention in class. There are 2 projects. One of them being HTML and CSS related, and the second one Python programming related. They are very easy to complete if you have been in class and all the labs. I managed to complete them the night before due and still got perfect marks.
Midterm and final can be a little bit tricky with the HTML and CSS stuff. The most difficult part will be writing the required HTML and CSS codes to display a layout specified in an image. All you need to do is practice and master all the examples he teaches in lectures before the exam. I totally recommend this course to everyone who is looking to learn some fun and practical computer skills. And remember to take it with Greg Baker.
Recommended SFU Courses Part 1: ECON 260 Environmental Economics
For those who are majoring or minoring in Economics, two Econ 200 level courses are required. I recommend taking Econ 260 with Kevin Wainwright as one of them. If you are a student who keeps up with the homework and readings, Econ 260 might be a good GPA booster course for you.
The central idea of the course is around how government reacts to pollution from firms and how firms react to government policies. The most used method to study this idea is with math. When I say math, many of you will start to freak out and will never consider this course. It’s true that this course is math intensive, but it is very basic algebra that we learn since grade 11. In addition to the math, you will also need to do some slopes and graphs.
The way to do well in this course is you must read and understand the book. You should also attend all the lectures. Kevin’s lectures are usually just summaries of the book, but sometimes he gives example questions and shows you how to solve them. If you have a good TA, he/she might be able to help you solve most of the questions in the two assignments. This is important because the midterm and final exam questions are almost identical to the assignment questions.
I have been tutoring this course for a few months now. I have noticed that students usually do well on the midterm and assignments but they become confused about the final exam. My piece of advice: read the book and master the questions from the second assignment!
Homeless People in Vancouver
A few days ago I was at downtown Vancouver with an extra ham and swiss sandwich from Tim Horton’s. I wanted to give that to a homeless person on the streets. To my surprise, I didn’t see one anywhere. Where did all those homeless people go?
Hours later, I found a homeless lady on Burrard street and successfully gave the sandwich to her.