Julien Hart is in his first year at UBC and is quickly becoming one of the most involved individuals on campus. A member of the CUS, The Calendar, Party Well and Arts & Culture District, he is incredibly dedicated and passionate.
One of the first things that Hart became involved with as soon as he began his UBC career was The Calendar. The Calendar was seeking individuals with high energy and enthusiastic personalities, and Hart believed he fit the criteria.
“I emailed The Calendar seeing if I could get involved and they emailed me saying that they wanted me to come to an interview in a costume,” he said. “I went to the interview and my costume was the house from the movie UP. I tied a balloon to each one of my dreadlocks and I brought a helium tank. I’m sitting there talking with these people about my love for planning events.”
One of Hart's strongest qualities is his ability and desire to plan and problem solve. In high school, the grad party for Hart's class was cancelled and he was forced to plan a party in eight days on a low budget.
“I grabbed some of my friends to DJ, got a huge first aid kit and I raised $1000 in two days from high school kids, which is hard to do,” he said. “We chartered a bus from one of my friends who works for a bus company. It was awesome.”
So what is a typical day like for such a busy and ambitious young student like Hart?
Hart began his UBC career when he was commuting 2.5 hours from Burnaby every day – leaving minimal time to be fully involved with campus and community life. Hart loved UBC and the vibe on campus, but commuting was too difficult. He decided to rush for frats since the rent was cheap and he could stop wasting time commuting to school.
“I was checking out the frats and I started to really enjoy the system. I ended up joining Zeta, so I decided to live there,” he said. “My day starts and ends at the frat and I get onto my unicycle and ride to school with my Hart shirt on. I’m really involved with campaigning for the CUS right now.”
Aside from keeping busy with the numerous extracurricular activities he is part of, Hart loves Lady Gaga – she is the person he'd most like to have dinner with.
“I like the way she changed everything,” he said. “She wasn’t just about the music, she was about the costume and she knew how to get media attention. She was genuine about silly things and I loved seeing her passion for art.”
Hart advises first years to focus on what they love and enjoy.
“You talk to people and they say that university is the greatest years of their life. Although academics are very important, it’s because of the people they met and the things they did,” he said. “I think you should just talk to people and put yourself out there, take an interest in what you love and things will work out.”