Have you noticed that, ever since the end of 2024, the air on campus runs a little colder? That the sky is stained a permanent shade of grey? That all the people you walk by don’t even meet your eye, much less crack a smile?
In early 2025, UBC lost a pillar of its campus community. Brandon Wong, a former UBC microbiology and immunology student, left Vancouver to study medicine at the University of Toronto. You may know him better as Pea Man, the guy who donned a bright green ski mask, stood atop the grassy knoll and ate, then threw up, then ate more peas — 2.5 whole kilograms of them. Something about the event (adrenaline? shared relief at not being the guy hurling partially-digested pea?) brought UBC together in ways never seen before. Pea Man had his victory lap a few months later, forming the UBC Men’s Bathroom Choir for just one night of angelic song. Then that was it. Pea Man disappeared, and with him, joy.
But on Jan. 6, we received an email from Wong, inviting us to the aura-farming competition being held a few hours later in the Nest. When the UBC community needed him most, Pea Man was here to save the day.
By the time we got to the Nest’s atrium, nearly every inch of space was filled up; throughout the event, students even gathered on other floors of the building to peer over the railing. It was a formidable sight, considering UBC isn’t exactly known for its school spirit. Wong and his co-organizer, UBC Sauder student Evan Hodson, expressed that sentiment to us afterwards. Wong had ditched his usual ski mask for a suit, so clearly he meant business.
There were no real criteria to participate in the competition. Wong explained he had made a reel about the event to build excitement, and people signed up through a Google Form; the organizers didn’t filter any sign-ups since they wanted to be inclusive of anyone who wanted to participate.
The 13 acts included musical performances, Rubik’s cubing, calisthenics, magic, martial arts and dance (in a fursuit, might we add). And of course, there was a panel of judges: Baldy, Breanna XinYi Ho and Matt Solie. The influencers share a cumulative social media following of about three million — not accounting for those who follow more than one of them — and apparently were the resident experts on how to decipher one’s ‘aura,’ or lack thereof.
To fairly comment on the judges’ choices, we must first break down what exactly ‘aura’ is. Co-organizers Wong and Hodson didn’t seem to completely agree on how to define the concept. Wong thinks aura is defined by a person’s talent; it reflects “being able to do something very skillfully, and being able to do something that most people can't.” Hodson, however, believes it captures one’s presence — walking into any room and having people know your name. We lean towards the latter. Charli and friends put it best: to have aura, you must be known, but at the same time, unknownable.
For instance, we both agreed that our favourite performance was Scribbly Doodle, who opened the contest with a rendition of the Gorillaz classic “Feel Good Inc.” We knew it was going to be good as soon as we laid eyes on his board full of looping pedals (à la Ed Sheeran circa 2014). He played guitar, beatboxed, sang and blew into glass bottles filled with water to achieve certain pitches, using a loop pedal to record then layer tracks over each other; this resulted in a surprisingly detailed arrangement that was mostly faithful to its source material. His downfall, however, was the chalant-ness of it all — sure, a good performance demands a good setup, but there is something inherently nonchalant about having aura. This guy is going places, but the podium of Pea Man’s aura-farming competition is simply not it.
The judges chose three finalists: Paul, who juggled apples and took bites from them as he did so, spitting out the fruit as he went to make room for more; Mackenzie, who solved a Rubik’s cube in 20 seconds then immediately did a backflip; and Anthony, who did some impressive push-ups balanced on just one thumb, then completed most of a Rubik’s cube while in a handstand.
The audience was left with the final decision, and after roars of applause for all three finalists, Paul won. His grand prize was a trophy, a certificate and $20 — almost enough to cover the cost of the apples that ended up all over the floor (which he did immediately clean up, adding to his aura).
But who did we believe had the most aura? None other than Pea Man himself. There is something to be said for his commitment to improving student life, even beyond his time at UBC. “I want to bring the community together ... UBC is an entity in itself, and there's nothing there pulling us together. I think these moments are so awesome,” he told us after the event. From Toronto, he worked with others in Vancouver to work out the promotional materials and logistical details of the event. We don’t see or hear from him often, especially now that he’s living out east, but he’s somehow still impossible to avoid. That’s real aura.
Though Wong’s Pea Man career may have started as a one-off joke, he’s arguably contributed more towards student life than some people who get paid for this work have been able to do. When you see people laughing on the knoll, gathering to hear live music or putting themselves out there to make people smile in whatever way they know best, think of Pea Man.
