Meet Talen, lover of chinchillas

Dear world,

My name is Talen. Before I tell you why I am here, as a jumble of text on your computer screen, here are 5 need-to-know things about me:

1. Despite my name sounding slightly like a bird’s foot, I’m a marine biology major in my second year at UVic.
2. I am on the junior varsity UVic cross-country team but, despite a semester of training, I am still not entirely comfortable with wearing the spandex and short-shorts uniform and, thus, occasionally wear basketball shorts to practice, much to the dismay of my peers.
3. If I was stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, I would bring a box of matches, a fishing rod, and a chinchilla.
4. My friends were offended when I told them I valued an aesthetic chinchilla over them.
5. I have won provincial championships in three sports, but still see my biggest accomplishment to date as the afternoon I ate two foot-long sub sandwiches in about 20 minutes.

So, that’s me in a nutshell.

But I’m not here to write about me. It’s you – the UVic community – that I want to share.

And I’m not talking about the classroom versions of us, the classic limelight-filtered academically-confused student image.

No, I want to share with you the raw, uninterrupted university student life, in all its messed up beautiful imperfection.

I’m talking about the random outbursts of spontaneous creativity.

I’m talking about the late-night jam sessions on a beachside piano. About the struggles and successes that make our university unique. That is what I am here to share. This is a blog for students, by a student.

So read on, daring adventurer. I will be posting every week about the nonsensical, the awkward and the straight up abnormal. Stay tuned.