A Forestry essential makes a comeback after three years. To sum up the 2022 iteration? Ecstatic
By Raunaq Nambiar · Oct 7, 2022
As COVID-19 slowly retreats into a lingering background hum from its centre-stage position, various UBC traditions have cautiously returned to try and fill the social void left in the pandemic’s wake. Imagine Day and Clubs Fair was the closest they’ve come to resembling their pre-pandemic versions. For the Faculty of Forestry, this transition first began earlier this year when Coconut, the beloved Forestry-organised outdoor festival, returned to the UBC Farm and marked a triumphant home run finish for a semester that began on shaky grounds. Building on this upward momentum, the newly minted members of the incoming 2022-23
Forestry Undergraduate Society (FUS) began to plan Forestry Week, a FUS staple that includes a week full of activities, games, and events, from tote bag painting to pancake breakfasts. The big finish for this jam-packed week was Undercut, a 19+ night out with granola kids, rednecks, and everything in between.
Taking place at Castaway, a tropical-themed bar/restaurant in Kitsilano, the ticketed event was advertised as the grand finale for the aforementioned Forestry week. A chance to spend a night with all your forestry besties in the presence of chicken wings, long-island iced teas, and pop bangers ranging from Elton John to Taylor Swift. The moment when the iconic harmonica opening of renowned silviculturist Pitbull’s “Timber” (featuring conservation program director Kesha) began playing was one of the many highlights of the night. If the
dancefloor on one end wasn’t your vibe (or if you’re like me and lost your voice within a couple of minutes), the opposite end of the bar was the place to be to relax, unwind, and chat with all those faces that you see in the forestry building but never get a chance to interact with. With the ever-present plates of sliders and corndogs coming in through the night, the mellower half of the bar proved to be a zone brimming with folks catching up with familiar faces they hadn’t seen in years and with new connections being made at every
corner. Delivering a birthday surprise to the current FUS co-VP Student Life Sophia Renn was a fun moment later in the evening (the writer of this article definitely did not spoil the surprise by shouting “CAKE” in an effort to get a piece himself).
All in all, it was a much needed return-to-form for the faculty’s social scene. It didn’t necessarily play the rules any differently than other college parties, but it was nice to be in that setting with the people you often spend your entire day within the faculty. Undercut has once again made a strong case for it to be categorized as a forestry essential – a must-have experience for anyone passing through the faculty. The option to buy tickets that didn’t include drinks (at a lower price) was also a great addition to help include students who didn’t
drink and didn’t want to pay for that – a reminder that bopping, living, loving and laughing with your forestry peers doesn’t always need to include alcohol.
