Friday, December 30, 2005

Help Me Find Sally

Maybe you or someone you know can help me out. There is someone I know that I am not able to get a hold of and I'm worried about her.

In September I began a Psychology course at UBC. A couple of weeks in, I became friends with Sally. We would chat before each class, mainly about the Canucks, and how we hoped there were three presentations that day. We would watch the professor to see if she put her stuff on the podium, or on a front desk. The latter would foreshadow presentations! It was a very busy time for me, with moving and such, and I had a lot on my mind each morning, so I didn't find out much about her beyond her obsession with the Canucks, and her playing ice hockey, I believe in North Van. She has a boyfriend. Like me, this was her first semester at UBC; she had transfered from Capilano College. Unlike me, she was also taking several other courses, including geography.

After writing the midterm, we were anxious to find out our marks. The day we finally got them, she was absent for the first time all semester, two and half months in. She showed at the next class and I asked about her absence. She said that after her hockey game on the weekend, her chest was hurting. She was told she had to have tests done, and they scheduled it during the previous class's time. She said she would get the results of the tests soon. She then viewed her exam marks and seemed pretty happy about it. After that class she never showed up again.

Knowing only her first name, there was no way I could find her phone number in the white pages or online. There was another girl who she often talked to in class, and I was hoping I could ask her, but she was absent for several classes too. Finally, at the very last class before the final, the other girl was there. After class I went up to her and asked her about Sally. Turns out she was equally concerned. She said she had Sally's email address, but not with her, so I gave her my email address and phone number to give to Sally. Very stupidly, I did not get the other girl's email address and phone number; neither of them showed up to the final exam (I recall hearing that the other girl was going to write it at a different time), and to this day I haven't heard from either of them.

I've thought about Sally a lot since her disappearance, and I'd really like to know that she's alright.

I know the chances of this posting leading to anything are very slim, but the chances are greater than if I didn't post anything, right? If you know someone named Sally that was taking a Psychology: Socialization and Media course at UBC during this past semester, please let me know. Thanks.

I'm going to explore other avenues in an attempt to contact her.

3 comments:

cher said...

print this off and post it on some bulletin boards at your school.

I was soooo happy to hear about your little nephew! it made my night!

stodmyk said...

Have you asked the professor about it? She can't give you any information about Sally, but if there was some sort of communication between the student and the faculty about the absences, she could at least ease your mind.

Posting "are you okay?" notices on boards in the Psych building(s) is a good idea, too.

If you want to spend a coupla bucks, the "I Saw You" section in the Straight and the classified sections in all the UBC papers might help.

jblue said...

Thanks for the ideas. I did email the TA, just asking for word that she was okay, not for contact info, and didn't hear back. The course is over so I'm hesitant to ask the prof about it. I may take some notices to post this week.

Never even considered the Straight's "I Saw You" section. That's a great idea. I had thought it was free to do that. I'll look into it.