I just got off the phone with my mother. According to her, auditing math courses just for fun makes me "a huge nerd". True. But 'round these parts (namely, the departments where I study, or more broadly, this whole…
Meditations for the new year
It's the beginning of the end. My final semester at U of T has begun, and this fine 2 a.m. on the first Wednesday back at school I sit here hacking away at my blogpost. Which is due tomorrow. Clearly…
A Letter to Fellow Travellers
Imagine for me, lifeatuoft, the following 3 things: (1) a friend who will love anyone exactly as they are, (2) a professor who knows that the hard problems of science have deep existential relevance, and (3) a joyous and unrelenting…
Dances of hope and healing
I'm surrounded by strangers and TV cameras and bright lights as far as the eye can see. Somewhat unlike a typical lecture, there’s a certain energy about the people in the rows and rows of wooden chairs. The excited buzz of…
Why I’m still here
As some of you may have heard, the Globe and Mail gave U of T the lowest ranking out of any large Canadian university in measures of Work-Play Balance. We got a “D”. As true U of T students, one bad…
Cyber-security, Facebook, and why there’s no such thing as a free lunch
Sometimes, school and the hyperactive “Type faster! Why are you wasting time on sleep!” rhythm of student life (particularly in the final weeks of term) overwhelm me and it’s easy to lose sight of why I’m here, in a haze…
University Life and the Art of Living
Lately, my facebook feed has been stacked with friends’ and acquaintances’ reposts of news articles talking about the most-profitable undergraduate majors. Typically, the people posting these articles tend to be in one of the top 10 “employable” majors – pure…
Learning to learn
I have to admit: This week I intended to write about a séance – a fully-fledged, Ouija-board-wielding séance – put on by one of U of T’s more obscure campus groups. Unconventional events like these are – in this writer’s…
What would you do if you had the courage?
After walking into a cozy, hidden room full of strangers at the top of Hart House yesterday afternoon, the first question I was met with did not ask my name, or why I was there, but: “What would you…
What’s Your Tree?
One of the most special aspects of being part of this university community is that I am free – and even encouraged – to engage with fearless, brilliant, passionate people that have the ability to hold up a mirror to…