Six years ago, I found myself heartbroken on Valentine's Day. As I met up with my friend, crying, at our local Starbucks, I cursed all the hearts and pink decorations around me. "How about you try to think of it…
U of T’s first Afro-Caribbean dance workshop: 10/10 would go again and again
This past Monday, Move U and U of T’s Black Students’ Association hosted the university’s first Afro-Caribbean dance workshop. It was one of many highlights of my four years at U of T. Seriously.
The hour-and-a-half long workshop was a total blast! It was led by Arsenio Andrade, who was born and trained in Cuba and has performed internationally, and accompanied by the wonderful drumming talent of Richard “Popcorn” Cumberbatch who has been playing Caribbean indigenous drums since the age of 11. There was a great turnout and every single person seemed to be having the time of their lives – I know I was.
First Generation with First in the Family
I'm a first generation student. This means that I'm the first person in my family to attend a post-secondary institute. Being a first generation (or first gen) student has had its benefits, but it also had many downfalls for me.…
Just do it: my new love and the freedom to change your mind
Guess what? I took the plunge! I bought my own beautiful pair of skates! Did my wallet cry a little? Yes. Am I beyond excited? Yes. On my way home to my parents’ house I took a detour to the…
21 Days of Decaf
If you were stuck on a deserted island, what would you bring with you? Most of us have probably been asked this question at least once in our lifetime, and to answer, have had to wrestle with the notion of…
What do I do with my life?
The closer I've gotten to graduation, the less certain I've been of what I wanted to do with my life. However, I've also begun to make peace with that uncertainty. On January 1 this year, I decided to no longer apply…
Free Time? Building Fun Habits
At the beginning of each year, like many others, I like to create a list of things I want to start doing. For 2017, the number one thing on my list is to build healthy habits, for example: reading more…
In Which I Attend a Leadership Conference
For students new to it, learning how to lead can be hard, not to mention intimidating. Even for students with some experience, leading is a concept that isn’t the most intuitive. Are you supposed to just take charge in every group assignment? Make sure your voice is the loudest? Delegate responsibility until all that’s left is you as supreme overlord of the Sith and—ok, maybe not that last point. The truth is, leadership is something so dynamic and diverse that there isn’t a single way to learn it. That was one of the main guiding principles behind this conference I attended last Saturday called UConnect, a leadership conference based in University College.
The Benefits of Rewarding Yourself
A reward system is a powerful tool that greatly increases your chances of successfully reaching your goals. If implemented correctly, a reward system ensures that you don't lose motivation halfway through your journey! However, from my experience, "rewarding yourself"…
Asking for help
When I attended don training a couple years back, we were told a fact that I could not forget: the reason most students wait so long to seek mental health support is because they don't believe they're stressed enough to…