You’ll never guess what I got to do last weekend. I took a stunt fighting seminar! We have a Jiu Jitsu regional event every few months and last Saturday’s regional welcomed Lori O’Connell from British Columbia.
Lori O’Connell is a 5th degree black belt in Can Ryu Jiu Jitsu and a professional stuntwoman! Move over Ronda Rousey (former UFC champion), I’ve found a more suitable role model.
Source: lorioconnell.com
It was AWESOME. Best decision I’ve made recently. We practiced different aspects of stunt fighting and then choreographed short stunt scenes and filmed them. I picked up a signed copy of her book When the Fight Goes to the Ground: Jiu-Jitsu Strategies and Tactics for Self-Defense afterward, which I’m super happy about.
Trying new things has been bringing me a lot of pleasure lately. I think it’s largely due to what I’ve coined as “little victories.”
What does a commuter love more than on-schedule public transit? Free food. And an entire week of it, no less. See, last week was….. *drumroll please*: Commuter Appreciation Week at U of T! Well, okay, it’s not really an officially…
Happy February!
In my last post, I wrote about all the super resources we have on campus that can help you lead a healthy student life. This week, I decided to investigate another great resource on campus - the Sexual Education Centre (SEC)! The SEC is located at the Sussex Clubhouse and if you didn't already know, is famous for its nearly infinite supply of free condoms.
The door to the SEC office is open to all students on campus, undergrad and graduate!
This was essentially the sole fact I knew about SEC before I visited. What I found was that while the office did indeed boast of an incredible quantity and variety of condoms (see the “menu”), it also contained a wide array of resources and supports for all things related to sex, sexuality, and relationships.
I quote directly one of the centre's volunteers: “For 50cents of your annual student fees you can get an infinite amount of condoms.”
My welcome to the centre was quite positive. I was greeted by a number of smiling faces when I walked in, supplied with a wealth of information during my visit, and seen off with a “grab bag” filled with safer-sex products. The centre is open Monday – Friday, 10 am – 7pm, during the Fall/Winter semesters, and everyone is welcome.
I walked into my first circus silks class at the Athletic Centre last Friday pretty confident (largely due to the fact that I found my way from the AC change rooms to the Lower Gym in the Benson building on the first try).
Essentially the layout of the Athletic Centre and, of course, University College. Good luck. Background Source: watchervault.com
I wasn’t arrogant — I know I know nothing about aerial silks, but the instructor asked if I had done anything similar or notable and I mentioned that I’ve been coaching gymnastics for over five and a half years and used to do aerial yoga.
This is aerial yoga. 10/10 would recommend. Even if just for the awesome Instagram photos you’ll get out of it. Source: yearningforyoga.wordpress.com
I've been in a bit of a creative rut lately. Between the perpetual grey weather and the sudden onslaught of midterms, I've been finding it difficult to feel inspired. Thankfully, this changed when I attended VicXposure's Allan Gardens Photowalk this weekend. The bright greenery and the group of happy photographers were more than enough to shake me of the January gloom and doom I was feeling.
Thursday, January 28th, 2016 was just one of Those Days.
We all know Those Days. We’ve all had them.
We all know what it's like when the day takes a completely different turn and leaves you feeling like a powerless passenger instead of firmly planted in the driver’s seat. I was made quite familiar with the feeling on that particular Thursday- thanks to a series of (unfortunate) events: a laptop charger forgotten at home, multiple transit delays, some overambitious weather estimating (I thought it would actually be six degrees outside) a very ungraceful fall in Queen’s Park and to top it all off- an interview! which meant nerves nerves nerves.
Back in autumn, rain showers were our constant companion, so we turned to apple cider for warmth. Now in winter, we can replace the rain showers with blizzards, but what replaces the apple cider?
Jazz.
As this week marks the beginning of February and the beginning of #JoyatUofT—a time when we celebrate the things at U of T that bring us joy—, I decided to pursue this “apple cider of winter,” and so, I went to Jazz at Oscar’s, a series organized by the Hart House Music Committee. The series showcases local jazz artists every Friday night at Hart House’s Arbor room.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to this event. I thought that perhaps it would take place in a decent-sized room with a small audience seated in foldable chairs facing a Steinway piano in the front.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The Arbor room had been transformed into a rich world of sight, sound, and smell. Darkness blanketed the room, save for the light from the eatery at the back and the mauve-tinged spotlight on the stage at the front. The entire place was filled by the time I arrived, from the young to the elderly taking up all the chairs and upholstered seats available. Some of them held wine glasses, while others opted for cups of coffee. Yet all of them chattered among one another, punctuated by laughter and chuckles.
Not going to lie, the unexpected appearance of a mauve spotlight elicited an excited gasp from me.
Like most U of T students, I’m proud to be one. People like to call us pretentious and I like to argue there’s a big difference between being pretentious and being justifiably proud. We boast top 20 spots on lists of the world’s best universities and I’m “sorry I’m not sorry” that gives me the warm fuzzies.
While we excel as an institution overall, according to UniversityHub.ca (contributor to the Huffington Post), our sports and recreation programs are less well known.
Clearly something’s wrong here. We have a wealth of sport and recreational facilities, services, activities — there’s a lot going on here! We have FOUR athletic centres (if you count Varsity Centre), FOURTY-FOUR men’s and women’s varsity teams, the ONLY Olympic-sized pool in the city, a wide variety of registered and free classes, drop-in recreation, a FANTASTIC, SUPER-AFFORDABLE sports clinic open to students, more playing fields than I’m aware of and SO, SO MUCH MORE.
Hi all!
Sometimes, it can feel as if being a student is a barrier to living a healthy lifestyle. It's easy to get caught up in a mindset that eating instant ramen daily, experiencing irregular sleep patterns, and becoming caffeine-dependent are inevitable consequences of being a proper university student (sometimes I think these things myself). But, really, with all the resources we have at the St. George campus to better our health, is it possible that this mentality is simply an illusion? I have a sneaking suspicion that the student gig does not necessarily need to include attending random clubs’ AGMs for the free pizza.
In preparation for this week’s Design For Change conference, I decided to brainstorm a list of ways that UofT is a Healthy Campus in line with some of the themes of the roundtable discussions at the event. On Thursday, student and staff will get together at Hart House to discuss designing a shared vision for a healthier University at the first annual Design for Change conference, and we (students) are all invited! That sounds pretty super to me.
Well, hello there, U of T! I know it’s been three weeks since we rung in 2016 and the ‘new year’ excitement has worn off considerably with classes and assignments already piling up (it’s not just me, right??) but being my first post of this year- let’s talk resolutions.
For me, seeing as most of my courses are full-year, the second semester always seems to be longer, more difficult and most importantly, colder. (though I’m told that this winter is one of the mildest yet- positive temperatures in January- whaaaat?!) But even though the second semester brings on so many more challenges to deal with, I decided to voluntarily add another little one on the side in the form of a resolution: to explore Toronto more. Last year was a busy one, and what with academics, commuting, and managing extracurriculars, I found myself not venturing outside the 'U of T bubble’ as often as I should have, which is really a pity considering how much Toronto has to offer.
I've been in a bit of a creative rut lately. Between the perpetual grey weather and the sudden onslaught of midterms, I've been finding it difficult to feel inspired. Thankfully, this changed when I attended VicXposure's Allan Gardens Photowalk this weekend. The bright greenery and the group of happy photographers were more than enough 
