Mastering the MMI!

There’s a new kid on the block that is sweeping across professional faculties, and that’s the MMI! What’s “MMI”, you ask? MMI stands for “multiple mini interviews” and it’s a novel interviewing technique. It was developed by McMaster University’s Faculty of Medicine to better assess applicants communication skills. It was suggested that traditional interview formats do not accurately capture true aptitude of a candidate for the profession. The MMI, on the other hand, allows for assessment of other communication skills such as interpersonal skills, professionalism as well as ethical reasoning.

The countdown to U of T’s 189th birthday – part one

On March 15, the University of Toronto celebrates 189 years of teaching, learning, and discovering. To mark the university's birthday, over the next two weeks, I’m counting down to the big day by looking back at great moments in U of T’s history each decade since its establishment in 1827.

A Much Needed Change of Scenery

I know it sounds cliché, but time really is flying by. I don’t really know how March managed to arrive so quickly, but I do know that when I realized the semester was more than half way done, a little bit of panic set in for me. My exchange is almost over and it seems like I haven’t managed to do half of the things I wanted to do. Getting caught up in school and everyday life meant that I’d forgotten that part of the point of an exchange is to do fun, exciting things.

Meet the Crew!

Hey y'all! Inspired by Annette’s post about the MoveU Crew, I’d like to share some of the fabulous features of the HealthyU Crew that I’ve been fortunate to be a part of in a communications role. I love being able to share our successes and achievements around campus— especially because an awesome team of students and volunteers are responsible for planning and executing the campaigns and events! Perhaps you’ve seen them at Clubs Day, Street Festival, in libraries and common spaces, and at walkabouts around campus... Here's a snapshot of each of the four themed-teams that make up the Crew!
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The HealthyU Crew is a combination of four healthful initiatives: HappyU, FuelU, MoveU, and SafeU

The Class of 2019’s First TO ‘Storm’

Unless you’ve lived under a rock (or equivalent room with no view or exposure to the oustide world) for the past few days, chances are you’ve noticed the sudden uptick in snowy weather. For most of us freshmen, it was the first time we've actually had to navigate the campus and/or city whilst in such conditions. As one might imagine, the class of 2019's Facebook group was rife with posts of aggravation at the school remaining open, while others were closed. While it ended up being a bit of an overreaction - and that's from a 'Raincouver' native - as the 'storm' turned out to be far milder than anticipated, the past week on freshman page has been quite eventful.

Starring: UofT

I think it was on that satirical Stats Canada Twitter account that I read: "90% of Canadians watch the Oscars just so they can point out who is Canadian." Funny? Yes. True? Most likely. We've got that patriotism thing down pat here in Canada, and why not? There are some mega talented people rising from far and wide out of the True North strong and free. We, with glowing hearts, claim them as our patriots. When I watched the Oscars this weekend, you can bet I was on Canada watch... And Toronto watch... And UofT watch. No, I don't think there were any UofT alumni accepting awards that night, but UofT itself is connected to the night's big winner. That's right! Parts of Spotlight were filmed right here on our stomping ground! Specifically, Liev Schreiber's character attended a meeting in the beautiful Oak Room at the Newman Centre and Mark Ruffalo's character hung out at St. Basil's during one of the film's most poignant moments.
Picture credit: http://torontoist.com/2016/01/reel-toronto-spotlight/
Picture credit: http://torontoist.com/2016/01/reel-toronto-spotlight/
Over the years, UofT has played host to a ton of great films. David Fleischer wrote an article for UofT Magazine listing some of the most popular, including Mean Girls, Good Will Hunting, Cocktail, Pacific Rim, Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Total Recall, among others. Do you recall a car getting flipped over during the filming of Total Recall?  I decided, in honour of UofT being put in the spotlight by Spotlight, I would list some more of our lovely university's star turns. 

What’s your big IDeA for making the world more accessible?

Do you have an IDeA for how to make the world easier to navigate for your peers that experience barriers to accessibility? The 2016 Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) Student Competition wants to hear from you! IDeA is a design competition for Ontario undergraduate students which challenges you to come up with innovative solutions to accessibility issues. As an individual or with a team, participating in the competition empowers you to connect with industry, government and community partners to identify an issue, build a plan to tackle it, and implement your solution. Among several reasons why you should think about putting your name into the competition include the opportunity to network with community partners, cash prizes, a sweet resume line, and, most importantly, the opportunity to make a difference in peoples' lives. To give you an idea of what kind of projects fit the bill for IDeA, let's take a look at some finalists from U of T over the past few years.

FOMO Revisited

Last weekend, I took a trip to St Andrews, a little town about an hour away from Edinburgh. I didn’t know much about the town, except that it’s the home of the University of St. Andrews, a school that sometimes gets mentioned in the same breath as schools like Oxford and Cambridge as one of the best (and most posh! ) schools in the UK. It’s also famous for being the meeting place of Kate Middleton and Prince William, so there’s that.

Joy at Hart House Gym!

Today marks the end of the #JoyAtUofT campaign. I decided to dedicate this post to one of my favourite places to work-out – HART HOUSE! Currently, I hit Hart House’s Fitness Centre at least 3 or 4 times a week, but rewind back to first year you would never see me at the gym. It was only until second year that I thought I would try out the fitness centres on campus.