Hey there!
The Community Crew has been sharing some great tips recently for de-stressing during exam season. Annette wrote about staying active when we are busy; Tiffany provided some very helpful study tips in her post; Madeline (our Arts & Science Blogger) wrote about remembering to eat healthfully; and Emma recently discussed the importance of taking breaks.
Now imagine taking all these tips and tricks, and showcasing them all in one lobby. That's exactly what happened this past Thursday, as part of UofT's annual Exam Jam - 2015 edition!
Brought to us in the spring and winter exam season by the ASSU and the Faculty of Arts & Science and friends
Somewhere in the building students reviewed with their profs, and elsewhere there were open study rooms to hang out in. The lobby was alive with activities!
As I was walking down St. George the other day, I heard snippets from other peoples’ conversations. I promise, I wasn’t eavesdropping; I just forgot my headphones and I was bored. Anyways, these are the kinds of things I heard:“Blah blah blah blah stressed blah blah blah failure blah blah forget blah tired blah blah I can't blah blah blah..."UofT, it seems we are in a sorry state of affairs at present. Of course, it’s to be expected at this time of year. We’re all just trying to put in that final hustle and make it to winter break.As I mentioned in my last post, I’m actively trying to face my final assignments with a more positive outlook; I’m trying to use my stress as a motivator. I want to appreciate every moment that I have as an undergrad student. However, I want to make something very clear:None of that makes the work easy, and it certainly doesn’t make it go by any faster.
It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year - but first, it’s a marginally less wonderful time: final papers and exams! I’ve got an all-day event everyday in my calendar for the next two weeks called “never leave Robarts”, so the concept of purchasing holiday gifts seems decidedly out of reach. If you’re hibernating in the library like me this month, here’s a few ways you can get your gifts out of the way without straying far from your study den.
Exam time has finally arrived. If you’re anything like me, your sleep schedule is not the only thing that suffers during this time of year. In addition to never getting the amount of sleep my body would like, I’m also…
If you’ve ever chatted to someone about moving to a new city or country, going on exchange, or travelling abroad, you’ve probably come across the idea of culture shock. According to wikipedia, culture shock is characterized by disorientation people feel when they experience an unfamiliar way of life, after moving or travelling to a new place. Since it sounds like the kind of thing that only happens when you move to somewhere totally, wildly foreign, I wrote it off as something I didn’t need to think about. Edinburgh doesn’t exactly seem like an exotic, foreign place – the language is the same (even if the accent sometimes proves a bit tricky to understand), the systems for everyday things like shopping and banking are really similar, and there aren’t many dramatic cultural differences.
On a crisp Saturday morning, I had the pleasure to drop by the IMAGINE Clinic. What is the IMAGINE Clinic you may ask? The Interprofessional Medical and Allied Groups for Improving Neighbourhood Environments (IMAGINE) Clinic is a student-run clinic which aims to serve the city’s most marginalized citizens. The clinic welcomes individuals who are unable to access the public healthcare system; those who do not have an OHIP card, a permanent address, or any form of identification.
Guilty citizen of the ProcrastiNation right here, everybody.
I’ve got an exam tomorrow, lecture notes and several hundred pages of readings to re-revise, and definitions to repeat over and over to myself until I sound like a broken record.
And yet, at this moment, I am doing none of those things. Instead, I’m sitting here making a list.
As I’ve mentioned before, I do love my lists. I’m already anticipating the end of my last exam this week and daydreaming about all the wonderful glorious things I could do in the time I’m spending buried nose-deep in readings.
So, out of this particular procrastination episode (or ‘study break’ as I like to call them), came a very detailed to-do list about what I plan to do after my last exam is over, which, for your amusement, I'll be sharing here.
The video crew practiced their gingerbread house building skills in a fundraiser workshop run by SKFUofT (University of Toronto In Support of SickKids); check it out!
Exams are upon us, U of T. Time to buckle down, catch up with readings, and hit up the nearest campus library for some serious studying. Robarts is the natural go-to choice for many students. Exams may make you miserable, but at least being around other people who are stressing out as much as you are is somewhat comforting. Also comforting is knowing that you’re making Drake proud by acing that calc exam. And always remember that if Aubrey Graham could go from a teeny-bopper D-list actor on Degrassi to a bonafide rap legend, then you can certainly power through these final weeks of the first semester.
Even Drake's gotta constantly put in werk (Source: Instagram @champagnepapi)
Finals are just around the corner, and it’s a pretty daunting prospect for us first-years. That said, being a Vancouverite, I’m already looking ahead to when I’ll be going back for the winter break - brief as it may be…
