How I overcame my Astronomy 101 exam blues

In my first year at U of T, I took astronomy to fulfill my breadth requirements. When the first midterm came around, I studied really hard because the topic was out of my liberal arts comfort zone. I reviewed the lectures and the reading notes and made flash cards, and I felt like I was on track. I went to the midterm early, flashcards in hand. Looking around, everyone seemed nervous and stressed, and I was overhearing people quizzing each other with questions I didn’t know the answers to and started to panic. I put in my earphones and listened to some music and tried to take deep breaths.
Stacks on stacks (of flashcards). Image by benjamingolub via Flickr.
Stacks on stacks (of flashcards). Image by benjamingolub via Flickr.

Travelling on Exchange

Hello from Copenhagen! You might remember that in my last post, I was feeling a little bit down. School stress was mounting, I wasn’t having much fun, and I was getting overwhelmed trying to balance my workload with my desire to just have fun on exchange. Luckily, I managed to hand in all of my assignments, dig myself out from my mountain of books and readings, and take a break for a few days. And what better place to take a break than Copenhagen? Streets of Copenhagen

Where the Magic Happens.

Every year, the Faculty of Pharmacy puts on a talent show which showcases pharmacy students and their talents. The show is affectionately called “Phollies” and is one of the most-anticipated events among the student body in pharmacy! Whether it was playing an instrument, singing, spoken word or beat boxing – Phollies has it all!

Have No Fear: Peers are Here!

Hello, UofT St. George has some pretty fantastic student programming on campus, and opportunities to connect with resources. I think its particularly great that students who are seeking help are given autonomy and choice, and flexibility in health care options. This week, I had the chance to chat with Peers are Here program coordinator, Adam, about the peer groups he helps to run, what you can expect from a session, and why he is passionate about this project. Screenshot 2015-11-12 23.15.39

First Years – Unplugging on Campus

The start of the ’gap’ between midterms and finals is definitely a good time to find more opportunities to de-stress where possible. As I’ve been emphasizing the importance I’ve placed on striking a balance between work and play, I’ve decided to find out where my fellow first-years have been going to relax on campus. Specifically, I’ve been looking for places to ‘unplug’ and unwind without keeping a constant eye on my phone.

Getting Paper: A UTFOLD Origami Experience

A large origami structure of Hello Kitty, with more colourful folded pieces in the shelves in the background. The Hello Kitty structure is made up of many many smaller folded pieces of paper stuck together to create the larger model.
An origami modular of Hello Kitty made by last year's UTFOLD team. Look how cute it is!! (please also note the Totoro model in the back). Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/utfold/
As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I’ve been meaning to check out UTFOLD for some time. I thought that it’d be cool to advance my paper-folding skills beyond paper airplanes (is that even considered origami???).

Why Would One Strive to Fail?

I didn’t know what to write about this week, but then I went to my Olympic lifting class and the “eureka” moment happened in the strength and conditioning centre (SCC) between sets of clean pulls (literally picking the barbell up two feet off the ground and putting it back down). The reason the SCC intimidates a lot of people is because of the Olympic weight lifters. The SCC even offers OWL-free hours (OWL= Olympic Weight Lifting)! Why be intimidated? Because Olympic lifting tends to come with a lot of noise. Primarily the sound 250 lbs makes when it falls from 5-6 feet up. It’s loud.

A visit to the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery / University of Toronto Art Centre

The other day I was rushing through the UC Quad, something I do on the regular, when I did something out of the regular, I stopped to read the sign that I usually side-step to avoid. This sign lives outside of The UTAC. The Justina M. Barnicke Gallery / University of Toronto Art Centre is one of those places that I've been promising myself I'd visit, but could never quite find the time to do so. The sign drew me in with its poster-board charm, and I decided to abandon my readings for an hour and finally make good on my promise. photo of the UC tower taken from outside the art centre, facing the quad

Press Send and Prosper: E-mailing Profs

Cyberspace: the final frontier. These are the enterprises of the modern student. Her undergraduate mission: to explore strange new syllabi, to seek out help and resources, to boldly go where many students have gone before… …Her professor’s UTmail+ inbox. Okay okay, maybe e-mailing a professor isn’t quite as exciting or high stakes as hiking through Andoria, but it can feel like a monolithic task. I have heard all sorts of horror stories—everything from sending a prof the wrong e-mail to accidentally using a text abbreviation! Shudder.
Pictured: Spock from Star Trek staring at a computer
Spock is unimpressed by "lol jk" Picture courtesy of http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/
After three years of interacting with professors through various mediums, I think I am starting to get the hang of it.
Here is what I always keep in mind when I’m drafting an e-mail: