I remember when my mother gave me my grandfather’s dog tag. I was ten years old. I never met the man because he died before I was born, but my mother made sure to never let me forget that he was a soldier who fought in the Korean war. After receiving his dog tag, my grandfather, the stuff of legends to a young boy like myself, became even more legendary. Being able to run my fingers along the cool engraving of his name tied my history tighter to a war that I only ever heard stories of. That moment brought me face to face with my military family line.
I also remember the first time I heard Soldier’s Tower sing. The hauntingly beautiful aria of the 51-bell carillon froze me in my tracks. It was quarter to seven on a non-descript summer evening, and I just finished a workout at Hart House. I remember exiting through the back door and as I crossed the parking lot adjacent to Back Campus, the carillon started playing. I was confused because there were fifteen minutes left before the hour, but even so, every note that rang from Soldier’s Tower resonated deeply within me. Every note reminded me of the grandfather I never met.
Right off the bat, let me just say that I've never been a huge fan of Halloween. I'm not particularly fond of dressing up or anything of the spooky and scary variety, but I will tell you: I LOVE candy and all things magical/fantastical. That's why, for the past couple years, including this year I've been professing my love for Harry Potter on Halloween. I've been a fan of the Harry Potter series for a very long time and it doesn't hurt that U of T is basically an architectural twin of the magical universe.
For Halloween, I recommend watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because it is one of the most classic, spooky films in the series (before the darker and scarier themes are set in the later films). In celebration of Halloween and all things spooky (including those remaining midterms), here's the rundown on the two most Hogwarts-like buildings on campus. Whether you choose to visit for studying or dreaming about Hogwarts is your choice, but personally, I usually choose the latter. Also, because I mentioned that I love candy (love it, I really do), these buildings are rated on a scale of being most like Hogwarts to least like Hogwarts:
(Source: shop.wbstudiotour.co.uk)1 Chocolate Frog=not like Hogwarts at all and just reminds you of doing school work (bleh)5 Chocolate Frogs=just like being at Hogwarts so much so that you've wondered where your wand has gone (yay)
I live alone.
I chose to live alone, and for all intents and purposes I truly enjoy living without a roommate. I have the freedom to walk around in my boxers as I please while singing nineties pop songs at the top of my lungs. On a more practical level, I thought that living alone would allow me to live in a haven of focus and concentration. A space where I could hide away and focus on my studies without distraction. It turns out that my apartment will probably never become a distraction-free study space.
super meta, I know!
But to compensate for the bounty of distraction that I face in my apartment, I have learned the value of essentially living in various libraries, and by various, I mean three different ones. So I thought I would write about them.
As the photoblogger on this team, meaning the person who blogs and alsomanages the Instagram, part of my job is to see the pretty cool things on or around campus. If you’ve been following along with my eyes and perspectives on the 'Gram, you would notice that a huge portion of my photos are of landscapes and sometimes people. As midterm season rolls in with the dropping temperatures of autumn, I’ve decided to share my top four favourite places to visit on or around campus for destressing, procrastinating, fire Instagram photos, or sipping tea while you Snapchat.
A very cool spot on campus where you can see the CN Tower framed perfectly by the trees.
Last week, I started my skating class at Varsity Centre. I LOVED it.
In addition to registering for the class, I registered to rent skate – which I’ll have access to every week for the hour I spend in class. I haven’t put on a pair of my own skates in a long time, so I imagined any pair I could dig up at home would be four sizes too small. I really appreciate the option to rent because not only is it inexpensive ($20 for the duration of the class) but it also means I’m not lugging skates to and from campus on top of my course materials.
When I got to Varsity Centre, I swiped my TCard and made my way to the arena (a familiar route, having attended a couple of MoveU skating events there already).
This is the entrance to Varsity Centre where you swipe your T-Card.
It wasn’t long before I ran into my coach, whom I identified right away (she was wearing a big headband with the word “SKATE” across the front so… lucky guess). Shannon later explained that what she was wearing was a concussion headband with significant padding to protect her head. “Cool!” I thought.
My brother, mom, sister and I together at my mom's mandolin orchestra performance.
When I was younger, my parents used to make me a special Vietnamese warm drink any time in the winter. They would spoon sweetened condensed milk into a big mug, then pour hot water into it, stirring all the while. And after adding enough condensed milk as necessary to my preferred taste, they would finish it off by giving me bread to dip as I sipped my drink. While this was definitely before my university years, I still find myself unknowingly craving the drink then ultimately making it any time life (at U of T, especially) gets crazy, gets chaotic, gets stormy, gets sad.
And, well, I also crave the drink when I miss my family.
I mentioned this in my introductory post, but I double major in English and Book & Media Studies, which essentially means that I LOVE literature, and I do. I really do. Reading and writing from an early age has led me to a life long love of literature and the title of a self-professed bibliophile (throwback to past blogger Amie's post on the Victoria College book sale, who is also a bibliophile!).
So what could be more appropriate for me, as an avid book lover, than to visit the Victoria College Book Sale this past week! The book sale took place on the 1st and 2nd floors of Old Vic from September 22 to 26 and this year, they celebrated their 25th anniversary. Old Vic is the building on the Victoria College grounds that sort of looks like a whimsical gingerbread castle (to me, anyways). I entered the building and was excited to see the sheer number of incredible book lovers huddling over interesting books.
I’ve realized I’ve done you all a great disservice by not expanding the perspective from which I write. I’ve recently come to appreciate just how easy it may be for me to engage in physical activity on campus compared to some of my peers. So this year, I vow to do my best to step out of my shoes and into some of yours.
To start, I asked what prevents students from participating. With help from my peers and the people of Reddit, I’ve become aware of a few big hurdles…
Nobody likes to be the new kid. Being new at the gym can be incredibly unnerving. I can totally understand that. Gym culture these days is hard to avoid and it seems to be growing increasingly garish.
The community can be a little intense sometimes. Source: goodmorningquote.com
One of the places where I learn
A long time ago, back in grade 12 when I was young, impressionable and unburdened by readings on readings, I was deliberating between which university offers to accept. The websites, while useful in terms of information, were not very much help when I was trying to decide which university I would be happy at. Naturally, I decided to visit the campuses of the universities that had accepted me. While the story obviously ends with me choosing U of T, there were so many factors why I ultimately went with it. Sure, I loved the history and architecture and how U of T is both isolated from downtown Toronto yet just a quick 10 minute walk away from the core. However, what cinched it for me was something I’d like to call the ‘atmosphere of learning’ that was prevalent everywhere I visited – from the lecture halls to the greenspace to the lineup at Tim Hortons – there was an infectious hum in the air.
And every year after summer vacation ends and the first month flies by, I am always still in awe of that atmosphere.
September brings out all sorts of feels in the student body. If you’re like me, just the anticipation of the first week of September takes out way more energy than when I’m actually living it. The only thing that can take my mind off of the anxiety/excitement is trying to enjoy my last week of freedom.
Ah, August. You’re the Sunday night of summer; I hate that you’re here but at least I can use you to do the fun, summer things I promised myself I would do this time around. Let’s take a look at how I spent my last full week of August, shall we?
