Chad (2011-2012)
Chad is in his final year at UofT and is studying History after a brief (3-year) flirtation with Architecture. He enjoys playing sports, writing and long walks on the beach. No, but actually, he’s from the tiny twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, so he really loves beaches. He also loves puns.
Crystal (2012)
Crystal just finished her third year of Health and Disease with double minors in Psychology and History. It's taken her a while, but she's finally figured out that she wants to go into Health Promotion or Law. She thinks.
Of course, she is (more than) open to the possibility of freelance writing and blogging.
She loves reading, writing, and spending an unhealthy amount of time online meeting people around the world. It's really not as creepy as it sounds. Outside of the comfort of her room, she also enjoys exploring the areas around U of T and downtown. Since this is going to be her first full summer in Toronto, she will most definitely entertain any suggestions of any fun things to do in the area. No, she will not sky dive off the CN Tower, if that's what you're wondering. Also, she's on a perpetual quest to find the perfect burger.
She also loves cooking. She might even share some summer student-living-alone recipes on UpbeaT. Follow such recipes at your own risk.
Cynthia (2009-2011)
Depending on whether you ask her or ROSI, Cynthia is a third- or second-year student who is majoring in Psychology and minoring in two small and relatively obscure programs, called Writing and Rhetoric, and Paradigms and Archetype.
Cynthia enjoys tea more than coffee, and water more than pop. She once completed a web personality survey and ended up with: "geeky nerd". She carries the title rather proudly, but hasn't touched another web survey since.
Click here for Cynthia’s posts.
Danielle (2010-2011)
Danielle is a second year student taking courses in Visual Studies, Economics and Writing and Rhetoric. It’s a strange combination (she knows and gets that all the time). Her dream job would be to own a tattoo and cupcake parlour and have people pay to permanently ink her designs on their skin while eating cupcake treats. Although realistically, any job allowing creativity is completely ideal.
Her two greatest loves are art and her vintage sewing machine. In her free time she can be found sewing up a storm or at the nearest sushi joint downtown.
Dara (2010-2011)
A second year Sociology and Equity Studies major with her sights set on law school, Dara came to the university via the Academic Bridging program.
Spoken word poet. LGBTQ family member. "Vegetarian" lover of french fries, pizza, and anything else not too healthy or "green-looking". Yoga enthusiast. Owned by a slightly crazy miniature schnauzer named Thelonious - He Is The Boss Of Her. Former slacker-slash-cruise ship officer-slash-occupational safety manager. Constantly throwing a wrench in a recently uncovered learning challenge, one A-paper at a time, with creative strategies and the guidance of Accessibility Services. Montreal-born, but Trinidad-bred - she spent sixteen years living in the Caribbean, and is now in search of a way to have her mother's home cooking Skyped to her. Please do not attempt to tell her that this cannot be done.
When not rushing from class to class, she can usually be found asserting squatter's rights over an entire desk at Robarts Library. And looking over her shoulder for library security as she munches on hidden snacks, of course.
Watch weekly as she attempts to juggle five classes, a demanding puppy, volunteer commitments, and leisurely pursuits - all with one hand tied behind her back. Will she crash and burn, folks??? Let's watch and see...
Desirée (2011-2012)
Desirée is wrapping up her specialist in English and minors in History and French Culture. Her loves include her sweet, yet evil cat Beau, and Paris, France. Her kryptonite is videos of cute animals and baking, and her dreams are, “only for the clouds to know.” 🙂
Emily (2011)
Emily has been studying philosophy and book and media studies for three years and still hasn’t managed to figure out the meaning of life. When not swilling coffee on her way to class and wistfully day-dreaming about the energy drink she’ll be consuming later that afternoon, Emily can usually be found haunting the offices of campus newspapers and getting into passionate disputes about the definition of libel.
On her days off, Emily is usually wandering aimlessly through modern art galleries with a lost look on her face, and occasionally singing back-up for her best friend’s band. An art-literature-film-philosophy-lover and a quintessentially Torontonian urbanite, Emily proof-reads self-published novels in her spare time, and is slowly coming to terms with the fact that she is a closeted workaholic with an expensive caffeine habit.
Erin (2011-2012)
Erin is in her final year of study at the University of Toronto, double majoring in Aboriginal Studies and English Literature. She is blogging for UpbeaT on behalf of the Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation.
Erin has always struggled with writing bios about herself. Although it is common practice, she finds writing about herself in third person terribly awkward (and slightly obnoxious). It also reminds her of Facebook circa 2007. Erin promises to use subjective personal pronouns in her UpbeaT blog posts.
Fariya (2008-2010)
Fariya is a third-year student studying Criminology, Drama and Political Science. Ask her what she career she wants pursue, and she’ll tell you, "UN Ambassador, Actress, Human Rights Activist, Singer, Lawyer (international/criminal law) and Philanthropist," before you finish your question. "Oh, and Prime Minister!"
Fariya is involved in all sorts of interesting projects, including being the CEO and Founder of an online organization called Change Tomorrow's World which serves to educate youth about global issues and inspire them to make change. Excited to be part of UpbeaT, she hopes to share her personal experiences with her online readers so that they may benefit (and not make the same mistakes!).
She says, "What makes a university special is that it is like a microcosm of our world - we have the opportunity to bring many brilliant minds together, to share experiences, to learn and to laugh. UpbeaT is a special part of the University of Toronto's student life that I am excited to contribute to, and I hope other individuals will share their comments/experiences so we can all learn from each other". Always indulging her sweet tooth, you can find her at Second Cup, caught between hot chocolate and a brownie!
Click here for Fariya's posts.
Heather (2008-09)
*Allow me to talk about ... myself* -> *fanfare* I'm a hyperactive full time Fifth-year student with three jobs, three extracurriculars, and a social life. Read this blog and watch as I attempt to not have a stroke by the time I graduate. WHOOO! Favourite quote… …"Mother Teresa is a nice lady because it makes her feel good. I light things on fire for the same reason. The relative merit of either action can be argued, but the base motivation is exactly the same." (Mark Denovich) My fav. food is… ...without a doubt...the noodle-goodness of any pasta dish. Favourite blog/site... ...the hardest question in the world for me: cutewithchris.com fourfour torontoist LOL manuscripts! Indexed xkcd and oh, so many more... Click here for Heather's posts.Jennifer (2011-2012)
Jennifer is a fourth-year student in the Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence program. That means that hopefully by the end of this year, she will have created a machine that can write these blog posts for her. But could such a machine pull off wearing a toga?
Would it attend colloquia in other departments just for the free food?
Would it approach pseudo-random strangers and ask them awkward questions, all in the name of UpbeaT? We doubt it. So for now, she’s here to stay.
Aside from coming up with “improved” versions of the Turing Test, Jennifer loves contemporary dance, slam poetry, natural history, anthropology, “the great outdoors”, and sharing stories about mildly sketchy travel experiences.
Jon (2011-2012)
Jon is in his third year undergraduate studies and belongs to Woodsworth College. He majors in history with minors in sexual diversity studies and writing and rhetoric. While he is unsure exactly what career path these subjects will lead to, he is quite content learning as much as he can in these areas.
Jon is very active at the University of Toronto, as he is in his own personal life. When he is not out having dinner and drinks with friends, he can be found reading in Robarts Library or on the Sid Smith patio.
To enrich his university experience, Jon has joined several clubs and organizations over the past two years. In addition to volunteering his time with the Sexual Education and Peer Counselling Centre, he is the news editor with his college newspaper, The Woodsworth Howl, and still finds time to write an occasional article to be published in The Varsity comment section. He began working with the Mature Students’ Association last year as secretary and webmaster before taking up the lead as president for this academic year. Jon also represents Woodsworth College as one of the directors on the University of Toronto Student Union board of directors. This year, Jon has started a new club at his college called The Woodsworth Wine Tasting Club and hopes to host two wine tasting events at Hart House before the end of March.
Jon comes to UpbeaT with a passion for journalism and sharing with others the experiences that are making his university experience absolutely amazing.
Laura (2011-2012)
Laura. Who is the woman behind those HD-wrap-around-goggles?
They say she’s a savant of gourmet cheeses and enjoys out-of-doors adventures with good friends aplenty. Maintaining a slight grip on her sanity, she can often be found running to class, laughing aloud alone on the streets (not manically – just as she reads funny messages on her oh-so-clever phone!) and touring the campus en pied (on foot?!), trying to get her bearings. How active can one student be while maintaining a passing grade, eating healthy “ish” food and fitting in some face time on the ‘Book? Hopefully we’ll find out together! Getting active on campus, checking out sweet ways to groove through university and having a super awesome time while doing so is the goal! Not to mention de-stressing and making new friends as perky perks of the experience! So just ask Laura, she might not know the best way but she’ll do her best anyways. How, you may ask? Empirical research of course! Whoop, looking forward to this blog adventurous game with all of you. Keep it classy UofTonians.Liesl (2008-10)
IN THE YEAR 1989,
a powerful entity known only as LIESL entered the universe and began its terrifying stint of chaos on the planet EARTH.
The world's finest gathered to uncover the entity's whereabouts, learning only that it exists in female form and desired nothing more than to "live life" and "give back to the world". Clearly, a rouse for its more sinister plans.
Obscure reports indicate no certain facts on the characteristics of LIESL. Only rumours, many from the underground, say 'she' currently exists as a third-year University of Toronto student, studying written Earthling stories, and effectively powered by anything colourful and slightly insane.
Click here for Liesl's posts.
Liz (2010)
Where has she been? Who is she? LIZ. By mass, LIZ cells consist of 75 percent water, 15 percent coffee, and a variety of carbon-containing organic molecules. Ninety-nine percent of her body mass is made up of six elements: oxygen, hydrogen, olives, goat cheese, cocoa butter, and phosphorus. Eight months of the year, LIZ spends the majority of her days under the fluorescent lights of U of T libraries, studying Economics and Political Theory, with the remainder of the time spent running around writing for The Varsity. She prefers wordplay to swordplay, and has an atypical love of en dashes and Oxford commas (but not Oxford Comma). Sometimes, she wishes she could explanatory-footnote her speech*. *and spends a lot of time thinking about how she would do it.Lori (2010-2012)
Lori is this year’s Senior Blogger. Lori is a second or possibly third year undergrad Student at U of T (she will let you know when and if she ever figures this out). Lori spends most of her time reading, writing, and chasing after her kids. Lori used to bike to school daily, but now she has to drive…boo! In her spare time, Lori likes to not think about the fact that she should be reading or writing something. Lori also enjoys talking about herself in the third person…Lori kind of thinks she’s funny.
Lucy (2008-2010)
Commonly referred to as the "Idealistic" sub-species of Homo sapien, the LUCY is known for its dysfunctional understanding of the daily requirements for survival in the modern jungle of a society. Though it belongs to a highly distinctive and specialized population, the LUCY has, over the course of evolution, adapted to its demanding and ever-changing environment by camouflaging itself in a variety of respectable trophic levels in the employment food chain. Despite this seemingly lack of commitment to external circumstances, the LUCY maintains a high motivation for self-survival and well-being by firmly adhering to its inner loyalties, visions, and deep personal beliefs. It can be easily identified by its gregarious and playful nature, as well as its constant pursuit for harmony. Its diet largely consists of chocolate, written words, and non-moth ball smelling vintage items.
The word “Lucy” is derived from the Latin word “lux/lucis”, meaning “light”. The sub-species also shares its name with the world’s oldest hominid fossil, discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia.
Mary (2008-2010)
Mary - Mariis Bloggericus.
Appearance:
Body orange with brown flecks and dark hair. Mouth small, not extending to above the eyes. Can reach 30 cm and 1.2 kg.
Behaviour:
Feeds mostly on vegetables, camembert, and dessert. Generally solitary; sometimes found in small schools of students. Is slightly obsessed with Mole from The Wind in the Willows. Returns library books notoriously late and jumps when startled.
Habitats:
Shady green spaces, dark libraries, computer labs around campus, and in most coffee stand line-ups from September to May.
Click here for Mary's posts.
Shannon (2010-2011)
After having spent the last year teaching in the UK and travelling throughout Europe, Shannon has not quite quenched her thirst for adventure. A first year M.Ed. student, Shannon is looking for ways to add excitement to her sometimes tiresome student routine of reading, reading, class, and, uh… more reading.
From the gym, to the pool, to the courts, to the great outdoors, she plans to explore as many campus physical activities as possible to have fun, get fit, and (fingers crossed) make new friends. This might mean going out of her comfort zone, getting a bit sweaty, and accepting painful awkwardness, but it is all part of her plan to spice up the student experience.
Have you tried an activity you loved or loathed? Let her know! She’ll give it a try!