After a month of stress-free warmth back in California, Toronto’s -20℃ temperatures were an abrupt reality check. Stepping out of the airport shivering in a light coat, I could feel the world enacting karma for every time I dared to…
Using Rewards to Motivate Your Studying
Finals are approaching, and this is the moment when ultimate procrastination kicks in. I know I need to study, yet I end up with the urge to watch YouTube rather than review lecture slides. Does anyone else feel like they…
My search for motivation
I can’t think of a worse time to be experiencing writer’s block and a lack of general motivation than at this point in the semester; but here I am staring blankly at my computer screen, waiting for intelligent ideas to…
Studying in Edinburgh: A Compare and Contrast
So far on this blog, I have written about many different aspects of going on exchange, but I have not yet specifically written about what it’s like to study here at the University of Edinburgh. When you go on exchange,…
Advice from the worst student U of T has ever seen
Recently, I’ve been told that I have many impressive achievements under my belt, but I don’t give myself enough credit for them. It’s true. I only started to pride myself on my work after I actually listed them down for…
Learning How to Keep Organized and Balance
Throughout my first-year, I lacked a structured, personalized way of managing my time. I would scribble to-do lists on scrap pieces of paper, and had a ‘master’ paper of all my due dates, extracted from my course syllabus. This method…
Making the Most of Study Groups
Studying with friends is a lot of fun and can be a great way to stay motivated. After hours of sitting alone in a dorm room engrossed in readings, I found studying with friends to be a great way to…
Where has the sun gone? To the library!
Do you remember when the last time was you saw the sun? It’s that time of the year again. It has been overcast or raining all week. The trees have shed all their leaves. But it’s not yet time for…
From one procrastinator to another
It’s that time of the semester again. Deadlines. Finals coming up. More deadlines. And what does your brain say in response? Netflix. Youtube. “Just one more video”. We cut down on stuff that could actually help with studying like going…
Office Hours — make the most of it!
Now that we’re more than halfway through reading week, it’s worth thinking about how we’re going to use the next couple of weeks -- we don’t have many of them left! A good place to start is office hours. You…