When I was signing up for University courses for the first time in August, a friend of mine gave me some important advice: “Whatever you do, don’t take 6 heavy classes in one semester.” So what did I do? Must…
Studying at Home: January Hibernation
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…
Productive Breaks
Our assignments and tests seem to be on a never-ending roller coaster ride. Just as quickly as the semester began, it is also coming to an end. We survived the post-summer blues, midterm season, and are currently going through that…
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…
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…
Changing your essay is a-okay
It’s that time in the semester- the period in which we’re questioning if we’ll ever feel well rested again, and we’re forgetting what decaffeinated drinks taste like. Can you tell I have 2 essays and a midterm within a week’s…
Step 1: have a plan. Step 2: profit.
Being productive is good for our mental health. It’s even more rewarding to be productive when you’re completing an intentional and mapped out plan. Being a university student means we must have specific strategies for completing assignments all the time.…
An Evening of Learning Effective Presentation Skills
I consider myself to be a strong public speaker. But when it comes to presentations, I feel it is difficult to engage the audience when focusing on one specific topic. This week, I decided to attend an Academic Success workshop…
An Online Course Adventure
With every new semester comes new challenges and experiences. This semester, I’m taking my first online course. To be honest, it wasn’t until this summer that I even knew that U of T offered online courses! It's had its challenges,…
A New Take on Group Studying
When I think of studying in a group, I think about procrastinating and spending my time chatting rather than actually studying. However, my opinion changed this week when I attended an Academic Success Study Hub in the Koffler Student Services…