Hart House exterior

Getting Some Good Reminders at Mindfest 2016

Taking care of your mental health can be a bit of a chore if that's not something you're already mindful (ha ha) of. To be honest, taking care of your health in general can sometimes be a chore. I think it's hard to self-discipline yourself when you don't feel the immediate consequences of your actions. It just doesn't feel like not sleeping well or not eating healthy is going to affect you right. now. and so it's easier to just give in sometimes. So it's nice to have reminders every once in a while to keep yourself on track, especially during times when things are going relatively well and you think you don't actually need those reminders. This past Wednesday was Mindfest, a "festival to create awareness and gain appreciation for mental health." I had missed out on Mindfest last year (check out Madelin's blog from last year if you missed out as well), and so I was glad I had a chance to go this year.
Hart House, U of T
Most of the day events and presentations were hosted at Hart House.
"Inside Out" plushies, notebooks, hard hat keychains, sunglasses, ballet shoes

Lessons in Objects

"Inside Out" plushies, notebooks, hard hat keychains, sunglasses, ballet shoes It’s tough to feel confident when you’ve had setbacks. Very few of us can immediately bounce back after some kind of a failure without feeling burned for a little while. For me, returning to school after a few years away proved to be a bigger challenge than I had thought it would be. I bit off more than I can chew in an attempt to make up for lost time and ended up paying the price for it—academically, mentally, physically. But what good is it wallowing in past failures? Starting this school year as a full-time student again, I try to keep in mind the things that I learned from my disappointments and the mindset and new habits I want to try to stick to going forward. Here, I present some of the “tokens” of my learned lessons.

It’s essay season; do you know where your apostrophe should go?

You gotta write good like you know you should. Take them words and string 'em together all smart-like. Why? Because words make us wanna go: Pictured: graphic of "Yaaaaaaas werk!" written in the fanciest calligraphy font I could findThat was painful, I know. I am deeply sorry for putting you through that. The point of it was to show how cringeworthy bad writing can be. [Life@UofT will not be held responsible for any damages resulting from rageful fits my above paragraph may have induced, including but not limited to thrown computers, torn pillows, and a decreased faith in humanity] Good writing is so important in the academic environment. Professors believe that profoundly; a lot of what they do depends on the written word. It's no surprise, then, that professors are often experts at writing well. I have picked up so many great tricks from them throughout my time at university. In the spirit of solidarity during prime essay season, I would like to share my favourite tips with you lovely people.