{"id":29012,"date":"2016-09-28T11:22:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T15:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=29012"},"modified":"2016-09-28T11:22:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T15:22:55","slug":"in-which-learning-is-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2016\/09\/28\/in-which-learning-is-great\/","title":{"rendered":"In which learning is great"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ALT="The<\/a>
One of the places where I learn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nA 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\u2019d like to call the \u2018atmosphere of learning\u2019 that was prevalent everywhere<\/em> I visited \u2013 from the lecture halls to the greenspace to the lineup at Tim Hortons \u2013 there was an infectious hum in the air.\r\n\r\nAnd every year after summer vacation ends and the first month flies by, I am always still in awe of that atmosphere.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI am by no means an academic person, in that I consider myself someone who likes to create artistically rather than spend my time hunched over readings or sitting still in lecture. But learning here is found in so many different ways.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s in the buzz of conversations on the street, on the patio chairs on Wilcocks Street where you hear murmurs of \u201cDid you watch the debate last night?\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m studying the brain and its capacities\u201d or \u201cYou know that wrap you\u2019re eating? Let me tell you all about that wrap you\u2019re eating\u201d. It\u2019s in the incensed back-and-forth dialogue between professors and a student who challenges the professor\u2019s persuasive lecture (because every lecture is an argument meant to convince you).\r\n\r\n
\"ALT="Patio<\/a>
Wilcocks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s in the emotional learning of students who refuse to let themselves be crushed by a bad grade and move past it, or <\/em>the learning of students who are crushed by a bad grade to realize that school isn\u2019t everything. It\u2019s in the unlearning of prejudices and biases and recognizing that people are not all the same; lived experiences are not universal and should not be treated as such when trying to argue a point. In my third year, I\u2019ve learned to trust my emotions and instincts and also develop as a person who I\u2019m pretty okay with.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s in the student governments and clubs and organizations around campus where learning occurs outside the classroom, where I\u2019ve seen spines straighten and people\u2019s chins look forward, not down. It\u2019s in the gym, the pool, the track \u2013 places where learning the body is a machine that only you can manage.\r\n\r\n
\"ALT="My<\/a>
*learns to be artsy*<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s in the protests and praises, petitions and promises, people and places where like-minded people gather only to realize they have a lot more to learn. And I love that. I might fall asleep sometimes (often) in lecture, or sometimes miss a reading or two (or five), but being in a space where I am encouraged to question things and absorb knowledge is something I\u2019ll never quite get used to.\r\n\r\nI will never stop wanting to learn all I can, and I\u2019m grateful to be at U of T for that.\r\n\r\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"ALT="The<\/a>
One of the places where I learn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nA 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\u2019d like to call the \u2018atmosphere of learning\u2019 that was prevalent everywhere<\/em> I visited \u2013 from the lecture halls to the greenspace to the lineup at Tim Hortons \u2013 there was an infectious hum in the air.\r\n\r\nAnd every year after summer vacation ends and the first month flies by, I am always still in awe of that atmosphere.\r\n\r\n
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