December 2015 – Page 3 – Life @ U of T

Staying Active When You Really, Truly Don’t Have Time

You know what really grinds my gears? It’s the frequent mentioning in the media, on the Internet, social networks, etc. of the importance of making time to work out. They say there's no such thing as not having enough time to do something active, get out and get moving. While I'm all for cute, inspirational, motivating messages, to me that isn't one. On the contrary, I think it could be a detrimental message.

b287f9011121b6e69d1bdaf3134c84fa — Source: x3sports.com

It’s the most arduous time of the year

At about this time every year, I despair. I start to wonder how I am going to finish what seems to be a never-ending list of assignments and tasks. I start to wonder why I even came to this school; I must have a masochistic streak. The stress gets to me and I find myself resisting the urge to RSVP to a number of preposterous Facebook events (Dropping out of school to become a potato is a viable life decision, right? RIGHT??) To make matters worse, the rest of the world does not seem to have gotten my memo. Don't they know that I, along with all of UofT, am a big puddle of exam nerves? All I do is wake up, go to Robarts, go to class, return to Robarts, go home, and sleep! I am not feeling the Holiday cheer. Yet, everywhere I go, I hear sickeningly joyous holiday tunes, everything is pretty and sparkly and lit up, and there are tons of amazing events going on. Why is all of Toronto rubbing its holiday cheer in my face? I feel personally victimized by all this hollying and jollying and carrying on.

Pictured: My Christmas tree and some Christmas records — The cheer is even invading my own apartment!

I know what you're thinking; this girl is a classic Scrooge. You may be right. I'll have you know, however, that I have been trying to embrace the spirit of the season. Last night, I went to Christmas High Table at Trinity College. Despite my best protestations—"I have too much work to do," "I hate carolling," "I don't like cranberry sauce"—my roommates would not take no for an answer and they dragged me along.

(So You Want To) Drop It Like It’s Hot

This past week, as I found myself staring at the textbook that I haven’t bothered to open in weeks, and looking at the rubric for an essay I really didn’t want to write, a little bird whispered something in my ear. What did that little bird say you ask? “Drop the course”. I tried to ignore it, but the thought of dropping kept pushing itself to the front of my mind. Sure, I could push myself to catch up on weeks of lectures and readings, and take time away from the projects I was truly passionate about to smash out an essay that I wouldn’t be proud of. After talking it through with a few friends, as well as an academic advisor, I made the decision to drop the class, as in the long run it would be better for my GPA and far better for my mental health. In the hopes of easing the stress that comes with dropping a class, I’ve written up what I learned from my experience dropping a class with less than a month left in the semester.

Last week, as I found myself staring at the textbook that I haven’t bothered to open in weeks, and looking at the rubric for an essay I really didn’t want to write, a little bird whispered something in my ear. What did that little bird say you ask? “Drop the course”.

text conversation reading "can we just drop it?" "like it's hot?" — My internal monologue last week (credit: dontworrybecolorful.tumblr.com)

I tried to ignore it, but the thought of dropping kept pushing itself to the front of my mind. Sure, I could push myself to catch up on weeks of lectures and readings, and take time away from the projects I was truly passionate about to smash out an essay that I wouldn’t be proud of. But after talking it through with a few friends, as well as an academic advisor, I made the decision to drop the class, as in the long run it would be better for my GPA and far better for my mental health. In the hopes of easing the stress that comes with dropping a class, I’ve written up what I learned from my experience dropping a class with less than a month left in the semester.

The deal with roommates

I’ve moved around the city a few times since coming to Toronto, living with different roommates in different areas downtown. I’m lucky to be able to say that it’s been really fun living with new people each time and getting to know them - but every roommate situation brings with it its own unique quirks. It’s totally normal to have conflicts when living with people (even if they’re your friends)! After a few years living with roommates, here are words to live by when living with others I’ve collected over the years.

International Perspective: A Holiday Collective

Are you an international student missing out on your "home holiday seasons" and family this year? Read on to meet some of U of T's own international students, and their tips on how to deal with missing family, friends and holiday traditions while studying at university.

: Meet Kana! She is a second year student studying Peace, Conflict and Justice, Contemporary Asian Studies and Environmental Anthropology here at U of T. Kana moved to T.O. from Osaka, Japan. She likes to meet new people and try out cool restaurants in the city!

: Say hello to Logan! Logan studies Genome Biology, with minors in Physiology and Immunology. He grew up in a small rural town in Indiana, USA, and he spends his free time exploring the 6ix and admires ALL the dogs Toronto has to offer.

: Introducing Charmaine! Charmaine is a first year student, intending to specialize in Neuroscience. She is from Zimbabwe, and loves writing short stories, dancing, singing and watching television series when she is not doing school work.

Becoming a Morning Person: An Experiment

Anyone who knows me knows that, by nature, I am not a morning person.

me any time before noon source: runwayrepublic.tumblr.com

Early mornings usually see me with the functioning capacity of a sloth on sleeping pills.

(Minus those two wretched early class days when I have to be up and ready to commute), I tend to sleep in and then feel horribly guilty for having wasted most of the morning.

Occasionally, ambitious 6 AM alarms are set, complete with threatening labels to motivate me to wake up....

…but with little success.

However, a week ago I was reading a Forbes article (you know, as any sophisticated, intellectual young person often does…...lol jk it randomly popped up on my Facebook newsfeed) entitled 'How to Become A Morning Person.'

Inspired by the examples of several successful early risers such as Margaret Thatcher, Indra Nooyi and Anna Wintour, to name a few, I decided to challenge myself:

Seven days, seven early mornings.

The Importance of Student Politics

A pretty important vote was held last week at the University of Toronto Student Union’s (UTSU) Annual General Meeting, at least for the Faculty of Engineering. If it failed to pass in our favor, not only would we be left with one representative on the UTSU board, we might also lose out on the 50% fees from UTSU that were agreed to be diverted to the Engineering Society (EngSoc). Thankfully, the student body came through (albeit on the second attempt, as this was a second round of voting), and we engineers kept our seats on the board. This was my first real exposure to student politics on a university level, and it’s truly opened my eyes to the importance of having it around.

Month: December 2015 (page 3)