7 Days of Summer

September brings out all sorts of feels in the student body. If you’re like me, just the anticipation of the first week of September takes out way more energy than when I’m actually living it. The only thing that can take my mind off of the anxiety/excitement is trying to enjoy my last week of freedom. Ah, August. You’re the Sunday night of summer; I hate that you’re here but at least I can use you to do the fun, summer things I promised myself I would do this time around. Let’s take a look at how I spent my last full week of August, shall we? Monday, August 22 I went to Niagara Falls the night before and watched the fireworks! It has been so long since I got away from Toronto and I felt like Niagara Falls was just far enough to be considered a vacation (but not far enough for it to cost me a fortune). My friend, Suryana, and I took public transit all the way there and back, a round trip which cost us about $40 per person. We took the GO from our hometown to Union Station, then we took a train from Union to Burlington GO to catch our last express bus to Niagara. So my week started with me trekking back from the Falls after a glorious IHOP breakfast.

Commuting is not just something I do for school, it is in my blood and soul and I obviously seek it out. Tuesday, August 23 I slept in. Hush. Wednesday, August 24 I ended my work-study term with the Sexual and Gender Diversity Office and went out to Sushi with my colleagues. We went to Sushi on Bloor and I stuffed my face. Successful day. Thursday, August 25 This day was really fun for me personally because it was the day of a Hindu festival called Janamashtami. That’s basically Sanksrit for the day Lord Krishna was born. I went to my local temple at about 8 pm to volunteer and make food for the thousands of people who visit the temple to listen to the bhajan (religious music) and engage in the rituals surrounding the holiday.

We stayed until midnight when the festivities ended with an amazing bang! Serving food was exhausting though, there was a time that our team was out of Roti AND rice which are literally the base of all Indian food. Everyone was nice about waiting for their food though and it really filled my heart to see this closeness in our community. It was surprising to me to see how many people actually come out to the temple!

Friday, August 26 Peer wellness training day! As part of our contract with the community crew, we attended a conference with various student leaders that work towards wellness on campus throughout the year. The community crew attended a session called “How to be Famous”; a huge part of our job is to engage with the student body through social media (Shameless plug opportunity, follow us @lifeatuoft) so this session outlined a bunch of tips that we could use to make sure that our content is reaching as many students as possible. Did I mention that we got a full-fledged Hart House lunch with chicken parmesan, greek salad and a vegetable medley? If I haven’t promoted free events at U of T enough before, I DEFINITELY ENCOURAGE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE FOOD. Actual conversation between community crew blogger Albert and I –

Me: *whispers* I don’t want to be that person that goes for seconds but…

Albert: Oh my god, I was just thinking that, wanna –

Me: *already up and running to the food*

Saturday, August 27 I watered my lawn and washed my car. I actually did real-life summer things, how crazy is this? I feel like sometimes, I go out and do things JUST so I can blog about it to you guys. I don’t know whether that is an indication that I’m doing this job right or…? Sunday, August 28 I SLEPT IN, OKAY.

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  Let me know how you feel about August in the comments below. Have a happy school year, U of T!