A summer sunset view.
With August comes the stark realization that summer is almost over.
Alright, there. I’ve said it. There’s no turning back now. How did it breeze by so fast?
As a St. George student, just exploring downtown Toronto is a grand task that has taken me 4 years of my undergraduate degree. That’s why the fact that the University of Toronto is made up for two more beautiful and…
Riverdale Farm
It’s official, we are in the last half of summer. With August being two weeks away I’m certain all of us are thinking about the arrival of the fall semester. I’m also certain that many of us are recounting what we’ve done so far in the past months so as to plan accordingly for the remaining tank top days of the summer season.
For myself, the summer has been a blur of problem sets, readings, and attempts at healthy life balances. I’ve hung out with friends, had many park days and in just the past week have set out to be the very best Pokemon trainer like no one ever was. What my summer hasn’t been is a day at the beach! Well until this past weekend when I set out to explore Toronto Islands for the first time in what can only be described as forever and a half.
For those of you taking Summer courses, you know ALL TOO WELL how quickly the course materials go by and before you know it finals are here (…then again, it feels like that during the Fall/Winter courses but y’all know what I mean!). One of my favourite things to do on-campus is to hit the gym, stressed or not.
So I’m taking summer classes. I love summer school because I don’t have to juggle 5 courses at the same time. The focus on one subject for two months instead of 5 in four months has always made more sense to me for some reason. This is an unpopular opinion but there are pros and cons to everything! There’s also not that many people on campus during the summer which means I always get the seat with the power outlet.
Not a lot of people want to spend the best weather to grace Toronto in months indoors but I actually end up spend more of it outdoors…waiting for my bus.
I’m addicted to the adrenaline rush. This addiction is a strange one because I would never go as far as jumping out of a plane, nor would I jump off of a bridge attached to a cord, but in this case I can’t seem to get enough of the rush. The entire package sets me off: the anticipation before the rush, the rush itself, and the reeling feeling afterwards. My name is Jasper, and I’m addicted to rollercoasters.
Summer is fun; the sun is shining, birds are singing and people on bicycles are ruling the streets in all of their shiny-helmeted glory. I remember looking at the bicyclists of Toronto with envy, noting the wind in their hair, the flushness of their face and their wonderfully sculpted legs. Every time a car-driver cut off a bicyclist in front of me, I would scoff and shrug my shoulders, giving the bicyclist an understanding shake of the head in solidarity (as if I knew all the struggles).
I adored them and I wanted to be them!
Unfortunately, as you all well understand the struggle of being a broke student, I never ended up saving enough money to actually buy a bike. It just never happened. My dream of being one of the cool biker kids never came true.
Until recently. ENTER BIKECHAIN.
I have a secret hobby. This is a hobby that is the opposite of brag-worthy and my personal definition of “indulgence.” It’s a little counter-productive, but on my busiest days it’s the one activity I want the most. It’s more of an anti-activity and yet it’s one that may be a universal favourite among all U of T’s tired library dwellers. This (now not-so-secret) hobby of mine, is doing absolutely nothing at all. I used to feel guilty about loving doing nothing. As my post-secondary education has progressed, I’ve become busier and busier and as a result of this, my idea of a “fun” time has changed too. Of course, I still enjoy a night out on the town every once and awhile (YAASSS, shoutouts to the 6ix) — but for the most part, my perfect evening involves a homemade dinner, a good movie and pajamas. I know what you’re thinking. Only nineteen, and I’ve reached my full grandma potential already. A little crazy how fast U of T can age the average nineteen year old...Snapchat filter wrinkles and all, I’ve come to accept that with a crazy personal schedule of work, school, assignments — and this month, upcoming exams — sometimes doing nothing for fun is okay.
Just kidding. I mean top ten. Can you imagine 189???
Happy birthday week to UofT! 189 is a ripe old age and our academic institution has seen lots of growth and development over the duration of its existence. Danielle’s recent posts on major historical moments at UofT give a great outline of what we’ve been through to arrive at this point. The present-day lifestyle of a UofT student is rather different than what it used to be, on account of there being significantly more glass buildings, less trees, a lot more online presence, and a lot more hashtags.
In celebration of our university’s 189th birthday, I took the liberty of perusing through the ever-so-reliable information forum popular amongst us millennials (Instagram) to bring you the top ten types of Insta posts that use the #UofT hashtag, to see whether this is indicative of a current student’s UofT experience. One takeaway from this week’s blog: UofT students are AMAZING photographers.
