Attending the World Vision Campus event “Raw Hope: A Night about Refugees”

Last Friday, I attended an event hosted by U of T World Vision Campus. It’s an annual titled “Justice Works,” and this year’s theme focused on the refugee crises that have been regularly making the news. WVC also hoped to showcase the “Raw Hope” World Vision initiative which serves children living in conflict zones such as Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, etc., providing immediate aid and working towards longterm safety and care.

The countdown to U of T’s 189th birthday – part two

March 15 is the University of Toronto’s 189th birthday, and to celebrate, I’m counting down with a list of great moments in U of T’s history each decade since its establishment in 1827. Earlier this week, we looked at the origins of football, anthropology, and a U of T president with a unique talent - check out the post here. Today, we’re moving all the way up to the present day, starting in the 1920s with one of the most significant findings in the history of medicine.

A Semester-in-Review

"You got me shakin' got me runnin' away You get me crawlin' up to you everyday, Don't bring me down, no no no no no, I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor Don't bring me down." - 'Don't Bring Me Down', by Electric Light Orchestra

Two months into the winter semester of my freshman year here at U of T, and suffice it to say, a lot has happened. From events bringing the community together, to exams dampening the mood, first-year engineering has continued to be a rollercoaster of highs and lows.

The Bran Muffin of Classes

Some classes are like meringues: light and simple. Some are more like chocolate cake: dense and rich, but very satisfying. Some are like sweet and refreshing ice cream that goes down oh-so-smoothly. Like custard, some classes are heavy and decadent. Others are like chocolate chip cookies, appreciated for their classic appeal. Classes that are like toffee are a lot to chew on, but still very pleasant.

Pictured: cartoons of desserts — Can you tell I'm hungry? Picture Credit: 4-designer.com

Some classes, however, are like the bran muffin. The bran muffin is an affront to delicious things everywhere; it is utterly dull and a waste of time and calories. To make matters worse, it sometimes has nasty little shrivelled-up raisins lurking inside. No one likes a bran muffin. Sometimes, you have to eat bran muffins though, don’t you? Perhaps when your sweet old Granny makes them for you, or when your local Timmies runs out of everything else, or when you feel like inflicting pain on those nasty little raisins. Sometimes, you just don’t have a choice when it comes to bran muffins. The same goes for bran muffin classes. You will have at least one over the course of your university career; everybody does. Maybe you’ll need it as a breadth requirement, it will be a prerequisite for something else you want to take, or it will be the only thing that fits into your schedule. There will be no escaping it. That’s how you’ll end up in a bran muffin class, in spite of its snooze-worthy subject matter, never-ending readings, miserable locale—OISE auditorium anyone?—and its professor’s annoying goat-like voice. March 13^th is the last day to drop an S section course, so it's high time to decide if you want to stick it out or not. If you want or need to persevere, stick with me! I’ll try to show you how to turn a yucky bran muffin into a beautiful cupcake.

Pictured: Bran muffin — Yuck. Picture Credit: sini.co.uk

Okay, maybe not a cupcake, but at least a slightly-less-terrible bran muffin:

Emma’s Slightly-Less-Terrible Bran Muffin Recipe

Drop-In Skating and Exam Prep (Already?!)

I’ve been feeling a little-more-than-a-little subpar recently. I’m not sure if it’s the weather or a change in routine due to injury or just everyday stressors, but I don’t like to hang out in ruts like that. Last Friday served as a nice little pick me up, thankfully. I finally made it out to drop-in skating at the Varsity Centre! I regret that I didn’t take pictures, I was consumed by how good it felt to be using my legs after making my arms so terribly sore at aerial silks. I’ve been less active recently and I think that might be contributing to my lousy mood. Skating with a good friend helped! I went on Friday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon and it served as a nice study break. Skate rentals are available for only $3.39 (debit/credit only) and entry is free with your T-Card of course! It wasn’t very populated, which I really appreciated. I definitely recommend checking it out, especially if you’re looking for some space to make some mistakes (I sure am!).

The Most Magical Place on Campus: Visiting the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library

There are few things that go together better than Robarts and Buzzfeed. We've all had that moment where your twenty minute coffee break turns into an hour of reading listicles and finding out which celebrity dog you are. Things got…

Madeline – Work (blog version) ft. U of T

A GIF from Rihanna's newest music video with Drake "Work" — Sing it, Riri.

Like Rihanna, I also work (work, work, work, work). I find a simple pleasure in putting in my time, effort and creativity into a job and in turn seeing real results. You can take a wild guess at what those results are, but I will save you the time and confirm that they come on a bi-weekly basis into my bank account. I have had many jobs over my years of working. Some of which include:

“Expert” pizza-maker extraordinaire
Marketing Assistant/person who designs a plethora of advertising
Bakery "Counter-person" (who also does all the other bakery jobs)
Barista who makes the best cappuccinos @ about 4 different cafes
Server (who, to be honest, really hated serving)
Front Desk Porter, A.K.A that person in residence who talks to you enough to know your entire class schedule but still has to ask to see your keycard upon entering the building

This year I have managed to hold down two part-time jobs while also being a full time student. Both of my jobs are on campus, and are positions that are directly affiliated with the university. One of them, (surprise, surprise) is to write entertaining and relevant material for the Life at U of T student blog. The other, is a relatively new job which involves doing admissions for a residence on campus.

Mastering the MMI!

There’s a new kid on the block that is sweeping across professional faculties, and that’s the MMI! What’s “MMI”, you ask? MMI stands for “multiple mini interviews” and it’s a novel interviewing technique. It was developed by McMaster University’s Faculty of Medicine to better assess applicants communication skills. It was suggested that traditional interview formats do not accurately capture true aptitude of a candidate for the profession. The MMI, on the other hand, allows for assessment of other communication skills such as interpersonal skills, professionalism as well as ethical reasoning.

The countdown to U of T’s 189th birthday – part one

On March 15, the University of Toronto celebrates 189 years of teaching, learning, and discovering. To mark the university's birthday, over the next two weeks, I’m counting down to the big day by looking back at great moments in U of T’s history each decade since its establishment in 1827.

A Much Needed Change of Scenery

I know it sounds cliché, but time really is flying by. I don’t really know how March managed to arrive so quickly, but I do know that when I realized the semester was more than half way done, a little bit of panic set in for me. My exchange is almost over and it seems like I haven’t managed to do half of the things I wanted to do. Getting caught up in school and everyday life meant that I’d forgotten that part of the point of an exchange is to do fun, exciting things.

Life @ U of T

Life @ U of T (page 185)

Attending the World Vision Campus event “Raw Hope: A Night about Refugees”

The countdown to U of T’s 189th birthday – part two

A Semester-in-Review

The Bran Muffin of Classes

Emma’s Slightly-Less-Terrible Bran Muffin Recipe

Drop-In Skating and Exam Prep (Already?!)

The Most Magical Place on Campus: Visiting the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library

Madeline – Work (blog version) ft. U of T

Mastering the MMI!

The countdown to U of T’s 189th birthday – part one

A Much Needed Change of Scenery