reflection – Page 21 – Life @ U of T

It’s “Back-to-School” Season, NOT “Back-to-Stress” Season

Hey everyone – welcome back to school! Whether this is your first year at university or you are a returning UofT student, this year is bound to bring many wonderful changes. You’ll inevitably learn new information, meet new people, and experience new adventures you haven’t even thought about yet! Before I continue, allow me to formally introduce myself – I am Slesha, your new Academic Success and Equity blogger. I’m currently in my third year of computer engineering studies. I love photography, naps, and drinking tea. Also puppies … I love puppies! But you know what I really don’t love? Stressing about school.

Why I’m Setting Career Goals This Year

An arrangement of shrubs and flowers partially cover front campus and University College — Front campus, in all its glory

It was my first day of classes at the University of Toronto, and I stepped onto the trampled turf of front campus with a pair of juvenile—and, admittedly, cliché—Converse and a backpack-sized collection of goals for the incoming year. I was brimming with a plethora of productive emotions, such as anxiousness, homesickness, and—probably the most helpful one—fear. Luckily, I made it out first year alive, and with zero regrets. Zero regrets, that is, except for one.

Halfway Through..Now What?

Hello U of T! I'm Liana and I'm writing for the Community Crew this year as the CTSI (Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation) Blogger. I'm a born and raised Torontonian, a first generation student, and in my third year double majoring in English and Book & Media Studies. You'll come to learn throughout the year that I really love writing and reading..if that weren't obvious from my choice of majors.

A photograph of Liana posing in front of a ferris wheel — Me on a trip to Seattle last year!

I’m done! (Or am i?)

Hi I’m Sargam, and I’ve got something to share with you.

‘So Long, Winter!’ (or, ‘Later, Midterms!’)

“English summer eating up the atmosphere Day-time bathers sleep in the shade Clouds crawl over dampening our attitudes People run for shelter from the pouring rain” - ‘English Summer’, by The Moons

Well, we did it. Mild or not, our first winter here in Toronto has come to pass, and we're in one piece! With one final flurry of tests, I’ve wrapped up midterm season, too. It’s a peculiar feeling - one on hand, having so many evaluations has made time pass by awfully slowly. On the flip side, it feels like freshman year has passed me by entirely too quickly.

My #TryItUofT Experience

Last week I wrote about some personal strides I’ve been hoping to make academically. Another thing I want to do this semester, though, is to become more involved in the U of T community. Seeing as how it is still #TryItUofT month, I thought now would be a perfect time to change things up.

#GOALS

Like a new year (hello 2016!!), a new semester never fails to get me in the mood to reflect on my goals. Goals forgotten, goals achieved, #goals that I aspire to move from the murky depths of my Pinterest board to real life and goals that are relevant to what I hope the new semester might hold for me. At the beginning of last semester, I spent one particularly quiet night shift at work outlining the academic hopes and dreams that I would ‘surely’ have no trouble fulfilling — the steps that would have me on the road to university success in no time. However, upon revisiting said list, I can now safely say that my list was pretty unauthentic and maybe even impractical. My goal for this semester? Setting realistic goals.

One Down, One to Go

Crazy as it may seem, this semester’s almost over! Classes ended this week, and finals season has finally arrived. If it weren’t for my impending doom, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that it’d already been four months since I first touched down in Toronto. Amidst all the hapless cramm — I mean, conscientious studying, in a bout of productive procrastination I thought I’d take a look back at my first semester here at U of T.

An Endless Tug-of-War: Being a Diasporic Asian

My Neighbour Totoro. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Char siu bao. Maple syrup pancakes. Red pockets. Christmas trees. As a child, I never questioned why my life was a mix of Canadian and Chinese culture. It had always seemed natural to participate in each culture’s respective traditions and indulge in its entertainment and food. I didn’t realize that this was partially due to the fact that I was a diasporic Asian.

An assortment of Totoro merchandise. — Any self-proclaimed Totoro enthusiasts here? (Hand shoots up.)

Adjusting to Time Management

One thing that’s become particularly evident to me this semester has been the drastic changes needed to my time management methods. I’ve heard from other first years that they too have had to adjust to new work habits, regardless of the discipline. Relating to my own experience, my time budgeting skills in high school were pretty sub-par, which led to me attempting some serious adjustments on the fly in first-year.

Tag: reflection (page 21)