In Which I Converse With Student Entrepreneurs

 
My reaction to interviewing the folks at Semesterly: "You mean there are students who run this website?"
Me trying to figure out my life
Whenever I finish course selection, there is always a period of time where my thoughts drift to my future in terms of a career. It’s like an imposing deadline that inches closer when you least expect it, and as a humanities / social sciences student studying Political Science, Cinema Studies, and History, this deadline can appear menacing. Now, as a student in Political Science, Cinema Studies and History interested in a career with media production and photography, this deadline appears monstrous. I’ve learned from various trips to professors’ office hours, the Career Centre, and long, thoughtful conversations with friends that succeeding after school, especially with my aspirations, that marketing yourself in today’s job industry is essential. Marketing, in my mind, automatically correlates with entrepreneurship – something I don’t have the space in my packed school schedule (curse you, 5 hour film blocks!) to learn from classes. However, when I struck up a chat with my friend Tsukasa (or Tsuki) who’s a third year Rotman student working as a student entrepreneur for the new U of T student founded course organizing program, Semesterly , I learned a lot about what it's like to be a student entrepreneur.

UofT Bookstore Haul

It’s that time of year again! With course selection times coming up, we are suddenly uprooted from the comforts of summer and thrown into fall semester preparation. One of the things that I have done in the past to calm my September nerves is to go crazy with Back to School shopping. I know what you’re thinking: who even goes Back to School shopping after the 8th grade? Answer: me 🙁  

Summer commutes and that half-eaten granola bar

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.

Making my way downtown…

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. The front entrance of Bike Chain

An Ode to Lee’s Palace

A brief review of one of my favourite concert venues in Toronto -- Lee's Palace.
This past school year, I lived in a creaky, vintage (old) house comprised of both students and young professionals. Inside, examples of some common occurrences were: uncomfortable heating spikes, cleaning up other peoples’ messes so I could cook dinner, and, my personal favourite, forgetting to bring some toilet paper rolls from my room to the bathroom only to realize the terrible mistake I made later on in the day.

The Start of a Great Journey!

Picture of yours truly with my archaeological finding!
Oh, the excitement of our first discovery at the Drawsko site in Poland! Credit: Danielle Donnelly
              Hey there! My name is Meimei and I’m excited to join this AWESOME group of Life @ U of T bloggers for the upcoming school year. I am SUPER EXCITED to blog about our awesome university and events that take place on-campus! And of course share my experiences at U of T with you!  Yay! As this is my first blog post of the year, a brief introduction is in order! You can learn more about me and my fellow bloggers if you click on the Crew tab – go ahead, you won’t regret it!

At the risk of sounding too “Eat, Pray, Love”…

Long time, no see, U of T! I've been caught up in exams and the culmination of my undergraduate career, and as life goes, the time has just flown by way too quickly. (Exams went well overall, so I am quite pleased). 

Me sitting on the grass on Hart House Lawn
Me at the start of this school year (me now below)

And somehow I landed here at this moment, writing my last post for Life @ UofT and bidding you all a warm farewell. I’m hoping it won’t be too lame or cliché or sentimental, but since I am all of those things it probably will be.