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Smell Ya Later U of T

I was never one for saying goodbye for some reason. To be honest I’m still in this state of awe when I realize that everything I’ve worked for over the past four years is now a reality: I’m actually graduating.

I remember starting off fourth year with a sense of “well this is the last time I’m going to be doing this” and giving it my all. Cheesy, I know, but it’s the truth. I was so determined to finish being at this school because I was just so damn sick of it. Now that it’s all over and now that I can officially say “I’m going to graduate” I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. Has four years really come and gone this quickly? Have I really survived the soul sucking powers of U of T?

We all know that in hindsight everything looks so much better, but damn this is really over. It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that I’m finally ending this love/hate relationship with U of T.

Okay, okay, enough with the sentimental banter. I just wanted to write one last blog post to say a final “smell ya later” to U of T and blogUT and its wonderful readers and bloggers. I have grown in so many ways being here and am now (perhaps prematurely) being thrust into “the real world”. It’s time for me to shed this U of T skin and come into my own.

But I wouldn’t leave blogUT without a few good laughs. I stumbled upon this blog called College Problems and was DYING of laughter at how relatable and comical it was. So here are a few entries that have stuck out for me; and yes you can totally thank me when you have exams and you’re browsing through this website during study break #48754.

(all images courtesy of collegeproblems.org)


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The Crunchtime Breakdown

Image via blogs.umdbk.com

As school dwindles to a close, all students have one major thing in common: the crunchtime breakdown. Don’t act like you don’t know what that is. The crunchtime breakdown (according to my own personal dictionary) is known as your reaction to having all the essays, labs, tests, what have you all in the span of two weeks or so. This reaction happens in a few ways: anger, frustrated tears, accompanied by an overall sense of “How the #@*%-ing hell am I supposed to do this all in ___days?!!”

Although I am definitely not an expert on how to relieve yourself of this inevitable stress, I can offer some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years here at our ever so loving school:

1. Go ahead, have your breakdown. Once you’re done freaking out about the never ending list of things to do, you can take three big deep breaths and just get through it. (This may occur more than once depending on how overwhelmed you feel.)

2. BREATHE. Make a list of things to do and tackle each item one at a time. Remember it’s better to do things one at a time so you can put all your focus and attention on that one task instead of attempting to multitask a million things at once.

3. Pace yourself. You know that at the end of the day it’s just going to work out, so relax and work at your own pace.

4. If you can squeeze in some time at the gym, DO IT. Even working out for an hour, can help you release your stress at the gym and feel relaxed.

5. Go to the library with your coffee or poison of choice, donned in comfortable clothes and just do what you have to do. We’re THIS close to having summer, so finish it on a high note.

My tips and tricks might not be your cup of tea, so I ask you this: how do you deal with the inevitable crunchtime breakdown?

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The Power Nap

(via messaginglab.com)
(image via messaginglab.com)

Now that we’re diving head first into the dreaded months of March and April, we all know we’re about to lose the following: our minds, our social lives and more importantly, our sleep. But sleep is incredibly important to keep us functioning despite the gallons upon gallons of coffee we drink. So how do we recharge ourselves for the upcoming crunch time?

May I re-introduce you to: THE POWER NAP. Yes, I’m seriously promoting taking a nap. Don’t we all regret being stubborn children and not taking naps when we had the chance? I know I do! Naps are important for us to get that extra level of energy. But how can we take efficient naps without losing a vast amount of time for work and study? According to various sources, sources being the ever-so-awesome Google, a power nap should only be 20 minutes long. Within those 20 minutes, you are able to recharge yourself and get that extra wind for your upcoming task.

Feel free to take 20 minutes of your day to recharge yourself before you tackle those assignments and essays; it’s enough shut eye to ensure that you are awake enough to avoid making any silly mistakes in your study time. It’s also a great way to take a break to relax and temporarily free yourself from those stressful moments, which we know will eventually lead to breakdowns of anger and/or frustration.

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Your Soul is Mine

Any Mortal Kombat fan knows that saying, “Your soul is mine” is completely synonymous with that video game franchise. But did it ever occur to anybody how that same saying could be said by U of T itself? I was recently inspired by re-reading a post by one of our featured bloggers about university students. After reading, agreeing, and laughing along with how true those statements were, I had to ask myself, “How the hell did I allow university to steal my soul?”

We all know the saying, “U of T is a soul sucker” or something along that line. But what is it that makes this institution so… soul-sucking (for lack of a better term)? Is it the fact that we do nothing but study 99.9% of the time? Is it the fact that once we catch up in one class, we’re completely, and I mean COMPLETELY behind in the others? We go to the top school in Canada (since the last time I checked), so we should be proud of this accomplishment right, RIGHT?!

Although we do take some pride in being U of T students, we’re all in the same boat of losing our soul to this ever so awesome institution. How did our once brightly shining naïve selves become so jaded and lackluster?

In my personal experience, U of T has done the following to take over my soul:

– Although I try my best to catch up on my readings, it just never seems to be enough. The times I think I’m ahead, I’m actually just catching up with (everyone else in) the class. So I’m pretty much forever reading.

Continue reading “Your Soul is Mine”

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Does Seating Really Matter?

I recently came across a comical picture that describes the seating arrangements of university students in a lecture/seminar. While this may be a satirical take on students, I have to wonder if this is true. Does sitting closer to the front give you a chance to really soak in information? Does sitting near the doors mean you want the easiest way to exit? Does sitting in the back indicate you’re “too cool” to sit at the front and spend your time texting your friends?

Some would argue and say that “yes, seating does matter”. Seating would matter in the sense of how well you would pay attention. Sitting in the first few rows allows for a closer look at the professor and you would have to be paying attention because you’re right within the professor’s field of vision. Being in the first few rows would allow you to be alert and ready to take on the lecture at hand.

However there are others who would counter that argument and say “no, seating does not matter”. Their reasoning would be that regardless of where you are sitting in class, what actually matters are the marks from the assignments and/or exam. It could also depend on if the student was early or late for the class and they just pick whatever seat was available.

With these two arguments in mind, I attempted to put this ‘seating arrangement’ matter into my own hands. I spent this past week sitting in different areas of the classroom: front, middle row, back, near a door, etc. While this may not be everyone else’s experience, this was mine.

Sitting in the front row actually ‘pressured’ me into paying FULL attention to the lecture and discussion and reduced the temptation to glance over at my phone, for fear of being rude to the professor. I was fully engaged in the class. Now sitting in the center of the room seemed to reduce that ‘pressure’ that the front row gave. The center was a bit more relaxed and I was able to pay attention without getting distracted by my phone. The back of the classroom, you know the “too cool for school” section seemed the most relaxed. I actually typed the introduction for this piece while sitting there. (I advise you to NOT do this!)

All in all, I believe that for me personally, seating in a lecture does matter. Although my “seating arrangement experiment” was not a formal one, it did provide some insight into this ‘myth’ of where people sit in class. This ‘myth’ might not apply to others but I believe it’s an interesting topic for debate and discussion.

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Tuesdays with Professor ________

Tuesdays with Professor ____ is a new blogUT series that spotlights the classes and professors at U of T that have made an impact on us. Every third Tuesday we’ll be posting up a blogger’s experience, as a parallel to the book “Tuesdays with Morrie.” It offers much more than just the typical review of the class, but an actual in-depth personal experience of those classes. These are not just any regular class — they are classes that have inspired and sparked a passion in each of us. (And yes, they actually exist!)

Tuesdays with Professor Cobb

As a fourth year student at U of T I can easily say I’ve had almost every type of professor you can imagine. But regardless of the number of professors, lectures and tests I’ve had to go through, one professor in particular always stood out for me. I want to truly express not only my gratitude but also this professor’s ability to spark something in me to become passionate about. In order to do this, I have to backtrack all the way to my first year.

When I was in first year, I heard all the horror stories about U of T. So being a total “noob” you can definitely say I was a bit afraid of what I was about to get myself into. The first day of school, I had my first class: ENG110Y1 – Narrative. Surprisingly, this class was one of the best that I’ve had in my entire U of T career.

For me, ENG110 was more than an English class. It was an eye-opener. I had a charismatic professor — Professor Cobb — who (despite the fact that we were all first year students) gave us all a chance to study the “higher level” novels. I mean he did assign us Foucault, which at the time was like reading another language. But as my T.A. for that class told us, “He really gives you guys credit here because no one assigns a bunch of first years Foucault.”

Continue reading “Tuesdays with Professor ________”

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The Joys of Being a Commuter

This is an ode to my fellow commuters. To the ones that wake up hours before class actually starts to have a successful commute downtown, to the ones that carry extra books and bags on the train just to make sure they have all their research books with them to the library, to the ones that know that at least once every two weeks, there is something wrong with the TTC…yes, this one’s for you!

I’ve been a commuter to this school for almost four years. I know, I know. It’s obviously not that fun being a commuter, but you do get to walk away with a few interesting stories every week. Every (other) week there’s always something wrong with the TTC, or some sort of delay. As commuters, we’re generally prepared for that. Music? Check. Book/reader in hand? Check. See? Being a commuter isn’t that bad! We get to “relax” for a few minutes from our adventurous journey in the tunnels of the TTC.

One of the best things about being a commuter is when you get to transfer at the busy stations, like Yonge and Bloor or St. George. My, my, those are fun; especially during rush hour, especially when you’ve got all your research books with you (in those U of T reusable bags of course)! Those stations are the equivalent to a can of sardines: People rushing past you, trying to enter the train when the doors are obviously closing and the train is already filled with people. Or how about when they try to enter the train JUST as the train stopped and everyone needs to exit first, YUP! Fun for all!

Since it is November, we all know what happens. Winter is coming, fast and furious. But that’s nothing for the commuters is it? Waking up even earlier JUST to ensure that your commute doesn’t have any problems, or wearing extra layers just because you know how cold it gets when you go home. Yes, commuters are certainly the lucky ones!

Continue reading “The Joys of Being a Commuter”