Che-Che-Check it Out!

Hey Guys, It's E.A.P!

This is a very quick update. Yours truly is checking out some TRES awesome events.

This Friday, I'm going to a lecture at the downtown campus called "Gender, Sexuality and Islam under the Shadow of Empire" http://www.wgsi.utoronto.ca/news-events/gender-sexuality-and-islam-under-the-shadow-of-empire

It sounds realllyyy interesting. I also decided to take a course at the downtown campus called "Women in Western Religion (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam)" although the lecture was cool, I felt like it was lacking discussion around Islam and sexuality. I'm interested in this lecture because it brings dialogue and discussion around this topic which is rarely discussed.

The second event is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/360345163979837/
"On the eve of the first anniversary of the Arab Spring, as general strikes and occupy movements have spread across the globe, A Space Gallery is pleased to present A REFUSAL OF IMAGES. The works in this exhibition urge us to consider a central determinant of unfolding history—the use of mobile devices to record and transmit political events. With an immediacy that our visual culture has only recently begun to grasp, these recordings often contain moments of abstraction: for example, the shaking camera aimed at the backs of others while the videographer flees from a tear gas attack...These kinds of abstract images communicate something that might circumvent a system of images that are often trapped in meaning and over-determined by our viewing habits..."

Both events are happening this Friday and they are both FREE!

I'll keep you posted and let you know how it went down. I'm also hoping to get an interview or two, hopefully all goes according to plan!

Breezin' Song of the Week:

Guest Blogger: Little Fish in a Big Pond

Guest Blogger is Ashley Dhandhari

I remember my first year at Scarborough Campus as being really confusing and stressful.  I had been super involved in so many clubs in high school (i.e. student leadership, multicultural club, Model Un, volleyball, semi-formal committee, etc.) but being new to campus made me too nervous to get involved.  As a result, I felt so disconnected from the UTSC student body when I got here. 

The good news is that I found my fit here at UTSC.  I signed up for a few clubs during clubs week and went to club meetings; now I’m part of Model UN @ UTSC, the Women’s Centre and a volunteer for the DSL (Department of Student Life).  While working in the office I recently visited the DSL website, browsed their leadership program and noticed the different ways to get involved. I've joined the iLead program, and I am now working towards my leadership certificate! 

All the opportunities can be overwhelming but it's really easy to get involved here at UTSC, it just takes a few quick sign-ups and events to become part of the vibe of Scarborough’s student body.  For example, one event coming up is the First Year Caucus (wish it was around during my first year!) Apparently it's a leadership development day for first year students.  It's all of the things I wanted to know about leadership, combined in one jam packed day of learning and socializing.

So come out, join us and start Getting Involved! Make your time here at UTSC as memorable and engaging as it was back in high school. You might be swimming with the ‘big fish’ now, but we really don’t bite. 

Tour of our athletic facility

Hey everyone!

Emily Kakouris so kindly offered to take me on a tour of our athletic facility at UTSC! If you're not familiar with the "The Key" "Cyclefit Room" or didn't even know we had a "Golf Cage" - watch and see for yourself what our lovely school has to offer!

Stuck in Slacker Mode

Guess who's back...back again...

E.A.P is back and refreshed.

The first semester was a tough one, but worth it.

I learned that my time management skills and study habits suck! But hey, what are mistakes for? It's only a mistake if you didn't learn from it. #justsayin

After a whole semester at UTSC, I look back and wonder how did I ever manage to get lost? It's a pretty small campus compared to downtown. To be honest, the closer we got to the end of the semester, the better it got. When the essays were over and done with it gave me time to study and focus on the exams.

My writing STILL needs to improve but it's gotten a hellalot better than the beginning for sure! At least I don't write like a high school senior anymore.  I took advantage of some of the campus resources, after all I am paying for it.  I actually liked my profs, I held all these misconceived notions about university and professors that no one cares...but actually, THEY DO! So it was nice to work through and break down all these stereotypes.

My break was AWESOME! I finally watched "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I waited like three months for it. I've watched it twice, I'm going to try and squeeze another screening before the semester heads into full swing. I also showed my love and support for TDOT's local music scene and attended a few concerts, then I had my first ever sleep over on NYE (I know I kinda missed out on that rite of passage, but it's never too late!)

My most favorite part of the break was sleeping in. It was amazing to sleep in till noon and not care. It was fun to stay up all night and not care. *Que the Ke$ha song*

A few changes. I took a lesser course load, it was the best thing to do in my situation. I also took a course downtown, and it sounds like fun! I thought I'd try the downtown scene.  Lastly, I took "funner" courses. I have a course in cinema, music, and women studies.  Oh and the best part is... NO MORNING CLASSES! No morning classes=No long line at Tim's for coffee and losing sleep. No eye bags #FTW

This semester I'm going to stay on top of things. I'm going to start on my essays at least a week before they're due, not 6 hours before the due date. I'm also going to try and stop eating on campus so I don't burn through my money...CORRECTION. OSAP's money. (I got 99 problems and OSAP is one of them). I'm also going to perform some my writing, not be a closeted writer anymore. And I am pretty satisfied with my marks from last semester, in case you're wondering.
E.A.P signing off and wishing you ALL a great semester!

P.S. Does anyone else find it odd that you have to pay to have a copy of your final exam?

Epic Song of the week:

Starting F-F-F-Fresssh.

HEY HEY HEY! It’s been a while guys, I need to get back into the flow of things with school and everything starting up again. It’s a new year and a new semester, perfect time to start working at those goals you’ve been running away from for however long! I hope you guys had a great holiday off and wish you best of luck this year!

As a first year student, the hardest part for me was waiting until the break. While I was studying, I couldn’t help remind myself that I have THREE WHOLE WEEKS off this year. That was my inspiration to keep studying- hahah. During the break I watched every single movie that I wanted to watch during the first semester, but didn’t have time to. My favourite movie BY FAR was Crazy, Stupid, Love. I swear I can watch it over and over again and still not get tired of it, y’all need to see it fo’real.

I also did the usual holiday break stuff such as skate and hang out, but all that stuff is boring so we’ll move on :D. Oh, oh, oh, I also time travelled back into the good ol’ days and watched the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air again. When I finished watching every episode I felt like that was my family, that’s how good that show is.  I did some research on Will Smith afterwards and he is now my role model. Honestly, the stuff this man says is inspiring… he needs to be president. The amount of work he puts into what he does should inspire ANYONE. I’ll post a video of him at the end of this post with some of his inspiring words. 

Anyway, since it’s the beginning of a new year a lot of people will be making new year’s resolutions. Personally, I don’t see the point of these resolutions. It’s not the fact that most people don’t keep them, it’s that I don’t understand why people need a reason to make goals for themselves. If you want to change your life for the better, start whenever your body or your mind feels like it. We’re constantly making goals for ourselves each and every day anyway. Why wait for a new year to make our lives better when you can start on any day of the year! I’m not trying to say that making new year’s resolutions are a bad thing. Hey, if it works for you… it works for you, right? Haha :D

If you have any resolutions that you’d like to share or any blog ideas for me or anything at all, feel free to comment below or tweet me @pardonmeimyoung!

ONE LAST THING... I also want to know what you guys are anticipating for this new year. What are you looking forward to. Personally, I'm looking forward to album releases from; Nas, Cudi, Alicia Keys, ross&drake, BOB, MGMT, TI, MIA, Kendrick Lamar, GOOD music, Frank Ocean, WTT2, A$AP Rocky and Kanye to name a few. Can't wait! So yeah, let me know guys!

That’s all I have to update you on for this week’s blog post! Have a great semester, guys!

Peace and love.

Here's the video I promised.

Here's to a new year and a new you

Hey everyone!

This is your Tuesday sports blogger Jessica and i'm excited to be back at UTSC.

Literally.

For a year and a half I've attended Centennial College to finish my journalism diploma. I'm finally back on Scarborough soil to finish my degree. Just two more semesters 'till graduation!

Until then, let's get down to business.

If your new year's resolution is along the lines of, "lose weight" "stay fit" or "try something new" - lucky for you, there's plenty of solutions offered right here at the school.

LOSE WEIGHT

I've discussed in a previous post about UTSC instructional classes such as cyclefit, archery, fitness kickboxing, yoga, etc. The dance classes are incredibly popular and so much fun, plus you'll be shedding off the freshman fifteen in no time. Let me know if there's a class YOU want to see ME take. I'll film it and let you know how I do (like my belly dancing video).

List of classes: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~athletics/images/winter-instructional.pdf

STAY FIT

Tryouts for 2012 intramural sports have begun and it's not too late to come out and play! You can try-out for volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, etc. It's a great way to meet new friends and be a part of a competitive team. I'm going for indoor soccer and hockey. I might challenge myself and try-out for co-ed ultimate frisbee, but I know nothing about the game nor how to throw a frisbee. Shall I dare? I mean, look how wild this sport is...

Try-out info: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~athletics/images/IM-tryoutdateswin2012.pdf

TRY SOMETHING NEW

The SCAA is putting together their annual Blue Mountain ski-trip! A bus will take you on January 27, where you can experience the slopes and night life for a low price. For three days and two nights you can get back on your snowboard or try it for the first time. All levels welcomed! For more info, visit the SCAA office.

There you have it, my solutions to your resolutions.

Let me know on Twitter @Jessica_Moy or comment below what sports you're going to try or what you're going to do this semester to stay in shape!

A New Semester, A New Menu

It’s that time of the year again! It’s the first day of the new semester and I hope everyone had a very enjoyable winter break. The first day of school may seem kind of slow and you have to go through the trouble of falling back into a routine but I think it’s nice to get back into a routine after the holidays. While navigating the chaos of a new semester I did notice something that caught my eye. I noticed that Rex’s Den has a new menu and seeing as it was lunch time I figured why not go see the new menu for myself then write about it here!

Upon opening the new menu the first thing I noticed was that it looks MUCH better than it did before – though kind of reminiscent of Jack Astor’s menu layout. But who cares, it’s about the food! Upon browsing the menu, I was slightly disappointed in the fact that there have been some minor price increases. However, I’m not certain that the price increases are actually warranted. For example a serving of chicken wings before was $6.99 now it’s upwards of $9 and change for 1LB of wings. I have a feeling that when it was $6.99 you didn’t get 1LB of wings. There were a number of price changes to different things but the wings are what stood out.

What I really liked about the new menu was that many of the specials from last semester are now permanent menu items. For example the delicious bacon mushroom melt burger is now an official menu item. Though I kind wished to see the Fried Chicken on the menu as it was unbelievably good. Another aspect of the new menu that pleased me was to see that the best sellers off the old menu such as the angry rex burger had comparatively cheaper prices than the new menu items. Lastly Rex’s Den’s new menu features some suped up poutines such the Angry Rex Poutine, a poutine version of the angry rex burger and a chicken shawarma poutine! I’m sure these items will be popular as they make great take out items for class.

Have you had a chance to check out the new Rex’s Den menu? If so what do you think? How does the price increase feel to you? Let me know in the comment section below! Remember to follow me on Twitter for my latest thoughts and rants! @malcolmwong1 and subscribe to this blog!