Happy Holidays from DSL

Seasons Greetings & Good Luck

HEY UTSC!

Keep an eye out for potential holiday posts from the blog team, but the regular blogging schedule will resume in the new year, starting January 9th.

The success of our new UTSC Pulse Blog belongs to the dedicated readers like you, throughout this semester.  Thank you for your time, comments and feedback.  Good luck during exams and have a safe and happy holidays!

 

Interview with Gillian the Study Abroad Ambassador

1. Tell me and the readers who you are.

My name is Gillian & I'm a 3rd year student!

2. First off, tell me where you went for study abroad?

I went to Oxford University, England. It was one of the first universities in the world, so it was a gorgeous campus and had major historical/academic integrity

3. What interested you in study abroad?

I've always wanted to go to England (it's 3/4 of my heritage) and wanted to study at Oxford University, so this was the prefect opportunity for me. I thought spending a month there would be perfect, but it still wasn't long enough! But for those who have never been away from their home town, this is perfect!

4. What was the most challenging aspect of study abroad?

The first day was tough, I missed home/friends/family and I didn't think I would make any friends, but I made tons of friends and didn't want to come back.

5. Did you face any hardships or encounter things that you didn't
agree with or understand? If so, what were they & how did you deal
with them?

The locals were way more informative than the customer services employees, I felt much more comfortable asking a local for advice than an employee at a train station for example. I'm not used to be talked down to by an employee anywhere, especially when I am obviously a tourist(without the English accent, y'know?)

6. What was the most memorable part of your experience? Is there
anything you wish you done differently?

I went to London a lot, and visited family whom I had never met before which was amazing for me. I went out every night. I was super tired for class every morning, but it really was worth it. I wish I had travelled more abroad more with classmates, but I am content in meeting my long-lost family members :)

7. If you could say one thing to a student who was interested in study
abroad what would you tell them?

I know the price may seem a lot, and you don't know if the debt is worth it but trust me, it really is. I did not qualify for OSAP and I am $10,000 in the hole from this experience but it was completely worth it. Every single penny was worth it. It is something you will never ge to experience anywhere else, especially for summer abroad you still get to study with U of T students and profs so you get taught the way you are used to being taught, but you get to be taught in such a significant institution historically.

8. Why should someone get involved with study abroad?

For utsc specifically; experience more than Scarborough has to offer, as well make friends from UTSG and UTM: they're not all obsessed with putting utsc down ;) For others, like I said before, it is a once in a life time experience. 4-6 weeks away from home for those who are afraid of getting homesick. You (usually) get one credit for 4 weeks in class; SUCH a good deal!

9. If you didn't go to England, where would you have gone?

I would have loved to go anywhere in Europe. The Central Europe or Italy program. With central Europe you get to travel to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Poland; and Italy..it's Italy - why wouldn't I want to go there?!

Too Much Studying!!! ARRGGHHH!

Last day of classes has come and gone. Friday is here and as usual, the library is packed with studying students, willing to come to school on a winter day because for some reason it is too noisy and distracting to study at home. Exam week has officially started, and every single UTSC student is either studying or cramming for their exams.

The wierd thing is, I am not one of these people, crammers I mean. I don't like to study too much or overwhelm myself with last minute studying. Let me get one thing straight with you guys. I LOVE TO SLEEP. Unlike our Wednesday blogger E.A.P., I am not an insomniac. I am what you call a hypersomniac. If you are sleepy and drink coffee to keep yourself awake in order to studying, you end up wasting time and energy doing POOR studying because not all your senses are alert. I would much rather sleep early, get a good night's rest, wake up great in the morning, and be more productive. You can do this too, if you follow my 3 steps to STUDY SUCCESS. Follow the 3 P's. Plan, Prioritize, and Play.

      First thing's first -Plan.  University is all about good time management. 

You have to plan accordingly before starting to study.

Next to Prioritize, now this step is easy for me because I like to stay organized. Basically, you need to check when your exams are, the day and time. Please-- make sure you know the ROOM FOR YOUR EXAM!  Once you know the order of your exams, begin to study in that order.

The last step is to Play. Now this step might be a little surprising to most because finals are just around the corner, but trust me, a well deserved break from studying is just what some of our exam crammers need. It's no good to study for 3 hours straight without taking a break in between, after every hour or so, stretch and every 3 hours, make sure you eat and drink to keep hydrated, because our brain works the best when our stomach is happy and full. 

Let me give you guys an example, on Wednesday I did some stress studying relief by playing video games. Shout-out goes to the club "VGS" for keeping the tradition of "Child's Play" alive, bringing out video games, and controllers on Nov 30th. This is just one example have how to "take a break" I suppose.

So, there you are guys, some tips on how to study smarter, not harder. And if you still need an extra boost, check the Intranet study sessions available on our campus.  Happy studying, and see you guys later!

mmmmmmmmmmm FOOD.........

It’s almost exam time, for us UofT students that might mean days and days of straight studying more or less. Looking for something to look forward to after exam season? HOW ABOUT THE NBA SEASON? 

Yes, this week the players and owners of the NBA came to an agreement and the 2011-2012 NBA season will start on Christmas day!! Talk about an early Christmas present right? Anyway, my blog this week wasn’t about how excited I was about the NBA season starting again. This week it’s all about food choices and the UTSC study "diet". 

As you all may know, there are not a lot of mega-healthy food options at UTSC. Let me bring out the psychic in me and guess what most of your diet at UTSC consists of. We can start off with the usual one can of Arizona a day. I swear if everyone in UTSC was deprived of their blood it’d be okay because we’d have Arizona to replace it. 

After Arizona we have… yes, you guessed it, Subway! I swear there was a time this semester when I started having a sub for breakfast and lunch… good times! Then we have the oh-so-popular Tim Horton's. You know a business is doing well when there needs to be two of them, in the SAME building, only a 30 second walk away from each other! The thing about Tim’s is that you can go there at any time of the day, for any meal or snack or beverage, and of course the price is student friendly!  I think that’s the big three:  Arizona, Subway and Tim Hortons. OH, and how could I forget Nasser! The UTSC famous hot dog man! He’s actually the nicest guy I’ve ever met; sometimes I just want to buy a hot dog just to re-meet him again haha! 

If you guys are getting tired of eating the same things over and over at school, I have good news for you! As you guys already know, next semester SCSU is going to adding to our food choices by opening a Hero Burger in the Student Centre! If you guys haven’t had Hero Burger before it is actually quality fast food! So if you’re into healthy food choices, it’d be a perfect change up from that Subway you’re so use to getting.  Also expected to open up in the Student Centre is KFC and Taco Bell! YES, THAT’S RIGHT! Heaven will be located in the Student Centre next semester guys. I know this is not exactly healthy BUT who else is as amped as me?
 

Anyway, if you guys want to read up on these new additions check out: http://thevarsity.ca/articles/50188 for more details!

Until we meet again, readers.

Peace and Love.

We're all a bunch of insomniacs

Insomnia as defined by the Oxford Dictionary "Inability to sleep; sleeplessness"

Insomnia as defined by Urban Dictionary "The state of sleep loss. No matter how much you desire dreamland, it refuses you entry. You stand at the gates, whining, crying, but stuck in the world of buzzing activity." (The first sentence needs a syntax evaluation...Sorry, English Major Pet Peeves)

I personally like the urban dictionary definition more, because well...it makes sense. I feel really bad, I was in one of my many last lectures (YES!!!!) and I fell a sleep. I couldn't even see the words straight. I just remember this...(Let me put it in a cute narrative)

The prof said "please turn to page 104 in your textbooks." I remember flipping to the pages. I remember the title. And then the text started to fade, maybe the font was too small for me to care. Maybe I need to reposition my head. I will read this text by lying my head on the table. You're heart starts to beat slowly. The voices are fading, but they're not completely silent. You can hear them in the back of your head like a distant cacophony. You can feel yourself sleeping, but you're not actually sleeping. I hope I don't snore. Damn! I think I just did. You, like a wave, fade in and out of consciousness. Sleep teases you and says "Come with me!" You say "I can't! It's the last lecture...maybe tonight?" The chair squeaks and drags, the bags shuffle and the binders open and close. Class ends and there's a wet spot on the page I was "supposedly" reading. I dozed off...again.Does anyone else have horrendously dark eye bags? Does anyone else look like the picture above? Like when I actually want to sleep, it doesn't come. It's like the sleep fairy comes at the most inconvenient times (Didn't you get my schedule??).

I was going to offer advice on how to avoid looking like a zombie and to sleep better, but I can't because I'm just as tired as you. Damn these exams. The worst part is, after you've had yourself a decent nap, your cognition process is a bit murky, you say random things that don't make sense...and well you look like #&*@! I remember my boss telling me I look like I hadn't slept for days and that I, "had the eye bags of a fourth year student."

Stick it out til' the end, yes? I feel like it's not JUST us first year kids, it's EVERYONE! Go ask you're friends at Ryerson or York. I'm sure they're all saying the same thing. I bet my life on it! I take that back...it's a rather risky price.

Just a few words of advice:
Good Luck on the exams! (I use that word loosely because luck and praying won't get you the grades, you have to ACTUALLY work for it.)

Epic Quote of the Week: I really wanted this to be the first November where it didn't snow the entire month, thanks to global warming. But DAMN! Mother Nature likes to screw with us. It's on the last day too! :( -Fatima Wahid


Epic Song of the Week:

Balancing the busy life

Hey everyone, Jessica here!

Along with Monday blogger Ranziba, it seems all nighters are a common pattern nowadays. It's been a full day of school and my evenings are shot with homework and playing sports. I notice many UTSC athletes are having a hard time balancing both. 

For example, at hockey practice only five or six girls would show up. The coach said everyone else was writing essays, finishing up labs, or other various school projects. It's not fun nor productive having a fraction of the players show up for practice, especially with semi-finals and finals fast approaching. 

If you know how to do it properly, balancing school and sports is simple.

I was lucky at a young age to have experienced the balancing act and compiled my top five list on how to keep an even scale.

1. Know your schedule

You should write down and know by heart all your due dates, practice, and game times. This is common sense. If you know you have an assignment due Thursday, but you have a game every Wednesday night - you should know to schedule your time accordingly. Word of advice, get your work done before you play. Two reasons. One, you won't be stressing about it at the game and two, when you get home, you can sleep peacefully once you walk in the door knowing your work is already finished.

2. Time management

If I could I'd bold this statement, make it 100 size font, and underline it in red at least 500 times - I would. This is the most important lesson in balancing a busy life. Everyone manages their time differently, here's how I do it. I know it sounds nerdy and a lot of work, but every day I plan out what I'm doing at every hour. This method has helped me for years because I know I don't have time to procrastinate. No time to slack. It keeps me focused and I always get my work done on time. Truth.

3. Don't stress

Balancing school and sports can be tough, but it doesn't have to take over your life. Of course most of your time will be dedicated to either of the two, but you should always make time for friends and family. Make sure you leave at least one hour in your day to just sit back and watch TV or go out with a friend. You deserve to. Just because you're busy, doesn't mean you need to sacrifice your social life.

4. Eat right

You need energy to keep going throughout the day! Duh! I know I shouldn't remind you, but it seems I keep reminding myself I need to eat properly. If I want to have the energy to play a sport, I need to eat food that will keep me going. Next week I will (possibly) post what you should and should not eat during exam time. According to a UTSC nutritionist of course. Stay tuned.

5. Have fun

Yadda, yadda, yadda, you've heard it all before. But, how can you have fun when you have a zillion things on your plate? Easy, develop a routine that's right for you. Once you get into the swing of things, you'll realize your stress levels will lessen and you'll actually have time to enjoy both school and sports simultaneously. Well, sports at least. Regardless, you should rarely sacrifice one or the other. These balancing skills are transferable. When you get into the real world, you'll be thankful you're one step ahead of the game.

Here's a fun fact: Back in the day, I was the prize you got in your Frosted Flakes.