UTSC Pulse is a blog by students and for students of UTSC. We're recruiting a new crop of bloggers to write about what's important to them, and to you. Keep an eye on us as the Fall semester begins, and in the meantime have a look through our archives for interesting, funny and insightful writing.
And if you want to be one of those writers, drop us an email at pulse.dsl@gmail.com with some information about yourself, why you want to write, and some writing samples if you have them.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The great impersonal machine
I don’t think most people are really that honest
when they’re applying to jobs or being evaluated in some way, because the
thought of baring your soul out to someone and then being rejected is too much
for any of us to bear. I have a friend whose great passion is going into
medicine, and yet her answers to the question of “who do you want to be” from
strangers or those probing little forms that you have to fill out for various
purposes in life, are the most sterile, generic answers you can imagine. Read
them and you’d get the impression she’s just going through the motions, or that
she’s the most cheerful yet shallow person around. Her job and volunteer and
university applications don’t even begin to even approach the true recesses of
her soul. Probably it’s the same for me too, or for all of us. Our impossible
hopes or niggling self-doubts or deepest passions can never be articulated in
500-word blurbs.
Yet this is how we’re judged. This is who we are. We
are not living, breathing human beings with ideas and layers and dreams; we are
our resume. We are our GPA. Matt Smith is a 3.1, and so is obviously inferior
to Sally Lawrence who is a 3.7. “What do you do?” has replaced “Who are you?” Can
our GPA measure our kindness and the quality of our character? Our pride comes
from our list of accomplishments, instead of our quality as a human being. If
you make $100k-plus a year, have a beautiful house and a nice car, you’ve made
it, brother. You are the envy of all of us. You are our envy.
This is our society. The efficiency that we hold
so dear has stripped us of our humanity. Who are you now? You are: coffee house
barista for 1 year. Studying psychology at U of T, GPA 3.5. SIN 513 993 982.
And the arbiters look at your fact sheet and say, Nope, sorry, you’re not who
we’re looking for. We just know that someone else would be better at serving
mushy hamburgers than you. I’m afraid your accomplishments don’t meet our
requirements at this time.
Who are you now? You’re a number in a government
database. You’re your tax deductions for last year. You’re a series of rants on
the blogosphere. Probably this explains our 21st-century mania with
sharing: we share pictures of our meals, our moment-to-moment thoughts, our
music and our clothes. We don’t want to be forgotten. If no one’s thinking
about us, do we even exist? Our surface thoughts and tastes can be shared, but
never our souls.
This mania, to be remembered, to be accomplished,
takes a toll on us. We’re exhausted. We don’t sleep. We slave away the night on
distractions, on work, on the stuff that doesn’t really matter in the end. We
miss something. Maybe we miss honesty. Maybe we miss feeling like a human
being, with ideas and layers and dreams.
Monday, April 8, 2013
A social media experiment, part 2
So I just finished the last essay of my second year in university and I can't help but think about how fast this second semester was. I swear the beginning of second semester feels like it was yesterday when I was talking about how the beginning of first semester felt like it was yesterday when I was talking about how the beginning of summer felt like it was yesterday and etc. etc, time flies!
Anyway, it's week two of my social media blackout.
Week two ended up being more of a challenge than week one. I had more "free-time" because most of my assignments were done and I definitely was not going to start preparing for exams three weeks in advance. I mean, you'd probably forget everything in three weeks, right?! So because of this newly discovered thing called free-time, I found myself fighting a constant urge to sign in on Twitter or Facebook again to tell the world some of my hilarious jokes.
Side note: Wow, I'm talking like I'm addicted to some sort of drug and fighting the urge to relapse or something. It's getting a little scary.
The good news is that I didn't relapse. I mustered up the little bit of self-control I have left and decided that I don't really need Social Media... it needs me.
I did however discover some more cons to not having a Facebook or Twitter which took a little bit of getting used to.
Having to actually look outside my window to check the weather. Apparently I got so used to people posting status and tweets about the weather, it became my number one source to keep track of it. Without the tweets, I actually had to get up, WALK to my window and look outside to see if it was raining or snowing or whatever craziness mother nature was up to that day.
Side note: I don't trust weather apps either because those are wrong at least six and a half times out of ten
Having to keep your opinions about current events happening around the world to yourself even though they're absolutely hilarious. I guess this can go both ways. You can laugh at your own jokes because you know that you're hysterical PLUS you don't have to deal with people who get offended by your opinion. But, on the other hand, nobody else will be able to appreciate the artistically beautiful comedic relief you bring.
Finding out exciting news the next day instead of right when it happens. Because I can't see the trending topics of Twitter or trending articles on Facebook, I have to rely on reading the paper on the bus the next day in order to keep up with the times. For example, Ryan Gosling is taking a break from acting to become a director!! I feel like I'm in the '40s again being so behind on such important news
So to end this experiment, although it might take some getting used to, you really can't compete with more time for yourself. I don't regret leaving the social media realm at all! (For now.)
Also, I heard a lot of people followed my lead of this Social Media blackout and I'd like to hear how it's going for you!
Just comment below.
Until next time,
Peace and love
Peace and love
Friday, April 5, 2013
More Learning!
Every
year the various academic departments at UTSC make changes to the programs they govern. That includes deleting unpopular courses,
making changes to the wording of the calendar, changing program requirements
entirely, and, the fun part, adding new courses.
The following are all the new undergraduate courses being added in the next academic year. Start perusing the courses you could take (or have to take). Get excited. Oh, and definitely review the changes in the calendar that affect your program, because they could be important.
The following are all the new undergraduate courses being added in the next academic year. Start perusing the courses you could take (or have to take). Get excited. Oh, and definitely review the changes in the calendar that affect your program, because they could be important.
ANTC53H3
Anthropology of Media and Publics
Learn about how anthropologists have studied new
and old media over time.
Same as
MDSC53H3; Prerequisites: [ANTB19H3 and ANTB20H3] or [MDSA01H3 and any 5.0
credits]; Exclusions: MDSC53H3; Enrolment Limits: 60; Breadth Requirement:
Arts, Literature & Language
VPHB77H3
Asia in Display
Basically study modern Asian art.
Same as
GASB77H3; Exclusion: GASB77H3; Recommended Preparation: [VPAA05H3 and VPHA46H3]
or GASA01H3; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
VPHD47H3
Politics and East Asian Art
A seminar course that centres around a collective
digital research project. The content, apparently, varies from year to year.
Writing- and research-intensive.
Same as
GASD47H3; Prerequisite: 11.0 credits, including at least one of [GASB31H3, GASB33H3,
GASB35H3 GASB58H3/HISB58H3,VPHB39H3 or VPHB73H3] & a further 1.5 full
credits at the B- or C-level in Art History, Asian History, and/or Global Asia
Studies; Exclusion: GASD47H3, VPHD46H3; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature
& Language
CHMB43Y
Organic Chemistry I and II
A condensed version of the two half-credit courses
on organic chemistry already offered (CHMB41H and CHMB42H). Much the same
material as those two courses, but, at a faster pace and higher level. Includes an augmented lab portion, incorporating the new instruments in the TRACES
facility. Fair warning: only the best and brightest Chemistry students should
undertake this challenge, seeing as the two original courses are already notoriously
difficult.
Prerequisite:
Completion of at least 4.0 credits, including CHMA10H3 and CHMA11H3, minimum cumulative
GPA of 2.7, permission of instructor; Exclusion: CHMB41H3, CHMB42H3, CHM138H,
CHM151Y, CHM247H, CHM249H,CHM242H, CHM245H; Enrolment Limits: 44; Breadth
Requirement: Natural Sciences
CHMC25H3
Quantum Chemistry
Get introduced to computational quantum chemistry
with hands-on experience, using computers to figure out chemistry stuff. Again,
for advanced students only.
Prerequisite:
CHMB21H3 and PHYB56H3, minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7, permission of
instructor;
Enrolment Limits: 40; Breadth Requirement: Natural Sciences
IDSC18H3
New Paradigms in Development: The Role of Emerging Powers
Examine the growing role of the emerging powers—namely
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—in international development.
Prerequisite:
IDSA01H3 and one other B-level course in IDS; Breadth Requirement: Social &
Behavioural Sciences
IDSC19H3
The Role of Researcher-Practitioner Engagement in Development
Learn about recent theories and approaches to
researcher-practitioner engagement in development. I don’t even know.
Prerequisite:
IDSA01H3 and IDSB01H3; Recommended Preparation: IDSC04H3; Breadth Requirement:
Social & Behavioural Sciences
A brand-new Creative Writing minor, with five new
courses along with it:
ENGC04H3
Creative Writing: Screenwriting
Write friggin’ screenplays! Your craft will be
honed through in-class discussions, readings, and workshops. Admission by portfolio;
see the Calendar for details.
Pre-Requisite:
ENGB61H3; Recommended Preparation: Students should have developed a small body
of creative works before enrolling in this course; Enrolment Limits: 20; Breadth
Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
ENGC05H3
Creative Writing: Poetry and New Media
Embark on “a creative investigation into the
intersections between poetry and new media (from wikis to cell phones to social
media)”—again, with discussions, readings, and workshops. Admission by portfolio;
see the Calendar for details.
Pre-Requisite:
ENGB60H3; Recommended Preparation: Students should have developed a small body
of creative works before enrolling in this course; Enrolment Limits: 20; Breadth
Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
ENGC06H3
Creative Writing: Writing for Comics
Why are you reading this when you should be
writing comics? Admission by portfolio.
Recommended
Preparation: Students should have developed a small body of creative works
before
enrolling in
this course; Enrolment Limits: 20; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature &
Language
ENGC08H3
Special Topics in Creative Writing I
Practice multi-genre creative writing designed around
a specific theme or topic, with a class that involves readings, exercises,
field trips, projects, etc. Admission by portfolio.
Pre-Requisite:
ENGB60H3 or ENGB61H3; Recommended Preparation: Students should have developed a
small body of creative works before enrolling in this course; Enrolment Limits:
20; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
ENGD22H3
Special Topics in Creative Writing II
The sequel.
Pre-Requisite:
ENGC08H3; Recommended Preparation: Students should have developed a small body
of creative works before enrolling in this course; Enrolment Limits: 20; Breadth
Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
Other new English courses:
ENGB27H3
& ENGB28H3 Charting Literary History I & II
Consider yourself introduced to the history and
culture behind English literature before 1700, and from 1700 to the modern day
in Part II of the class.
Exclusion:
ENG202Y; Enrolment Limits: 175; Part I recommended before enrolling in Part II;
Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
ENGC90H3
Topics in Classical Myth and Literature
Study a few myths in-depth.
Prerequisite:
ENGB03H3 & ENGB04H3 & [one of ENGB05H3 or (ENGB01H3) or (ENGB02H3)]
&
ENGB30H3; Exclusion: CLAC01H3, (ENGC58H3), (ENGC60H3), (ENGC61H3); Enrolment
Limits: 50; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
ENGC91H3
American Realisms
Explore American Realism and naturalism in
literature, movies, visual art, etc., including the study of works by Henry
James, William Dean Howells, Edith Wharton et al.
Prerequisites:
ENGB03H3 & ENGB04H3 & [one of ENGB05H3 or (ENGB01H3) or (ENGB02H3)];
Enrolment Limits: 50; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
CITB08H3
Economy of Cities
Analyze the economics of cities, including topics
like land use, urban structure and zoning, and transportation; Sim City for the real world.
Prerequisite:
Any 4.0 credits; Enrolment Limits: 150; Breadth Requirement: Social &
Behavioural Sciences
GGRA35H3
The Great Scarborough Mashup
Study the great cultural mosaic of Scarborough
through field trips, interviews, and guest lectures.
Enrolment
Limits: 30; open to first year undergraduate students only; Breadth
Requirement: Social and Behavioural Sciences
GGRC50H3
Geographies of Education
Explore the geography of education; topics include
geographical educational inequalities, class and race, the family and
intergenerational class mobility, and the movement of children to attend school.
Prerequisite:
[GGRA02H3 or GGRA03H3] and GGRB02H3; Enrolment Limits: 60; Breadth Requirement:
Social & Behavioural Sciences
GGRC54H3
Human Geography Field Trip
Get out of the dungeons of UTSC and into the real
world, with field research (including interviews, archives, and observation) on
a topic shared by the class.
Prerequisite:
GGRB02H3 and 1.0 additional credit at the B-level in GGR; Enrolment Limits: 30;
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences
A major new expansion of the Health Studies
majors, with 11 new associated courses. See also, Management.
AFSB50H3 Africa in the Era
of the Slave Trade
Learn about the history of Sub-Saharan Africa,
from the era of the slave trade to the colonial conquests. “The capacity of
Africans to overcome major problems will be stressed.”
Same as
HISB50H3; Prerequisite: Any modern history course or AFSA01H3; Exclusion:
HISB50H3, (HISC50H3), HIS295H, HIS396H, (HIS396Y); Breadth Requirement:
History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies
AFSB51H3 Twentieth Century
Africa
Continue where AFSB50H3 left off, studying the
history of Africa from the colonial conquests to the post-colonial era
Same as
HISB51H3; Recommended Preparation: AFSA01H3 or AFSB50H3 or HISB50H3 strongly
recommended; Exclusion: HISB51H3, (HISC51H3), HIS396H1, (HIS396Y1); Breadth
Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies
GASB77H3 Asia in Display
and GASD47H3 Politics and East Asian Art
Sound familiar to the Art History courses above?
They’re the same.
HCSD05H3 Intellectual
Property in the Arts and Humanities
Learn about Canada’s intellectual property (IP)
systems, copyright, patent, trademark and confidential information. If you want
to be a lawyer, this course will give you a leg up.
Prerequisite:
Any 2.0 credits and 2.0 credits at the C-level in ACM, CFL, HCS, ENG and PHL; Breadth
Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies; Enrolment Limits: 30
HISB12H3 The Classical
World in Film
Remember Troy?
You’ll be studying historical films involving the Greek and Roman empires, like
their props, archeology, and adherence to historical accuracy or source
material.
Same as
CLAB20H3; Exclusion: CLA388H and CLAB20H3; Recommended Preparation: CLAA05H3 or
CLAA06H3 or (CLAA02H3) or (CLAA03H3); Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy
& Cultural Studies
WSTC23H3 Community Engagement
Practicum
For students in Women’s and Gender Studies
programs to apply their knowledge in a practical environment: namely an unpaid
placement in a not-for-profit organization helping the community.
Prerequisite:
WSTA01H3, [WSTA03H3 or (WSTA02H3)], WSTB05H3, WSTB11H3, WSTC02H3; Enrolment
Limits: 8; Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences
WSTD07H3 Themes in the
History of Childhood and Culture
Study cultural and gendered ideologies of children
and childhood throughout the world, studying such disparate topics as factory
children in England and mixed-race children in India.
Same as
HISD07H3; Exclusion: HISD07H3; Prerequisite: At least 2 C-level courses in
History and/or Women's and Gender Studies.; Enrolment Limits: 15; Breadth
Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies
JOUC25H3
Field Placement
Get placed in the field and create editorial
content on various platforms individually and as a team. Taught at Centennial College.
The field placement before the change was optional and non-credit, but now is
required for a journalism degree.
Prerequisite:
Successful completion of semesters 1 and 2 of the college phase of the Joint
Journalism Program; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
LINC60H3 Special
Topics: Structure of a Language
Learn to analyze the structure (including
phonetics, phonology, word-formation rules, syntax, and script) of “a featured
language” that’s not English or French: no prior knowledge of this language is
necessary.
Prerequisite:
[LINA01H3 or [FREB44H3 and FREB45H3]] and [LINB06H3 or LINB09H3]; Breadth
Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language
PLIC54H3
Speech Physiology and Speech Disorders in Children and Adults
Learn about the physiology of speech perception
and the physics of sound, as they relate to treating speech disorders.
Prerequisite: LINB09H3; Breadth
Requirement: Natural Sciences
PLID56H3
Special Topics in Language Disorders in Children
Do like really in-depth learning about a specific
type of language and communication disorder, e.g. hearing impairment, Down
syndrome, or autism.
Prerequisite:
PLIC24H3 or PLID55H3; Exclusion: JLS472H; Breadth Requirement: Natural Sciences
Aside from myriad other program changes, the
Department of Management has added a new Specialist BBA program in Management,
and a Health Management stream w/ four new associated courses. There are four
new courses as well for regular Management students. I’m not even going to try
to touch this, because all the shuffling around is very complex. My advice is
that if this is relevant to you, check it out immediately.
STAC51H3
Categorical Data Analysis
Statistical models for categorical data or
whatever. Contingency tables, generalized linear models, logistic regression,
multinomial responses, logit models for nominal responses, log-linear models
for twoway tables, three-way tables and higher dimensions, models for matched
pairs, repeated categorical response data, correlated and clustered responses.
Statistical analyses using SAS or R. If you know what all of this means, God
help you.
Prerequisite:
STAB27H3 or STAB57H3 or equivalent; Breadth Requirement: Quantitative Reasoning
MDSC53H3
Anthropology of Media and Publics
The same as the ANTC53H3 that I mentioned before.
Prerequisites:
[ANTB19H3 and ANTB20H3] or [MDSA01H3 and any 5.0 credits]; Exclusions:
ANTC53H3; Enrolment Limits: 60; Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature &
Language
PHLD05H3 Advanced Seminar in Ethics
The Calendar is pretty vague on this course, but
it’s probably safe to assume that you’ll participate in an advanced seminar
about ethics.
Prerequisites:
3.5 credits in Philosophy, including 2 courses (1.0 credit) at the C-level, at
least one of which must be PHLC05H3 or PHLC06H3; Exclusion: PHL407, PHL475
POLB50Y Canadian Government
and Politics
Merges and replaces two H courses: POLB50H3
(“Canada’s Political Institutions”) and POLB52H3 (“Canadian Politics:
Connecting Citizens and Governments”). Students will now also participate in a
Model Parliament (at the actual Provincial Legislature!), which wasn’t possible
before with two short courses.
Prerequisite:
Any 4.0 credits; Exclusion: (POLB50H3), (POLB52H3), POL214Y, POL224Y; Breadth
Category: Social & Behavioural Sciences
POLC80H3 International
Relations of Africa
Surrender yourself and let your professor
introduce you to International Relations of Africa.
Prerequisite:
POLB80H3. Students who have completed IDSA02H3 may enrol with the permission
of the
instructor; Recommended Preparation: POLB81H3; Breadth Requirement: Social
& Behavioural Sciences
POLD92H3 Survival and
Demise of Dictatorships
Learn why some dictatorships survive while other
do not. Especially relevant in the days of a sort of whiny, tantrum-throwing,
and nuclear-armed North Korea.
Recommended
Preparation: POLB92H3 and POLB93H3; Enrolment Limits: 25; Breadth Requirement:
Social & Behavioural Sciences
PSYC05H3
Human Movement Laboratory
Study human movement, like eye-movements, balance,
and walking, and collect and analyze data involving human movement.
Prerequisite:
PSYB01H3 and PSYB07H3; Enrolment Limits: 35; Restricted to students in the
Specialist/Specialist Co-op programs in Psychology; Students in any Mental
Health Studies program and the Major in Psychology will be admitted if space permits;
Breadth Requirement: Natural Sciences
PSYC51H3
The Cognitive Neuroscience of Vision
As promised, study the neuroscience of vision,
including the visual perception of object features, perception of high-level
categories, visual attention. Also, compare human and monkey visual systems.
Probably no meeting actual monkeys, though, which is lame.
Prerequisite:
PSYB51H3 or PSYB57H3 or PSYB65H3; Exclusion: PSY380H; Enrolment Limits: 75;
Restricted to students in the Specialist/Specialist Co-op, and Major programs in
Psychology, Mental Health Studies and Neuroscience; Students in the Minor in Psychology will be
admitted if space permits; Breadth Requirement: Natural Sciences
PSYC68H3
Diseases of the Brain and Mind
Super-cool advanced course. Learn the methods of
diagnosing and treating neurological diseases from a clinical perspective. Taught
by the faculty of brain sciences at Sunnybrook Research Institute.
Prerequisite:
PSYB65H3 & PSYC62H3 & [one additional C-level half credit in PSY or
NRO] &[cumulative GPA of at least 3.0]; Enrollment Limits: 50; Restricted
to students in the Specialist/Specialist Co-op, and Major programs in
Psychology, Mental Health Studies and Neuroscience; Breadth Requirement:
Natural Sciences
SOCC54H3 Special Topics in
Sociology of Culture
Analyze, sociologically, the role of culture in
societies. See http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~socsci/
for the course topic of current and upcoming semesters.
Pre-requisite:
SOCA01H3 and SOCA02H3 and SOCB05H3 and SOCB42H3 and SOCB43H3; Enrolment Limits:
60; Breadth Requirement: Social and Behavioural Sciences
SOCC55H3 Special Topics in
Race and Ethnicity
Study the key concepts of research on race and
ethnicity or something. See http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~socsci/
for current and future topics.
Prerequisite:
SOCA01H3 and SOCA02H3 and SOCB05H3 and SOCB42H3 and SOCB43H3; Enrolment Limits:
60; Breadth Requirement: Social and Behavioural Sciences
SOCD20H3 Senior Seminar:
Social Change and Gender Relations in Chinese Societies
A seminar course with room for very few people;
examines gender relations in modern China.
Same as
GASD20H3; Prerequisite: [SOCA01H3, SOCA02H3, SOCB05H3 & one C-level course
in SOC] or
[GASA01H3 &
GASA02H3 & one C-level course from the options in requirement #2 of the Specialist
or Major program in Global Asia Studies]; Exclusion: GASD20H3; Enrolment
Limits: 14
SOCD21H3 Immigrant
Scarborough
Conduct qualitative research on the social,
political, cultural and economic lives of immigrants in Scarborough, and tie
your practical research to theoretical debates about transnationalism and
immigration.
Prerequisite:
SOCA01H3 and SOCA02H3 and SOCB05H3 and [SOCC23H3 or SOCC31H3]; Enrolment
Limits: 30; Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences
Thursday, April 4, 2013
I Wear Your Granddad's Clothes I Look Incredible
For this post I'm going to bank on a lot of people having heard this song.
If you hadn't heard it yet well here you are.
Why this song? Well the theme for this week will be first impressions.
What happened was when I heard this song I was in a car functioning on three hours of sleep and sipping on the misery cup. All I heard in between talking to my friend was 'I wear your granddad's clothes, I look incredible'. So I thought, 'This is why I don't listen to the radio anymore.'
Then, while looking for desperate excuses to avoid my thesis, I decided to watch the video for this song. Suddenly, it all changed. This song is hilarious, the subject matter might have deeper meaning if you're willing to look into it and frankly speaking that thrift shop swag is working.
Life lesson, your first impression should not be your last.
This isn't the only instance this year I've been forced to reconsider my past judgements. One of my closest friends is a guy, who in the first 15 mins of meeting, I dismissed as 'mean pushy dude'. We've been good friends for three years now, I tell him this story all the time.
Here's another story: I met a group of people at UTSC. At first they seemed cool but I never hung out with them, just passing waves and such. Eventually, the waves stopped and that dance of awkward eye contact avoidance began. You know... that thing you do when you don't want to say hello because you think the other person won't care enough to acknowledge you so you do like an ostrich and bury your vision in a fictitious cloud of ignorance? Maybe that's just me.
Then I had a terrible day at school and I decided to take a chance on these distant friends (5th circle of friends-twice removed), since all my regulars were too busy to hold me and Dr. Phil me through the day. Ever since that day I've spent every night at school with them doing the most fun, bizarre things and I don't regret a single minute.
Life lesson 2, approach passing judgement with care; you've usually got more to gain than lose.
I can't speak for anyone but myself when I say this but I'm prone to making such errors.
That isn't to say human beings aren't prone to be equally disappointing. I've had people cost other people thousands of dollars in damage due to mismanagement and lose competitions because of misplacing subs etc etc (student group problems). But as the British say, (or at least their war propaganda posters of the 30s), said, 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.
Bearing in mind if you set the bar too high you'll have a bunch of people flailing about then dropping into the ocean of inadequacy.
That's all the preaching I have in me for this week.
<3 Z.
Monday, April 1, 2013
A social media experiment, Part 1
Purpose: To analyze the change in lifestyle and behaviour of a young-adult male after 1 week of cutting all ties from the world.
Background: So last Monday I made the hardest decision of my life and deactivated both my Facebook and my Twitter accounts. Now if you know me, you know that I was an avid Social Media user. I used social media as a medium to get my opinions/thoughts/random things nobody needed to know into people's news feeds and timelines.
Now you may be thinking why on earth would I do this to myself. (I like to think of it as social media suicide).
Honestly, I have no clue. I may have just needed a refresher and time to myself, who knows? If you have any ideas why I could have done it please let me know! Like really, comment below. I don't even know who's reading this or if this is even on Facebook or Twitter or who "liked" or "favourited" it so please leave a comment below.
Observations:
1) I have more time. I normally would come home from work at around 10:30 pm and spend an hour or two trying to catch up on what I missed on Twitter and Facebook during my five hours at work. It would always be pictures of cats and bad jokes on Twitter and useless information about people on Facebook but for some reason I'd still read it night in and night out. But now I usually come home and head straight to bed or read a chapter of a textbook. (More sleep, more productivity = +2 points)
2) Literally 3-4 people made an effort to contact me. Usually if I'm on Facebook or Twitter people are replying/messaging/commenting on what I have to say throughout the day. But ever since I stopped using them only three or four people contacted me. It's only been a week so take what you may from this observation. (+1 just because talking to people who actually want to talk to me make for better conversations)
3) You have more time to actually workout when you're not Tweeting about it. Who knew?! (+1, self-explanatory)
4) Easier to make conversation. Because you don't have play by play updates about your friends via Twitter you can ask them about their day and actually be surprised about something rather than acting surprised because you already saw tweets about it the previous night. (+1)
5) More difficult to make conversation. You can't be like "Oh, I saw you went horseback riding with your pet monkey yesterday on Twitter, how was it?!" This can make for awkward silences(?) and increased frustration with the terrible social skills of this generation. (-1 for awkwardness, and another -1 for the frustration)
Discussion:
Points so far: +3 in favor of keeping social media deactivated.
Overall, it's given me more time to figure out who I am rather than what I want to be perceived as. There isn't anybody I'm trying to impress online anymore. It's just me being me, to myself.
Conclusion:
Tune in next week for week two of my social media suicide stunt.
Background: So last Monday I made the hardest decision of my life and deactivated both my Facebook and my Twitter accounts. Now if you know me, you know that I was an avid Social Media user. I used social media as a medium to get my opinions/thoughts/random things nobody needed to know into people's news feeds and timelines.
Now you may be thinking why on earth would I do this to myself. (I like to think of it as social media suicide).
Honestly, I have no clue. I may have just needed a refresher and time to myself, who knows? If you have any ideas why I could have done it please let me know! Like really, comment below. I don't even know who's reading this or if this is even on Facebook or Twitter or who "liked" or "favourited" it so please leave a comment below.
Observations:
1) I have more time. I normally would come home from work at around 10:30 pm and spend an hour or two trying to catch up on what I missed on Twitter and Facebook during my five hours at work. It would always be pictures of cats and bad jokes on Twitter and useless information about people on Facebook but for some reason I'd still read it night in and night out. But now I usually come home and head straight to bed or read a chapter of a textbook. (More sleep, more productivity = +2 points)
2) Literally 3-4 people made an effort to contact me. Usually if I'm on Facebook or Twitter people are replying/messaging/commenting on what I have to say throughout the day. But ever since I stopped using them only three or four people contacted me. It's only been a week so take what you may from this observation. (+1 just because talking to people who actually want to talk to me make for better conversations)
3) You have more time to actually workout when you're not Tweeting about it. Who knew?! (+1, self-explanatory)
4) Easier to make conversation. Because you don't have play by play updates about your friends via Twitter you can ask them about their day and actually be surprised about something rather than acting surprised because you already saw tweets about it the previous night. (+1)
5) More difficult to make conversation. You can't be like "Oh, I saw you went horseback riding with your pet monkey yesterday on Twitter, how was it?!" This can make for awkward silences(?) and increased frustration with the terrible social skills of this generation. (-1 for awkwardness, and another -1 for the frustration)
Discussion:
Points so far: +3 in favor of keeping social media deactivated.
Overall, it's given me more time to figure out who I am rather than what I want to be perceived as. There isn't anybody I'm trying to impress online anymore. It's just me being me, to myself.
Conclusion:
Tune in next week for week two of my social media suicide stunt.
END OF THE SEMESTER, GET PUMPED.
I made you guys and gals a bunch of Motivational Wallpapers to help you through these trying (exam)times.
Enjoy! (These are all 1920x1200 px resolution, sorry multi-monitor junkies and super-hd screen nerds).
Enjoy! (These are all 1920x1200 px resolution, sorry multi-monitor junkies and super-hd screen nerds).
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| Don't be a weary New York, do your work! |
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| Actually took a million hours in ms paint. |
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| Also available in 4:3ish |
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| Also Available in 4:3 For Real! |
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| This one was really hard to do for some reason. |
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| student pls |
BONUS (WARNING: CENSORED PARTIAL NUDITY)
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