After being away for a month, I’ve got to say, Toronto is a great city. Sure, we’ll make fun of it and the rest of the country can hate us but if you came to U of T, you might as well explore this place. It’s rather upsetting to hear from graduating students who aren’t from Toronto that they have never been on the islands or they’ve never really set foot outside of campus during their 4 year residency here. In any case, here’s a list of places and things to do while you’re stuck here:
When I was eight years old I loved everything about summer. That is, until those “back-to-school” commercials started popping up everywhere (why they air those commercials as soon as we have our first taste of summer, I’ll never know.) As soon as I saw those advertisements, I was reminded of the horrors of going back to school—but that was before my education included lectures about movies and playing beer pong. So, for those of us lucky enough to go to UofT, seeing a “back-to-school” advertisement no longer needs to fill us with mortal dread. Instead, we can embrace this time; September is reborn as a time for Toga parties, being reunited with old friends, and even making new ones.
While many readers will have already passed Freshman year, I’m sure there are those of you who are still a bit nervous about heading off into the direction of academia. For those lucky few, I have prepared the following crash-course on how to spend your first few weeks at UofT.
1.Don’t freak out.
You’ve signed up for your classes. You’ve paid your tuition (hopefully!). You know where you are going to live. Beyond that, don’t worry over anything just yet. Just because the anti-calendar says your class is going to suck, doesn’t mean it actually will. Just because you don’t know anyone in your class, doesn’t mean you can’t make some new friends– or at least meet someone to share notes with. Don’t listen to people when they tell you to just “turn back while you can!”. You obviously did well enough in High School to get into Uni, so there is no reason you can’t succeed once you get there.
2. Seriously, don’t freak out.
All of those things you are worried about—making friends, tests, term papers, parties, getting lost—they haven’t happened yet.
blogUT has been busy working behind the scenes with My City Lives to film and showcase a number of hot spots at the University of Toronto St. George Campus. September is just creeping around the corner and we know there’ll be a ton of new students joining us, many of whom will have no clue of where to go or what to see on campus (ah, to be a froshie!). We wanted to provide a resource to better acquaint these newcomers to our lovely campus. Lord knows we needed it back when we started at U of T. And seriously, what better way to do it than through a video series introducing all the different spots to visit on campus?!
Oh and to those of you who aren’t newbies to the university but still find yourselves lost sometimes? Don’t worry, this is for you too! And to be honest, while we were filming these little snippets, we discovered so many spots we had never been to or even heard of before! It just goes to show that no matter how long you’ve been in one place, you never stop finding new things to do or see!
We’ve got quite a few videos up and ready for viewing, so be sure to check them out on the My City Lives website or just click here. Oh and if you’re wondering who these mysterious “My City Lives” folk are…they’re our friends who have developed an online platform that gives us the chance to capture and share our daily experiences around the city on video. Presented on an interactive map, these web stories show exactly where each video was filmed so you can learn more about the city based on the stories and experiences of your fellow citizens. Pretty cool, huh?
Now our friends at MCL say, “Let’s Magellan our city” and now we’re calling all of you to Magellan our campus!
In the meantime, here’s a sample video where we show you around Hart House…quite literally the “Hart” of U of T, bringing together all of the different colleges and students on campus together to experience life outside of lecture halls, labs, and tutorials!
*If you cannot view this video, please click here.
Well, it looks like the hell that ROSI puts us through every year continues to rage on as students continue to fight for course enrollment! Take a look at what was buzzing on Twitter this week…
U of T already has a student-developed iPhone app, but now we also have a handy tool for searching for U of T courses online. Created by psychology student Ammar Ijaz, it allows you to search by course code, term, professor, date and time, enrollment indicators, enrollment controls, and whether or not there is a waitlist. Ammar says:
Don’t you hate trying to find courses to take? Using the timetable and calendar books is bad enough, but the archaic website is even worse! I hate searching for courses, too, so I decided to create a website to make the task easier. Looking for 3rd year psych courses? Just put in “PSY3″ as a course code and hit “Show me!”
Ahhhh, it’s that time of the year that we love to hate and hate to love…the dreaded/beloved course selections. I don’t know about you but I’m on the love side. There’ s nothing like planning a fresh new academic year. It’s just so full of hope, optimism, and excitement…free of the crushing weight of readings, labs, exams, and tutorials. It’s the calm before the storm and yes, I love to savour every moment of it.
Unfortunately, ROSI wasn’t so kind to me this year. I’m in my final year of undergraduate studies and got the late 10 AM enrollment time…leaving me on waitlists for courses that I desperately want to take. But alas, that is the life of a U of T student.
Read what other students are tweeting about course enrollment…some were successful, others, well, not so much!
This year’s Toronto Jazz Festival played host to two legendary groups in two awe-inspiring and sold-out venues: The Dave Brubeck Quartet at Koerner Hall on Tuesday and The Keith Jarrett Trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette at The Four Seasons Opera Centre on Wednesday. The Dave Brubeck Quartet gave a solid performance but one that has become somewhat less of a novelty since it was nearly identical to his concert last year and the year before. The Keith Jarrett Trio, on the other hand, gave a concert of sheer ingenuity and brilliance from start to finish, though I’d expect nothing less from this group of masters.
Dave Brubeck Quartet
On Tuesday, the current rendition of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, with Bobby Millitello on saxophone, Michael Moore on bass, and Randy Jones on drums, took the stage at Koerner Hall for one set of standards and one set of what Brubeck does best: his own pieces in odd time signatures. In the first set, they played, among others, “Gone with the Wind”, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, “On the Sunny Side of the Street”, and a medley of Duke Ellington Songs: “C Jam Blues”, “Mood Indigo” and “Take the A Train”. The interpretations were competent and fun to listen to, but this really isn’t where Brubeck shines and there are other pianists who have better renditions of these pieces. Nevertheless, it was nice to hear a few pieces that weren’t performed in the last couple of years. Read on »
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