There aren’t many students who know about 89 Chestnut, the purely UofT (not college affiliated) residence that is hidden away near St Patrick station.  Composed by approximately 1050 students who primarily attend UofT (there are also a handful of students who attend the Ontario College of Arts and Design), the Chestnut community is built by a variety of people with a huge array of cultural backgrounds and academic interests.

For those who haven’t heard of it, or for those who are considering maybe living there for a year in the future, here are some pros and cons with regards to this secluded residence.

Cons:

Location, location, location

One of the major complaints that arises amongst the Chestnutters is the fact that we are so far from campus (relative to those who live on or around campus). The 20-30 minute walk, depending on where your class is, can be quite unpleasant, especially if it is an early morning class, or if it is raining/snowing/hailing/blizzarding outside. There is no way you can pull off the “roll out of bed and get to class in five minutes” routine unless you are a very, very fast runner that is extremely committed to sleep! However, if you are willing to, it is feasible to get used to the walk and to even learn to enjoy it. I myself find it gives me time to think!

Prices

In comparison to most other residences at UofT and a lot of student apartments, Chestnut is quite expensive. In fact, one of the major reasons people move out after first year (other than wanting to live with friends or wanting to live in one’s own place) is the fact that most other options are cheaper to some degree or another.

Security measures

While every resident will appreciate that he/she is safe within the building, the security measures at Chestnut are quite austere. Every student is assigned a key card for their room, and has to flash this card as they walk by the security desk towards the elevators. You cannot go by without it, and if you are a guest in the building, you have to be signed in and given your own little colour-coded card for the day and are only allowed in if you are with the person who signed you in! Most people who visit the building find this excessive, and to be honest, I do too. However, we learn to live with it, and like I said before, we are extremely safe.

Elevators!

There are six elevators that travel between the 27 floors of the buildings, and it is a good day when four of them are functioning. The past week has been good (knock on wood!) but there have been occasions when only two were working. When this happened, as I live on the 4th floor (the first residential floor), I would have to wait for ages for an elevator that wasn’t completely full – and by full I mean there was barely breathing space, let alone moving space!

Pros:

Cultural

Representative of UofT itself, the residence is filled with people from literally all over the world! (There is even a map in the lobby that points out how many people there are from each country). This, of course, leads to interesting conversation, various arguments, but also helps increase the variety of food options in the cafeteria as the kitchen tries to please as many palates as possible!

The Cafeteria

As legend has it, the Chestnut caf is probably one of the best on campus. On any given meal time, be it lunch or dinner, there is a choice of two main entrees. In addition to that, there is the grill bar that usually presents an array of burgers and hot-dogs (including the veggie variety as well). There is also a pasta/rice/noodle bar (depending on the day) in which you select the ingredients for your sauce, and this is located right next to the salad bar. Asides from that, there is also a larger selection of salads set apart, as well as the veggie food bar. As for drinks, there is a huge variety of both cold and warm beverages, including hot chocolate and French Vanilla cappuccinos. As for desserts, the favourite part for any sweet-tooth like myself, there is a new selection each day ranging from cheesecakes to pies to fruit salad. While people may start complaining as to the quality once they have lived here for a while, we all accept that it is much better than many other residences or university cafs!

Asides from the caf itself, they also have a bagged lunch program for people who have long days of classes (like engineers) and don’t have time to come back for lunch.

Location, location, location

While I’m aware that this topic is appearing in both lists, there is a reason for this. Even though the residence is far (compared to others) from campus itself, it is pretty amazingly located otherwise. We are literally a five minute walk from the Eaton Centre, ten minutes away from the two closest movie theatres, surrounded by a variety of restaurants and bars, making us fortunate to be living where we are!

It‘s pretty much a hotel!

The 89 Chestnut building was formerly a hotel. With that in mind, the lobby is luxurious, the rooms are all en-suite, and we have our own laundry service in the basement. Not only that, there is a massive common room on the 27th floor (yes, I said 27th) which has a wonderful panoramic view of the city. With regards to services, each room is fitted with a phone that can be used for making local calls, and both cable and internet are included. As well, there is a weekly cleaning service (although some people may count this in the cons when it’s their turn to have the early morning knock on the door announcing their turn!). This involves a proper wipe down of the bathroom, new toilet paper roles, and a quick vacuum of the carpeted floors.

The nut house, as some of us affectionately call it, like any place, has its good and bad parts. However, having lived here for three years already, I can only say that it’s a great place to make friends, and while you may be a bit removed from campus life itself, there is a community within the building that helps maintain a pretty stable social life for anyone who lives here.

Editor’s note: For more information on Chestnut Residence, visit their website at http://www.chestnutresidence.utoronto.ca/

You’ve just received your offer of admission from the University of Toronto. Congrats! While you may feel excited and hopeful now, there’s still time for you to encounter the dread and anxiety experienced by most students about to start university. You might even be missing high school already. Never fear! U of T knows just how to handle this – let me introduce to you… the seminar course.

I see you.

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Oh blogUT, you’ve been my safe place during my time here at U of T! And what a journey we’ve been on together…

For those of you that don’t know, I am—or rather, was—the Co-Editor of blogUT. Even before I assumed this position, I’ve always had strong ties to this blog from the beginning of my undergraduate studies — first as an avid reader, then a timid writer, and finally, as fate would have it, as Co-Editor. And now after four years, I must, with a certain sadness, bid adieu to blogUT, our hardworking bloggers, and our loving readers. I’m proud to have been able to work with such a dedicated team of bloggers who have worked throughout the years with the sole purpose of writing honestly about what it’s like being a student here at U of T. No bullshit. No rah-rah-rah U of T. Just the real stuff, both good and bad. Like we always say: raw and uncut, we give you the real juice about campus life.

In a university that often feels too massive to ever really feel a part of, blogUT bridges the disconnect, providing a real sense of community for U of T students that span programs, colleges, and commutes. I know that for me personally, blogUT has been a place where I’ve connected with fellow U of T students that I never otherwise would have. Sure, many of us have never really met each other in real life, but blogUT is this shared space for the students and by the students — untouched by the powers that be at U of T.

Through the years it’s been the spot where we’ve all shared our personal experiences about university life, given tips on where to go and what to eat, discussed student politics, rated hot profs and honored the quality ones, found the best make out spots, and yes, even talked trash about lame TAs. We’ve stayed up together during those late night cram sessions, distracting ourselves with pointless, but oh so brilliant and necessary, videos. And we’ve collectively ranted about our shiteous commutes, shared our best survival tips, and celebrated the many gems this campus has to offer. Simply put, blogUT kicks serious ass and it’s not hard to see why I’ll miss this blog.

I say goodbye to blogUT with a sadness, but with pride knowing that this little baby of ours is growing day by day. And I’ve no doubt that our new Co-Editors will bring blogUT to unprecedented heights for the 2011-2012 academic year (no pressure, Ally and Leah!).

To my fellow bloggers, please keep writing. I’ve told you time and again that you are the heart and soul of this blog. To our readers, please keep reading and commenting. Without you, we would be that hypothetical falling tree in the distant forest. Your comments and support are what make us real and relevant.

In the meantime, I am off to plunge into this so called “real world” that U of T was suppose to prepare us for. Stay cool, blogUT. I’ll love you always!

xoxo,
Justine

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.”

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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!”

Check it out!

You’ve seen him do the Soulja Boy in his underwear and you’ve seen him in a banana costume. This time he’s running through the U of T campus, New Ho King, and a grocery store dressed as a chicken. Why?

I believe being confident or cocky is a personal characteristic that’s developed over time. Being confident has nothing to do with one’s race.