school – The Medium Blog

If the UTM Buildings Were Students

April 24, 2016Kaitlyn Fernandes

Sometimes after you’ve been in a certain place long enough, it can start to take on a personality of its own. Since each of UTM’s buildings has a distinct style and character, here’s a look at what UTM’s buildings might be like if they were students.

DAVIS (South): The Seasoned Sixth-Year

Davis is a little old-school, but he’s allowed to be because he’s finishing off a sixth year at UTM. I imagine he likes to watch black and white movies and enjoys a good bag of trail mix. He also loves to use the “back in my day phrase” to bring up his pioneer days of dial-up Internet and Hanson. Davis’ secret fears include creepy basements, empty hallways, and tiny desks.

Five Tips For Keeping Your Desk Organized

April 24, 2016Kaitlyn Fernandes

Exam season can be kind of chaotic and often times the end of finals can be a great time to reorganize the study space. Here are five great ways to clean up that desk area:

1) Less is more.

I know you bought the 100-pack of blue pens from Costco because you figured you’d need them, but that doesn’t mean you should cram all 100 pens into your pen holder. Things don’t need to get complicated. Grab a fun mug and fill it with no more than five pens. On that note, as soon as you notice that a pen is dying, toss it out. I guarantee that if you were to go through the pens on your desk right now, at least a third of them wouldn’t work. Save yourself the time and frustration and only keep what works.

Dear First Year Student: Embrace the Tough Choices

April 24, 2016April 24, 2016Kaitlyn Fernandes

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably elated that all the dilemmas and decisions you faced during your senior year of high school are now behind you. You’ve picked your university (great choice by the way), you’ve picked a general stream of study, and that all-too-stressful decision of what to wear to prom is now a distant memory. When I was in your position last year, I thought the tough decisions were behind me. I’m sure you’ve realized by now that that isn’t the case. Since beginning university, I’ve had to face more tough decisions that involve asking questions with answers that aren’t so clear.

Difficult Decisions

April 14, 2016Candace Ramlall

Life is full of decisions. Whether it’s deciding which earrings go with that new dress, or if we should drop that really difficult class, we are always deciding something! Up until this very moment, I haven’t really had to make any “adult” decisions. Probably the hardest decisions I’ve made to date are more in the school and family area. So what will happen when I finally venture out into unknown territory?

I must confess that I’m absolutely terrified to become fully independent. I’m worried about starting a new chapter in adulthood. Coming from a home in which I have everything done for me and given to me, I don’t know how I’ll manage living on my own, paying bills, maintaining meaningful relationships, and so on.

10 Things You Know to Be True During Exam Time

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016Samina Sultana

So here we are. The semester is over, the midterms and essays have been written, and the all-nighters have been had, sort of. Exam season is a special time here at UTM and much like Halloween, it brings out the zombie in all of us. Here are 10 things I know to be true about exam season.

1) Sleep goes out the window.

We think we’ll get more work done if we just take an extra hour to review something or finish an assignment, but this is definitely not the case.

The Choices I Don’t Regret

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016Kaitlyn Fernandes

We’ve all experienced that moment when you realize that the decision you just made could change the entire course of your life. And while that thought can be anxiety-inducing, more often than not things have a way of working themselves out. Here are two stories of decisions or events that at first I completely regretted, but have now shaped my life in a positive way.

Make School AWESOME!

February 27, 2016Lynn Raposo

February: long days, dark days, cold days. It must be midterm season.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of tests and assignments we all have during this time of year. Especially during my first and second years at UTM, I found it difficult to stay positive and focus on the light at the end of the never-ending midterm tunnel.

Until I found The Book of Awesome and 1000awesomethings.com.

The Book of Awesome is the product of successful blog “1000 Awesome Things”, which was created by Neil Pasricha. Pasricha has been making readers smile by writing about the little joys in life since 2008. Simple things like sweatpants and the sun get shout-outs, as do hilarious ones like hearing a stranger fart in public and the Five-second Rule. Whether online or in print, Pasricha’s voice is relatable and moving. He has the ability to capture usual (and sometimes unexciting) things and turn them into the hidden gems of daily life.

Top 10 Apps for School

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016Anton Mykytenko

University can be kind of stressful, boring, and long. Luckily, some people have found ways to relax, energize, and streamline the whole thing, all from your smartphone! From those people to you, here’s a list of the top apps to help you get through university.

Alarm Clock Plus

Waking up: it’s a necessary evil. And if that’s the case, then waking up for 9 a.m. classes is satanic. Blessed be the alarm clock app—knower of all that is loud and annoying. Alarm Clock Plus specifically has a math setting that won’t let you stop your alarm unless you solve a math problem. Especially useful for those mornings when you want to study and feel like garbage at the same time.

The Bridge of Young Adulthood

December 1, 2015December 1, 2015Shealyn Ivany

I feel like young adults are misunderstood. We teeter on the bridge between adolescence and adulthood, a precarious in-between state. The responsibility of crossing this bridge is daunting, and I’ve found that the people on the adulthood side forget that.

Bullies—Yes, They Still Exist and No, You Shouldn’t be One

November 19, 2015Christine Sharma

I think I first heard the term “bully” in elementary school. I’m guessing that’s about when you first heard it, too. The teachers would press on about what bullies were and what to do if you were confronted with one. Walk away, ignore them, tell a teacher or a parent.

Cyber bullies, playground bullies, classroom bullies, neighbourhood bullies, verbal bullies, physical bullies. Essentially, we were vulnerable to mean people in any area of our lives.

Have you been bullied?