Preparing for Midterm Madness

By Feroza, Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

Many of you are probably thinking to yourself right now, “I have midterms in a week, I haven’t even started studying! What am I going to do?!” It is a very stressful time of the semester for a lot of students as midterms approach. Every student has their own way of preparing for their midterms. Here are just a few things you can do to prepare for any upcoming exams:

Managing Exam Stress: Staying Healthy (Mentally) during Exam Period

By James Rebello, Academic Assistant

School can be a stressful time, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed from your professional and personal circumstances. You may overextend to the point where you want commit to everything. A national study found that of 30,000 students across Canadian Universities, 90 percent felt overwhelmed by commitments they had this past year, while more than 50 percent said they felt hopeless, with 63 percent feeling very lonely.1 It is important that you are maintaining your physical and mental health.

The Stretch to Final Exams

By James Rebello, Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

Final exams can be a stressful period. However, there are resources to help you succeed. Personally, I always speak to my professors prior to studying. I discuss course content and gain insight on the layout of the exam, and sometimes even areas to focus on! As you begin to think about final exams, I hope this blog post will help you prepare effectively.

Midterm Season & Bounce Back!

By Hira Ali, Academic Assistant (Work Study Student)

Hello, fellow UTSC students! Midterm season is coming to an end, but many of you may still be preparing for another exam. The midterm season can be a stressful period for all university students as we may have multiple exams to prepare for. However, there is no reason to fear. Rest assured, I have study tips and campus resources that will help you ace those exams!

Gearing Up for Classes in September!

By Tharchika Sathiaseelan, Academic Assistant

It feels like it was just yesterday when I completed my last exam and was ready for the start of summer! The start of the new academic year is right around the corner. I hope everyone is having a great summer and are slowly changing gears to prepare for this September.

Whether you’re ready or not, I have prepared a quick list to ensure you set yourself up for success this school year:

Self Care and its Importance

by Hira, Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

As we are in the midst of finishing up our exams, and embarking on a fresh new start in September, I thought I would take the opportunity to emphasize the importance of Self Care. It is absolutely important to ensure we take time for ourselves with the lack of sleep and procrastination, dedicating time to focus on your health can be difficult. However, taking care of your mental and physical health is essential for your academic performance! Below are a few tips I use during exam season to keep myself in good health.

Time to Choose Your Program and Study for Midterms!

By Hira Ali, Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

Choosing Your Program

For those of you who haven’t selected your program yet, fear not! The time to choose your program in the summer semester has arrived! If you have completed 4.0 credits, or are currently in process of completing this, please declare your program between June 30th and July 28th - next Friday! This application period is for Limited programs. Of course, for those of you who are considering Unlimited programs, you may do so during this period or anytime!

It’s Almost time to ‘Get Started’ on your Course Enrolment!

By Tharchika S., Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

Are you an incoming 1st year student? Do you want to explore the campus, get your UofT Student Card (TCard), and connect with staff and peers about course selection and more? Well, Get Started is the right program for you!

‘Bounce Back’ on your academics with Effective Study Strategies

By Jenna Lam, Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

Happy New Year! Welcome back to starting a new semester at UTSC!

The start of a new semester is always exciting – it’s your chance to take everything you’ve learned about studying and bringing it with you into your new courses. Speaking of studying, when was the last time you took a moment to pause your studying – to check-in, evaluate, and re-think your studying strategy? At first, it may feel counter-intuitive… why should I give up any more precious time to re-plan my studying, if I can just continue going full-charge at my textbook? It turns out that studying is more than just memorizing what we need. Studying is a skill like any other – one that can be refined, re-strategized, and re-thought!

#newyearstudyresolutions #bounceback 

It’s Exam Season - Quick Tips to Ace your Finals!

By Tharchika Sathiaseelan, Academic Assistant (Work Study student)

Final exams are just around the corner and I know a many of us also have labs, assignments, and papers to do in between now and final exams.

The question is when do we find time to study for exams, finish assignments, eat, and sleep?
This month can be quite hectic for many of us! However, with the right tools and resources we can conquer this together one step at a time.

School and Work: Struggling to Find the Right Balance?

As an undergraduate student, working full-time and/or part-time can be very overwhelming –I’ve been there myself. Between studying for midterms and quizzes, completing assignments and finding time to catch up on my readings, I had to make sure my work hours were manageable. I also needed to check that I had enough time off for a social life too. The struggle is definitely real my friends, but you can definitely overcome this by using the following tips, based on my learning as an undergrad student!

My International Experience

Looking for an opportunity to grow both personally and academically? Well look no further than the international opportunities offered by the University of Toronto. Follow me as I share my own experience with the UofT Summer Abroad program!

What is the Summer Abroad program?

The Summer Abroad program is a great place to start if you’re looking for a new and exciting learning experience. There are a vast number of locations to choose from and courses that cater to a wide variety of programs. In my case the Summer Abroad program gave me the opportunity to study about Germany and its stance on immigration while actually living in Berlin, Germany. Through this program I was able to earn 1 full credit while also getting to explore a whole new city.

The Academic side of things

I would say that one of the best parts of my summer abroad experience was actually coming back to UTSC, only to find that what I had learned abroad was a hot topic in a majority of my classes. Not only did I feel I was better prepared to discuss the topic, but I also had a totally different perspective than most other students in my class. For example, while in Germany I had been exposed to the way in which the German media portrayed the immigration debate, which is what was continuously discussed in my classes. I was able to see how differently the debate was portrayed in Canadian media once I had returned. And this is exactly at the heart of what an international experience will provide you, the opportunity to understand either your program of study, or just a topic of interest, from a new perspective.

But going abroad isn’t just an academic opportunity…

It is also an opportunity for personal growth, to find out more about the person you are. For some, like myself, going abroad was a chance to feel what it is like to live away from home. For others, this might be a chance to face fears and go outside of their comfort zone. Either way, going abroad is something that will enrich your whole self, both academically and personally.

Some helpful hints

Going abroad can be a wonderful experience. Preparing for it, on the other hand, can be daunting. Here are some things I think will be helpful, based on my experience:

• Start with the Summer Abroad and CIE (Center for International Exchange) websites. Keep in mind that each individual program will have its own individual deadline.
• When preparing, it is always nice to speak to someone who has already participated in the program. Keep an eye out for the Summer Abroad staff, who usually have a table outside of Tim Hortons. I regularly spoke to them while on my way to classes, and they offered me a lot of insight into the program.
• Find out how the course fits into your degree. Contact the program advisor from your department to see if the course will count towards your program. But don’t worry if it doesn’t! Keep in mind you still need electives to complete your degree. In fact the course I took ended up counting as an elective, but what I learned was still very much applicable to my current courses.
• Keep an eye out for workshops that will assist you with your applications. For example I attended a drop in session with a career counselor from the AA&CC to get my personal statement critiqued.

·       And finally, don’t be afraid to search for opportunities outside of summer abroad and exchange. Look for something that will enrich and benefit YOU!

This is my classmates and I standing in front of one of my favourite places in Berlin, the remnants of the Berlin Wall.

        

-Alanna 

Networking From an Academic Perspective

We all know about the importance of networking when it comes to job search and furthering our careers, but did you know that networking is just as important from an academic perspective? Join me as I share my latest experience networking with an academic twist. Read on for some helpful tips to get more out of your next networking experience

Where do I start?

Well the best place is with your departmental students association also known as a DSA. They often host networking events related to your specific program. For example, I recently attended a networking event held by the Geography and City Studies Students Association. In fact, it was the inspiration for this blog post!

Talk to your Professors!

Professors can often be found at networking events on campus, especially when the event is specific to your program. For instance, several of my professors where present at the networking event I attended.  Networking with your professors is a great opportunity to build on your knowledge of course material. This is not a substitute for office hours, but rather, is a chance for you to discuss parts of the course that really interest you. Try to talk about things that you’ve noticed outside of class that you think relate to the course themes. 

But wait there’s more!

Networking with professors doesn’t have to be all about building your knowledge, but conversations like the one discussed above can also help you to build relationships with your professors. You might wonder why this even matters, well it does if you are planning to apply to graduate school. Reference letters are an important part of the application process, and when professors have the opportunity to get to know you better they are more willing to provide you with a reference letter. 

Do I only have to talk to professors?

Nope, there are many other people you can talk to, from alumni, to industry experts, and even other students in the program! Often times networking events can be a great way to get more information on graduate school, usually from people who have already been, or are planning to go. For instance the same GCSA networking event I discussed above, also gave me insight into graduate school as this was the focus of the event. Questions such as “what is the merit in taking a year off or going straight into graduate school?” were asked during the event. Furthermore, there was a “mix and mingle” session, which was a great opportunity to ask the panelists further questions about graduate school. 

One more thing…

I wanted to leave you with a link to a resource from our website: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aacc/make-connections

Scroll down to the bottom of this page and you will see a section titled Networking for Quiet Types, which contains some helpful links. I know myself, I can be a very quiet person and this can sometimes make networking hard, but it is definitely possible, and just might require us to use different techniques. 

I hope that this post has given you insight into some other ways to utilize your next networking event.

Happy Networking!

- Alanna

Time To Time Manage

Maybe you’re like me and you have 5 assignments due in one week. Or maybe you’re not, but you still have several deadlines coming up. Either way, time management is extremely important for dealing with these stressful periods, when essays are being assigned and exams are just around the corner. I know that managing your time is not always easy, there are so many aspects to it. But fear not, I have compiled some steps you can take to effectively manage your time. 

Set Goals!                                                   

Setting goals allows you to know where you are going and what actually needs to get done. Remember to always be specific when outlining your goal, this way you can measure how much progress you’ve made and exactly how much you have left to get done. This makes it easier to allocate the right amount of time to the task!

Check out our Goal Setting Tip Sheet for more information

Prioritize!

I know from my own experience, that when I do not manage my time well, I end up spending more time on lower priority work and then I find myself with very little time to finish those big assignments. Prioritizing is the best way to deal with this issue.  Determining which task is the most important makes it easier to determine which assignments to allocate more time to. This goes hand in hand then with your goal setting, because you’ll know which assignments need more time, and goal setting will tell you how much time. 

Manage Distractions…

I think we all know that social media is the biggest interruption, I constantly find myself checking my phone while I’m working on an assignment. Try experimenting with different ways of staying away from social media, and see which one works for you. One thing I do to mitigate the social media distraction, is put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ and this way I don’t get notifications and do not feel the need to check my phone. 

Stop procrastinating

“I’ll get to it later!” – Too many of these and you’ll find yourself finishing an assignment the day before it’s due. Procrastination is something I know I myself struggle with regularly but from personal experience, the best place to start is to acknowledge that you are in fact procrastinating. From there you can look into ways to get out of the habit of procrastinating…

In fact we have a Tip Sheet for that!

Schedule your week… and your day!

Now that you’ve already figured out your goals, and you’ve prioritized these goals, you just need to put them into a schedule. This way you can see how much time you have allocated to each task and you can have something to help you make sure that you’re on track to complete these tasks! You can use an agenda or daily planner to do this, in fact SCSU (Scarborough Campus Student Union) gives out agendas for free at their office.

You can also use our Daily Task Planner to schedule your day

And finally, I have just one more Tip Sheet for you to check out. It’s our own time management tip sheet. It even has a self-assessment you can do to see where your time management skills are at now and what you need to improve on. 

Good luck will all of those assignments!

Alanna