University Life 101

Hey everyone,

It's been a little bit of time since I've blogged but so much has happened in that time. This blog isn't going to have any specific theme other than why University is awesome.

So lets start with the people. The students here have an awesome attitude, we all are willing to help each other out in order to have everyone graduate. When anybody I know has problems they can go anywhere for help, whether it's the student lounge, friend's places, the library, or even just talking to randoms after class. All of these are awesome ways that almost always end in getting help with your academic problems, and can often spark friendships.

Another awesome thing about this University is the social aspect. Every weekend there is something awesome going on, so no matter whether you are busy or not if you need something fun to do to get your mind off school you can find it. For example tonight is Christmas Formal, we get to dress up, go to the Ramada, and have a awesome night of awesome food and awesome dancing.

So hopefully you get my drift. By using the word awesome 9 times in this short blog you can realize that life is really awesome at the University of Saskatchewan. Oh I guess that's 10 times now.

Posted by rsk096 at 12:33 AM | Permalink

Well guys, sadly ULife classes are coming to a close.

I had my last class this week. Blogs must also be coming to a close, I'm guessing this will be my last one, maybe the last one in general. Everyone must be pretty bogged down with homework and assignments right now, I know I am.

I just wanted to throw in one last post here to say that I really appreciated the ULife experience. My students were all fantastic, and it's really cool to see them make it through the semester and to see the relationships develop. I really hope that I see them around, although I know that will be slightly more difficult with the Royal West thing.

Anyway, I wish everyone a successful December. We can all see some light at the end of the tunnel at this point. See you guys at grad (hopefully), and have a great University experience!

Mike O.

Posted by mto925 at 09:02 AM | Permalink

….and 3 weeks!

Was anyone clever enough to catch the dual purpose of the title and first line? It’s pretty obvious when you look at it and think about it.

Is anyone counting down the days in the first semester yet? I’m only sort of to that point, but I know some people must be getting excited to have their most dreadful class(es) finishing up. In just one short month to the day, that will be happening, minus of course any inherent final exams. Hence, the one month title…

In addition, if that isn’t good enough, what happens just 3 short weeks after that?? ‘Tis the season to be jolly, that’s what.

What a wonderful time of year this is. The stress and tension will build as finals approach, and then it culminates when you get up to hand in your last one, breathe that huge sigh of relief, and walk out of the room for a nice 2 or 3 week break from homework/stress/etc. Of course, some will have shorter or longer breaks depending on their exam schedule layout (need I remind that all of my finals in education for this semester are take home? Man, am I looking forward to December).

*PLOT TWIST* But wait! The fun doesn’t end there. That leaves us with the *small* task of shopping for Christmas gifts. I applaud anyone who goes out and buys their gifts super early (I’ve already had family members asking me what I want so they can get started). That’s definitely one habit that I have never considered seriously enough to try, although I certainly should. There’s nothing quite like going out and getting caught up in the December 23rd mall traffic.

How about budgeting? In my ULife class this week, I ran a little activity that gauged where people were at with their budgeting/planning/etc, and I have to say that I was impressed. I would be lying if I said that I was completely on the ball in terms of monetary organization when I was a first year student. Thank heavens for awesome, generous parents….on that note, for anyone that reads this, make sure and get your parents something real nice this year. I know you were already planning on doing so, right? Just a reminder, that’s all…

I think I’m starting to ramble here. I just wanted to post to proclaim my excitement for the time of year coming up, partly for the upcoming “extended” holidays, and partly to be moving on to new classes and such. My recommendation for this week is to keep an extra close eye on your bank account; it’s pretty easy to drain it right down to nothing in a hurry. Also, have fun and relax :)

You know, on a closing note, I just realized that my blog was somewhat lacking in humour this week. I apologize for that, and hope that I did not leave anyone saying, “Stupid monitor….be more funny!” (That was of course a reference to Homer saying the same thing, only about his TV…I know you all love The Simpsons, right? I shouldn’t have needed to clarify that, but I did anyway.)

Mike O.

Posted by mto925 at 09:06 AM | Permalink

Hello again !

So Halloween has just passed and with it a time to dress up like a complete goof ball and be proud of it. I must admit I did see some amazing costumes this year from Banana's in Pajamas, Bender (from Futurerama), Sesame Street characters, to the traditional robots, mad scientists and witches. All costumes were really creative. Even my friends went all out with dressing up this year either as Hula girls, Gypsie and Monkey, pink cat and even fairies. Or there was a small group of us that went as the Clue characters including Miss. Scarlet, Mrs. White, Prof. Plum and myself as Mrs. Peacock.

Halloween for me is just not a time to dress up but to celebrate my friends birthday. I graduated with two twin boys whose birthdays happen to be on Halloween which gives us extra cause to celebrate. Lots of my hometown friends came to Saskatoon this weekend and gathered together with a group of University friends I have here. Overall it was a really good get together to combine all my friends together and have a good night visiting with each other. :)

It's always good to make new friends here at University, but at the same time to keep your old friends is always a good thing to ! So for this week i'll give you a song about coming together as a group...and yes it is another Beatles one. I hope you enjoy it!

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vAqekT-GuA

Posted by mdt163 at 10:24 PM | Permalink

So I heard there is a hormone that helps Females forget the pain of child labour. This is so that when they look back after the fact they don't remember it exactly so they are willing to do it again easier. Basically it's nature's way of making sure we repopulate so our species doesn't go extinct. Apparently cute little babies aren't enough reason to make more of them.

This is not just a completely random story, it actually has to do with my blog subject. That subject is midterms. See I think, just like women have that hormone, students have similar hormones that help them forgot that ban of existence that is midterms. Every year students go through midterms, some do amazing, some do not so well, but no matter the result we always say to ourselves: "That was way too stressful, next time I'm going to remember this and study twice as hard and get then times better marks." That next time comes around and we find ourselves just as unprepared, it's as if we forget what we went though last time. The answer must be a hormone, or maybe just a mental block.

However depressing and horrible this may sound it's not as bad as I'm seem to be making it out as. I've noticed as the years go on they are getting a little easier. Maybe it's because I'm getting smarter, or maybe I'm learning how to be a better student, how to better manage my time, or maybe it's just that I am able to handle my stress better now. No matter what it is it's helping me grow. It is preparing me for the real world, where I'll have deadlines, projects, and in just real life in general to deal with.

I guess I'm just happy having midterms for now...

Have a good Midterm Season everyone,
Ryan

Posted by rsk096 at 12:55 PM | Permalink

Sorry guys, no exciting topic for me this week…nothing unique and thrilling. Just a simple “blah” blog as the title implies.

First year ed classes are going fairly well. I have another “group paper” coming up in the same class as my last one (you may remember from my last blog…if you read my last blog…then again, if anyone reads any of my blogs at all). Here goes another 35% of my mark in 5 pages! Outside of that, it’s been more of the same. Homework hasn’t been keeping me quite as busy as maybe some other years, but extra curr stuff and sports certainly is.

Time for a musical comment! I doubt anyone knows this about me, but I am absolutely fixated on Chris Cornell as an artist. Without a doubt, he is arguably one of if not the best rock singers ever, and the same can be said about his songwriting. His career has seen several big stops along the way, all of which have been extremely successful. Whether or not you know it, I’m sure you have heard him at some point (I say “whether or not you know it” because many…let’s just say “less informed” people don’t know that he was the singer for Audioslave, let alone Soundgarden and much else). Anyway, on with the blog here…whether or not you know him or agree with what I said is not the point. I was recently listening to a band that was recommended to me called Operator. I don’t know if anyone has actually listened to this band or not, but it is simply shocking how much the singer sounds like Cornell. Saying that is in my opinion a massive compliment to him, to get a comparison like that, but it really is shocking. If you like Cornell and the type of music he made with Soundgarden, check out Operator (first single was Soulcrusher).

Now, I was going to say that while it is impressive to be able to imitate someone who pioneered a sound in rock music with a unique voice, it’s not very original. I kinda changed my mind on that though, since it’s not really fair for me to assume that the singer from Operator wouldn’t sound like that even if it wasn’t for Cornell. Either way, there’s something to be said for originality. Including that statement into a “lesson”, let’s just say that it’s always a great idea to try to create your own path and be original. With that being said, if you are going to follow anyone, following someone who is successful is definitely the way to go :)

Besides, they may sound similar, but he just can’t match Chris’ vocal power in the end ;)

What’s that? Am I too far off topic for a ULife blog? Procrastination, time management, social life, university, classes, midterms, stressed, exams, essays, sleeping in, tired, campus, professors. There, hopefully that makes up for it :D

Cornell4life

Mike O.

Posted by mto925 at 09:31 AM | Permalink