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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

For once I don't see snow on the ground ! That dreadful white stuff, that's just a ton of slush as you make your way from class to class. Talk about having to bring out your winter jackets early. Even my converse were starting to get worse for wear. Those holes in the heels aren't to cool when there is a bunch of snow making its way into your shoe. This makes me realize as a Canadian I am not truly prepared for our weather. That or I have just gotten so immune to the cold weather it doesn't bother me anymore.

I hope you don't take my example for winter wear though. I've come to realize i'm not the brightest with my winter apparel ever since I've gotten this wonderful cold. Yes, it may be cool to walk around in winter with just a bunny hug and sneakers, but in the long run your actually going to freeze.

So while this wonderful sun is out enjoy it! ( I hope I'm not jinxing myself so that it snows right away) But once it starts snowing bundle up so you can stay warn and healthy. Spending a few extra dollars to have proper winter clothes really pays off in the long run. So to go with all this wonderful sun this week here is another song. (Sticking with my theme of course). Hope you enjoy it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZtQh5EIgWQ

1) The Cramming Crew - You've met them, in class they could be anyone, there's no obvious hints to give them away. They could be anyone, the fool at the back of the room who talks all class, the girl texting to your left. Or even one of the keeners sitting at the front of the room. Come the final countdown hours to the midterm they're all the same. Driven by blind panic in a flurry of paper while they frantically try to review their notes at least once while they're sitting outside the exam room.
Now many people will tell you the cramming is bad. And it is, like over filling a water balloon it only takes one careless move for all that information to come gushing out leaving the crammer sitting over their paper, breaking out in a cold sweat while having blanked on every piece of information they ever knew... including in sever cases their own student number.
2) The Caffeine Head - Unlike the cramming crew as the midterm season continues these people become slowly more obvious. The frantic eyes whipping over the room with the increasingly sever leg bouncing or fidgeting, are as blatant a sign as the empty coffee cups left in their wake. To the inexperienced caffeine may seem like the perfect solution to the slow energy drain that is experienced at exam time... and it can be however, over abuse of it will have a negative result, being too wired to concentrate is as bad as being too tired to study.

There are many, many more pitfalls and mishaps then what’s seen here. Many of which can be avoided by being aware of how you study. Have a plan and follow it, set study hours, avoid distractions, and don’t forget to take study breaks. Being successfully at university is about more than grades, it’s about learning how to successfully deal with stress and work towards a goal, it’s about growing up and learning how to take care of yourself. So I’m wishing you all the best of luck with your midterms, have an absolute BLAST on your study breaks, and shall be back again in two weeks. :) For now I’m off to go to bed and be ready for Ag Bag Drag (goose) tomorrow.
Later all,

Well, that’s only a half truth I suppose. I am fairly exhausted these days, usually mostly on the days that require me to get up at stupidly early hours….which is actually turning out to be quite a bit of the time now. Playing sports, which I’m sure many people that read this do, will of course add to the exhaustedness (did I just make up a new word there? Microsoft Word seems to think so…I could have used exhaustion, but what fun is that?). Floor hockey, for example, is an absolute heap of fun, but is also a cardio nightmare/heaven, depending on how you view it.

As an aside, I would like to state right off the bat that I am in no way bashing my college or the university in any way, I would never do something so silly as that….in fact, I find it incredibly refreshing that I literally have ZERO midterms this fall. I also find it refreshing that in one of my classes, we are doing a group paper of 5 pages double spaced, which we have been given significant amount of time to work on in class….or maybe also that any final exams that I actually have to write are all take home exams, and a couple of classes have “interviews” at the end rather than an exam. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that everything here is easy, people in this field know exactly how challenging education can be/is. With that being said, I did however want to voice my pleasure about not having to stress about midterms. Having gone through it for several years at university, I know what it’s like.

For that reason, I can totally empathize with those of you that are in the heat of midterm season, and all of the mental strain that comes along with it…not to mention the “exhaustion” (nowhere NEAR as fun as “exhaustedness”). In this way, there is a link between my two subjects. Exercise really is an absolutely fantastic way to deal with stress. I have a friend who was saying that he had a ton of homework tonight, and may not be able to make it to our volleyball game….while I understand the situation, I also encourage avoiding having this happen. The break from working to go and do something physical (absolutely anything to get you moving) is just a miracle worker in terms of making you feel great (even if that does mean you’ll be a bit tired the next day). Whatever you decide to do, just be sure not to sacrifice sleep…or at least to sacrifice as little as possible. Otherwise, you may end up sleeping until 1 in the afternoon on a Sunday and sacrificing half the day (which I did this weekend…I can’t remember the last time I slept that late before then).

Anyway, that’s a lot of rambling about something that some people might think is boring. Summary: midterms get everyone stressed, don’t let it bother you. Deal with it in your own way, although I personally encourage physical activity. Of course, if you’re looking for classes without exams, you know they exist in the college of education, but we all know that no one should be going into education strictly for the personal benefits, AM I RIGHT?? Do people actually do that? Not possible…

That’s all for me this week. Hey, I actually remembered to blog this week! See what organization can do? Until next week, I’m now off to my 10 a.m. class again, where I am almost certain we will be working on our group paper today.

Mike O.

I know you are definitely wondering about the title for my blog this week. Well if you guessed that it's another Beatles song you are absolutely right. Strawberry Fields is an excellent song and kind of relates to my topic I am blogging about this week.

This past week I was working on two of my essays with my friend that are due right away. We would hang out at either her place or mine and just run over ideas with each other on things we could put in our essays or not include. I recommend having a friend like this. It's just nice to be able to talk to someone else about the project you are doing. It also helps to have that extra person to proof read your essay and keep up on little things. My bad habit is I always like to use the words "one" or "thus". Without my friend I am sure my paper would have sounded hilarious to the professor.

But you may be asking yourself how does the song Strawberry Fields tie into writing essays? Well you see when my friend and i write essays together we always will go on Facebook for a break and check out our farms on Farm Ville. We kind of started a little competition with each other to see who could out do the other. We both agree with each other that we spend way to much time on this game, yet it is so addicting. The only consultation I have is we limited ourselves in our breaks so that we are not spending more then 10min on our farms at once.

As for Strawberry fields it's basically the only Beatles song that kind of tied in with Farm Ville since you can actually plant strawberry crops in the game. Lame I know but you wait until you start the game !

So what is my lesson for this week? Take breaks in between writing essays to plant some crops on Farm Ville. Also it's always good to have that friend to help you proof read your work thus ensuring it does not sound silly!

Till next time !
Megan

P.S. Here is the link for Strawberry Fields so you can check it out !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7NoOhmVMac

These are true true words, and are very applicable to student life. In fact I now have the ultimate example for you. I didn't start the year with a day planner. I didn't have it those first few days of classes when the Prof's were announcing deadlines, and so I wrote all those nice important dates down on the top of my notes and promptly forgot about them. I can look back on September now and say that while there were a number of mitigating factors for why I never got around to re-writing my notes, by the end of the month it was ostrich syndrome at it's best. If I didn't know about the deadlines and the midterms they weren't going to happen... For the record that isn't true. I broke down on the 28th and began deadline hunting. This however led to another issue.
The lack of a sense of time. Rarely do days on a calender mean anything to me beyond " oh look there's a day on the calender". So I made myself a custom calender, it now takes over about 6 feet of my kitchen wall. It's still a work in progress so I'll post more specifically about it another time. Now where was I? Deadlines, sense of time... ah right.
Since the calender isn't full at the moment things don't look so scary. But I know I'm still missing most of my deadlines. I have a midterm today, a midterm Tuesday (my hardest class), and two lab reports to do in between; and that just gets me to the 6th of the month. So where does that leave me after playing Ostrich? With sand in my ears and deadlines running at me faster then I can get them on the calender.
How could this have been avoided? Mike talked to you in his last post about time management skills. Never ever underestimate those skills.
Take it from me people, while not knowing that a car is about to run you down makes life exciting. Being aware of the cars makes it a heck of a lot easier to cross the road. Now I need to finish this ramble and cram.
See you next time,
Gillian

In the first week of classes, everyone is excited. There are so many new faces and many faces from the past. All are exciting to see and all are filled with enthusiasm. Labs haven't started yet. Our student society lounge has just been renovated with almost $30,000 worth of equipment and maintenance. The weather is really warm and it's my last year. I will discuss a lot of my lasts as time continues.

Orientation went well. All the first years who have no idea about the road that lies ahead of them. I am not only talking about the fun nights, but the long tireless nights of studying and doing homework with 1 hour of sleep because they were silly and procrastinated until the very last minute. I guess to some, those can be classified as fun nights as well. They have a weird sense of humour in my books though.

This year, with the first week came the Huskies Homecoming Game. I was one of the proud people painted red and watched the Huskies beat the Dino's that day. Yes, I understand the Dino's colours were red, but I believe it was very apparent that we cheered for the Huskies for two reasons. 1) The big 'Go Huskies' banner that was 6 bedsheets long by 1 bedsheet high. 2) We cheered for the Huskies when they scored and chanted "Go Huskies Go" all the time. The color red wasn't a stunt, but to show off our college pride as was told for us to do by "University Advancement". They wanted to see lots of college spirit. There is nothing better than being piped out at half-time for the half time show to show spirit.

The third week in September is "Hell Week" which is also our College Pride week which happens annual on our campus. There were so many events going on that it is virtually impossible to make them all. There was a Scavenger Hunt, Career Expo, E-Paint (63 people showed up to go on a big paint balling battle), College Splash (A big water fight versus the College of Agriculture and Bioresources) and Heaven and Hell Dance. All were a great time, but takes 2 years off your life if you complete the circuit.

This last week was recovery week for some.......but not for me. I kept busy by being sent by the Dean's office to Calgary, for the U of S Alumni Luncheon. I was chosen to give a few words on behalf of the engineering students and got to hear some of the old stories of what they did when they were in undergrad. Few are suitable for this blog.

My last big event I attended was for my girlfriend. She was getting her white coat entering into the College of Medicine. It's a big deal to a lot of the people entering the College and there were a lot of proud faces walking across the stage in Convocation Hall. The guest speaker gave a message that all should take home though. University is about the friends you meet and the relationships you make. The people who help you out and you help in return. Her message really hit deep because I really think some people forget about the relationships we make sometimes.

Combine all these events with harvesting at home, my birthday celebration, moving in with my girlfriend during this whole month, having my family visit from Lethbridge, and every other random event that happened, it is truly a month that will not be forgotten for a very long time. I shall leave with a quote.

"It is better to be 3 hours early than 1 minute late."
-William Shakespeare

Growing up, I was never one to bother organizing myself much. I relied solely on my memory to remember things such as homework, assignments, deadlines, and events; anything you can think of. Of course a high school student doesn’t have nearly as much on their plate as a university student, but that’s beside the point. Even once I entered the realm of university studies and (shudder) “adult” responsibilities, I continued with my habits of organization, or perhaps I should say lack thereof. At first it wasn’t quite such a big deal, but seeing organization in my girlfriend (now wife) and having experienced some flustered moments after forgetting things, I soon realized it was time for a change.

I have to say that it does feel absolutely fantastic to use organization tools once you get yourself into it. Google calendar has become one of my best friends in the world. It syncs with my Blackberry calendar automatically, so no matter where I am I can edit and view my schedule. I have also begun using other organizational tools for things such as my class notes, and being a prospective teacher, keeping organized is absolutely paramount to success…it kind of goes without saying. In fact, I can already say with certainty that since life has gotten a heck of a lot busier, there have already been a few things that I may in fact have missed out on if it wasn’t for a calendar and reminders. Coming from a guy who just laughed when people recommended planners, you know it has got to have at least SOME meaning.

Anyway, it is at this point that you may be wondering where I am going with this whole spiel. However, anyone who is sharp is not in fact wondering where I am going with this. As my first blog posting THREE weeks ago clearly states, we have a blogging schedule to follow with alternating days, and each coach posting every two weeks. Yes, TWO weeks. Sigh. I even sort of remembered last week too, and what did I do??? I MENTALLY reminded myself that I needed to blog on Wednesday. You see?? This is why I changed in the first place! Yeesh.

On the bright side, I am still getting it done, despite the fact that it’s a week late. Also on that note, it did give me a chance to re-emphasize a very important topic to university students. Thankfully, this time it didn’t end up costing me too much (unless there are repercussions….Stephanie, please be gentle :p). Seriously though, learn from my small mistake. I really can’t emphasize properly how much better using an organizational calendar has made things.

Now I am off to my 10 a.m. class….which clearly appears on my schedule. Until next week, enjoy your lives in an organized way if at all possible!

Er, wait…that is if I remember to blog next week. Perhaps I will add it to my calendar during class or something…..

Mike O.

School is now in full swing, 3 weeks, 15 assignments, and numerous hours of homework have already been enjoyed in this fine month of September. Now I guess I should take a time out right here to explain the name of this blog. It is not, how some people might think, suggesting I am a Calgary Stampeders fan. I am a Rider’s fan through and through. The red is to symbolize the College of Engineering colour Red.

Now as you may remember from my last blog, I am an Engineering student and very proud of it. Last week we had great events happening to help ease everyone back into the routine of school.
There were many events including:
E-Paint: A gigantic paintball tourney at Merrill Dunes
College Splash: A large water balloon fight between engineering and agriculture
A scavenger hunt
And many other events.

My favourite event of the week by far was Heaven & Hell Dance. This event featured a DJ and the band Volcanoless In Canada (One of my new favourite live performers by the way) at the campus bar Louis’. We had a great turnout and a great time and if you hear about anymore engineering events coming up, remember this blog and go to them! They’ll be the best times you ever have.

I hope your September was as fun as mine, and here’s to October being even better.

Cheers!
Ryan

I figured I'd start my blog a little differently from the others so I'm enclosing a link to one of my favorite songs by The Beatles titled Hello Goodbye. It's a little cheesy I know but there one of the best bands of all time. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf2S7kKLtEQ

So i guess a little about myself to start off my blog. My name is Megan, I'm are third year Arts and Science Student and am majoring in Regional and Urban Planning. I spent my first 1.5 yrs at the U of S under Agriculture with my fellow blogger Gillan. I was under Animal Science, hoping to get into Veterinary Medicine. But i figured out it wasn't the degree for me so here i am !

I've always been a little indecisive when it comes to the job that best suits me. Even at this point of time I currently have 2 jobs. Which I do not highly recommend for anyone trying to get good marks in University. Better just to focus on your studies and take a break from the work force for awhile. You have the rest of your life to work so take it easy for once !

For this blog I guess I'll give you little pointers that helped me through my first year of University.
First of all, homework is crucial to do ( and one time mind you). But it's also important to get out and meet new people on campus. These are your connections through the years with homework buddies, people to spend time with and just mainly to make new friends outside of your old high school group. So say Hello to your new University life/ being independent, and say Goodbye to that old high school life you left behind.

This is why I encourage you to get out to all those events on campus! For all you U-Lifers this there is the capture the flag event on September 30 at 6:30. (Meet at Upper Place).

As for homework or studying don't forget to take breaks to keep your sanity. You can do simple things like going for a walk, watching a bit of t.v or listen to some more awesome Beatles music ! But make sure it's not all fun and no homework, eventually you'll come to find the right balance that best suits you for the amount of work you have in your classes.

Well you guys for my first post I don't want to make it too long.
So I'll say Goodbye for now, and don't forget to keep listen that Beatles song. :)