Classes Complete!

Classes are over which is exciting because I can just focus on studying for finals, but it is also stressful because the exams that have been talked about since the beginning of the semester are coming up in just a few days.

Am I stressed? Yes.
Am I worried? No.

I may be premature writing this, as I have yet to write a final exam, however I feel the distinction between being stressed out vs. worried about finals is an important one. Being stressed means I am motivated to dedicate hours studying in order to refresh all the information that was jam packed into what may have been the fastest twelve weeks of my life. And while being too stressed isn't a good thing, a bit of stress is healthy.

Being worried about exams however doesn't help. Ultimately you have x number of days to prepare, and ready or not you will show up and write your exam. If you worry about how the exam is going to go you will spend more time freaking out and less time studying - so stop worrying and actually prepare.

That nagging thought in the back of my mind repeating...
 "study study study"
 "stop watching Ellen clips online"
"bring your food upstairs and read the textbook while you eat"
 "stop talking start studying"
"study study study"...
is driving me crazy, and will be the reason I do my best on finals. It doesn't mean that I spend every second of my day studying but the thought that I should be means I am putting in more study time than I would otherwise. And for the two weeks that exams last I am alright sacrificing a few games of heads up with the floor mates to study (not all of them.... But a few).

This is quite possibly the best app ever. 

Happy studying everybody (and remember- a lot can be solved with a cup of coffee and a deep breath)!

Lectures vs. High School Classes

The semester is almost over; in fact I only have five school days left before exams start. In some ways it feels like I have been a university student for a really long time, but there are still times when I can’t believe that I am not living at home anymore. Here is a list of the top five differences between high school and university classes.

1.) Marks on Tests

The only comment I have to make about marks is the lack of them; my chemistry midterm was 16 multiple choice questions, giving a total of 12 marks, and was worth 20% of my final grade. 

2.) Time

Time management is the key to doing well in your classes, it is not hard to understand the course content if you had the time to sit down and study for hours… but you don’t. University classes are filled with readings, tutorials, online quizzes, assignments, lectures, and pre-laboratory work (and I am not even in engineering). Being able to manage your time is crucial to staying on top of all the work there is to do, and ensure you have time to study (nothing is worse than having an assignment due and test on the same day, especially if you don’t start either well before the deadline).

3.) Reminders

Remember in elementary school you had to take your agenda home each night and get your parents to sign it so they knew what was going on in your classes? What about the constant reminders from high school teachers about the test you have in a week? Reminders in university don’t happen as often. It isn’t because your professors won’t tell you about a midterm, but they expect you to stay organized so you also know it is fast approaching. Make sure you stay organized so you don’t forget about upcoming deadlines.

4.) Multiple Choice

Every midterm I have written this semester (and the majority of my upcoming finals) has only multiple choice. Gone are the days of part marks for chemistry equations, and giving a short answer with four or five sentences restating the only point you actually remember about the topic. You either know it, fill in the correct bubble and get the mark… or you don’t. 

5.) Breaks

Mondays and Wednesdays between 10:00 and 12:00 I go to the 6^th floor of Dana Porter Library. The two hour break is spent, Tim Horton’s coffee in hand reviewing and writing out my notes. Having a few hours in between classes is great; also, knowing I only have a bit of time before I have another class means I don’t  become frustrated with the work I am doing.

Even though there are lots of changes in university classes, if you stay organized and enjoy the classes you are taking you won’t have any complaints.

Don't Forget to Take a Break

My second round of midterms is over and I can not believe how quickly the semester has gone by.  All that I have left in my classes are finals and a few assignments before I head home for a three week break over Christmas. Everything with school is going well but I am very excited to go home. Unlike high school Christmas break is in between the semesters so I won't have any work to do for classes, which will be weird... and wonderful.

This time in the semester marks are coming back, assignment due dates (that seemed so far away) are quickly approaching, and trying to keep up with a social life can be overwhelming at times.  While my first semester has been great so far I have found November to be the hardest month yet; you start to anticipate Christmas break but it is still a month away and some days you just want to go home... that's normal.

My biggest piece of advice... Remember to take breaks, go out with friends and take your mind off of school for a while.

This past weekend two of my best friends and my lovely boyfriend came to visit, it was a great surprise and a much needed break from studying. We went to the mall, Uptown Waterloo and I showed them around campus.



The day was great and when I started doing work on Sunday I felt refreshed and ready to finish the semester off on a high note.

Remember, only 41 days till Christmas!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I live on a floor with some absolutely amazing people; everyone is friendly, funny and overall just awesome. However, one of the things that I think that makes us special is how ambitious we all are… So I started asking people on my floor in residence a question we have all been asked many times;

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I have to say that the answers I received made me love this group of people even more…

“With mechatronics it is on the forefront of technology so that’s pretty exciting, defense systems or hardware development (wearable technology) would be an exciting career choice.” - Mechatronics Engineering

“I want to be happy; wait I don’t want my answer to be that…” - Honors Biology

“I want money, that’s shallow but it’s the truth” - Honors Math (actuarial science)

“Oh I don’t have an answer… I have backup plans and I will not be a failure. They may cost more money but they will work out… hopefully.” – Kinesiology 

 “I want to be an actuary, and if not I am going into to go into mathematical economics because it is the second best thing, and if I can’t do that then I am going to stay in honours math for the rest of my life”    - Honors Math

“A forensic chemist” - Honors Chemistry

“I have five years I will figure something out” – Health Promotion

 “I don’t know… an adult” - Health Studies

 “A physiotherapist” – Kinesiology

“ I definitely want to make sure I am helping people and make them smile, but if I excel in university I want to go to medical school be become an anesthesiologist” – Health Studies

“An audiologist”- Health promotion

“I don’t know… probably a CEO of a petrochemical company or something… I don’t know… hopefully that.” - Chemical Engineering

“I want to work for google” – Computer Science 

“I think I want to be a geneticist” – Biochemistry

The Poster Sale

The poster sale was in the student center last week and it was really cool. I had heard about it from my don and some upper year students, and to be completely honest I didn’t understand what all the excitement was about- I mean they are just posters. However now that I have been to the poster sale I understand what people were talking about, because while it is just a poster sale the student center was FILLED. I am not sure how many posters there were but if you name any celebrity, movie, TV show, animal or city I can guarantee there was a poster of it (at least one but probably several).

I saw the president of Feds while I was at the sale and she was nice enough to pose for a picture. Thanks Danielle!

Midterms were happening all through the week of the poster sale for me and it was a great way to escape the stress for a little while and walk around looking at all of them… and then I saw the best thing – fudge. I am not completely sure why a fudge lady decided to set up at the poster sale but I have to say it was the fantastic, because studying for chemistry and sociology midterms that are only a few hours’ apart works much better when you have chocolate!

 After my fudge was gone and midterms were over I decided that maybe some physical activity would be a good idea. So off my friend Kat and I went for a celebratory run around ring road.

Can you tell we were happy to be finished midterms?