Notes to Self

I’m trying to remind myself and organize for what will be one of the most hectic months to come…and I know I’m not the only one! It’s that time of year again…and I’m a little too excited. It’s been a long summer so I’m sure we’re all a little rusty of what we need to do, and more importantly what we need to remember!  As you guys gather your togas and textbooks, with September being one of the busiest months of the year, here are a few things you don’t want to miss.

September is key

For many of you incoming Frosh, you’ll find that September will be a key month in orientations, seminars and fun events galore! Besides checking in with your college frosh events (each college organizes a bunch of different fun things which I highly recommend going to!) keep an eye out on Facebook/online frosh websites and don’t be afraid to participate. Frosh week is a great week to get out there, meet your fellow peers and get a great start to the year. There are always a multitude of events and choices depending on your fancy, and I highly encourage you all to attend yours if you can!

Mark your calendars (or iCals, Planners, etc.)

You don’ want to miss out on events like Club Crawl (Wednesday, September 7th) where over hundreds of clubs will be out there for your finding! Or seeing Sam Roberts live. Or those orientation tailored to your needs (you need it, and I guarantee there is a seminar or presentation of some sort about it). Besides your frosh kits, check back at www.harthouse.ca or keep an eye out for your ambassadors for word on what you can look forward too and what’s going on all around campus depending on your interests! This is where I’d suggest going through your twitter and make sure you’re following all the right links. @UTulife is a great example. 

Directions

In the midst of all the excitement and a sea full of college oriented t-shirts, body paint, people trying to steal hard-hats and Eng-Sci students trying to keep their hard hats safe, it’s easy to forget just how big campus is. St George is a HUGE campus. But naturally, you know what this means! Tours, tours, tours. You can get tours of just about anything and everything. Colleges offer student tours, as does Hart House. Don’t be afraid to ask around.

There is so much more to September, and I know it can be a lot to remember so lucky for you all, since we live in the glorious 21st century, time-of-social media, you can find almost all services on Twitter and Facebook! (Links are always posted on main websites).  Besides keeping up with events online, there are also websites that will help you all year round, don’t lose sight of these either!

Here are a few to help your September fly as smoothly as possible:

harthouse.ca/
Because there isn’t a hobby or passion in the book that this half Hogwarts, half fun house of a place hasn’t gotten covered. Did I mention the free tours, fitness classes, an iPad and the first 500 people prize pack giveaway?

studentlife.utoronto.ca/
Check out their student ambassadors, you can follow a lot on Twitter and they have some AMAZING tips, information and important tidbits that you can get right to your smartphone!

tusbe.com/
Books! Lots of them! Sold by students, for students. (On a side note: I always take a friend with me for exchanges, and make sure they are always done in busy places like in front of Robarts.)

thevarsity.ca/
For general campus news (and reviews)

Vahini Sathiamoorthy is currently a first year student studying Political Science at Trinity College. By day, you can find her avidly checking her favorite news/world affairs websites, and by night she's secretly an avid pop culture junkie with a serious love for caffeine and cheesy television. Standing at a tiny 5'1", her loud voice and big thoughts often outweigh her size. You can follow her on twitter at @vahini_s.