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Category: Campus Life

  • The Do’s and Don’ts of May Long Weekend

    The Do’s and Don’ts of May Long Weekend

    May long weekend may be a time to kick back and relax but there are a number of important things you can do, not do, and keep in mind during this brief break.

    When a person first thinks of May Long one of their initial impressions will probably be, “party time!” That of course is not wrong – May Long is meant as a time to relax and take it easy, but it is not necessarily correct either. Do relax, do attend a party or two, but try to keep these few things in mind.

    First and foremost, now is a good time to either gets some work done on or complete any assignments or papers you have been given so far. Do your work at your own pace and, with any luck, you will be able to extend your May Long. Imagine the peace of mind you will have as others scramble last minute to finish work you completed over the long weekend.

    Secondly, the long weekend is a good time to consider your future. What courses will you take next year? Course selections for your next year will be soon and, if you act now, you will be ready to pick your courses on day one and not lose out on something you really wanted.

    Another thing to consider is what can you do to make some money this summer. May Long and beyond is the time that employers will begin posting summer job ads, so it is a good time to get a leg up on your peers. If you make the mistake of putting this off until the summer actually begins, you may find all the jobs are gone!

    Speaking of money, now is a time to save it. Sure, have some fun and hang out with your friends, but do you really need to go on a road trip to some far flung place? You can have just as much fun at home all while saving a considerable amount of money. If you do end up going on a road trip, be careful; just because you are far away from home doesn’t mean the same rules don’t apply!

    If you keep these things in mind you can ride out the relaxation of the long weekend straight through to the summer and you will be all the richer for it.

    Have fun and stay safe!

  • Career Profile: Psychiatrist

    Career Profile: Psychiatrist

    Psychiatry is a specialization that is chosen after taking medical school. Being a psychiatrist means working in a clinic, a hospital, or a professional organization that caters to the mentally ill. A psychiatrist distinguishes him or herself from a psychologist in a few very important ways, namely being able to prescribe medication and being the primary authority for persons with a brain chemical imbalance. There are many overlaps between psychiatrists and psychologists, particularly in the counselling services that are offered by both of these professional viewpoints.

    In order to become a psychiatrist, one must graduate high school with grades that allow them to get into an undergraduate degree and, particularly, a scientific degree. At the high school level, you might have to take at least one or a few of the following courses: chemistry, biology, physics and calculus. Once at the undergraduate level, you have several options on which major to choose to be best equipped for medical school. You could choose psychological science, pre-medical science, biochemisty or biophsyics. There are options that will allow you to choose what fits with your strengths and weaknesses. In undergrad, you will be required to receive high grades that will open the doors for the next step: medical school.

    There are different requirements for different schools and you will have to become aware of these through visiting the school, visiting the website or making a phone call to the schools you are interested in. Once you’ve selected a school and are aware of the requirements, you will have to go through the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) if that is a requirement. Once you’re into medical school, you have four years ahead of you before you get into your specialization. During these four years you will have practical classes that allow for hands on experiences in a hospital or clinic, and you will also have classes that are more theoretical in nature. Both of these types of classes are important for your overall success as a practicing physician.

    Becoming a specialist enters you into the next four year phase of your degree, and you will need to have obtained a relatively high average throughout med school to be able to get into your chosen specialization. The exact requirements will vary per school, and this is something that you will want to look into before starting medical school to ensure that you will be able to achieve the targets set out by each.

    As a psychiatrist, you can look forward to having a very comfortable salary around the $150,000 per year range (according to About.com). You also have the option to choose your work setting, whether that be in your own private clinic, in a hospital or in public organization.

  • Learning to Cook!

    Learning to Cook!

    When you’re busy with essays, homework and final projects, sometimes you forget that there are great life skills that most schools do not teach. One of them is cooking. Whether it’s to cut down costs, to impress a date or just for your own amusement, cooking is something you’ll always be glad you learned.

    It’s easy to start – just pick a simple meal that you like. It can be anything: soup, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, eggs… You already know how to make a sandwich, but grilling some of the ingredients can make it extra tasty and once you know how to do it, it won’t take very long. If you’re feeling ambitious, pick your favourite meal and see if you can make it. Ask people for help. Someone in your family will probably love to give you a few tips and walk you through some recipes. If not, pick up a cookbook or find a recipe on the internet. It can be hard at first, but it can also be a lot of fun if you’re willing to learn.

    Whether you’re moving out for college this fall or you’ll be at home for another few years, now is a great time to start cooking. When you get to college, it’s expensive to eat out even if it’s just one meal a day. You can stay home and make Kraft Dinner all the time, but that gets old pretty fast. You’ll save so much money and feel a lot better if you learn to make things yourself. Once you know how to make a few meals, you’ll start to pick up some general techniques and you can start to substitute things and add the spices that you like. Before too long, you’ll start to have your own cooking style and specialties.

    If your cooking style involves more than peanut butter sandwiches, it will be a really great tool for impressing people. If you start dating someone who comes over to your house, think how stunned they’ll be with a casserole or a homemade soup or whatever else you want to make. And it doesn’t just work for dates! Every time you have a party, you can buy a bag of tortilla chips and some canned salsa or you can make your own salsa and guacamole. There’s nothing wrong with canned salsa, but it’s a great feeling to have people eating and complimenting something you’ve prepared yourself.

    The best reason of all to learn to cook is that it can be a lot of fun! You might set off the fire alarm once or twice and that’s always stressful, but it will be worth it. It’s easier to get going now when you have the time to learn than to get thrown into an apartment one day with a pan and no idea what to do with it. So just start making something you like. Offer to barbeque for your family or work on perfecting a batch of cookies. Once you start to cook, you can only get better!

  • Stress Recognition and Elimination

    Stress Recognition and Elimination

    Dealing with stress can be a struggle between light and dark, between hope and despair, and between what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes we are provoked by an event or a situation that creates an upsetting condition called stress. Stress is when we feel tension or pressure, as if in a dilemma. This condition can be easily remedied, however it does take practice to be able to fully overcome the stress.

    Recognizing stress is the first step, and this skill can be developed over time. Often it can be developed simply by saying out loud, “I am stressed out right now”. Being able to recognize your emotional state allows you to see your condition more objectively and to take a step back so that you may help yourself. There are always solutions to stress, and being able to pull yourself out of it is one key way of ensuring your overall happiness and well being. As we age, this skill of overcoming stress comes more naturally. However, it often does have to come from a devoted effort at recognizing and understanding how simple stress is to overcome.

    In extreme cases, there are conditions of stress that result in a psychiatric diagnosis of anxiety. This is often the result of an imbalanced brain chemistry, severe family tensions or severe anxiety-provoking situations like having been in a war. This condition is impressively frequent, with one in four Canadians having an anxiety disorder over their lifetime (anxietycanada.ca, 2013).

    In most cases, anxiety can easily be relieved by becoming conscious of when one is anxious or stressed and focusing how you can overcome the condition. Some people are soothed and made at ease by familiar things, familiar people, and familiar foods. Other people need to practice certain routines that put them back into a good head space. It is very important for people to identify things that make them feel good and to know that stress can be relieved by simply utilizing those de-stressing things, people, foods or routines. Sometimes, however, people can abuse this formula by resorting to things or foods that, as a by-product of their de-stressing effect, create secondary effects that are undesirable. This situation is commonly found among people who resort to drugs, alcohol or gambling to relieve their stress. This is called maladaptive coping because, instead of creating a relief from stress, it a major secondary effect like addiction or becoming overweight.

    It is important, when creating a stress-relieving formula, to choose a solution to stress that has positive side effects! Positive options for stress relief can include lighting candles and taking a warm bubble bath, exercising, taking a nap, talking to a friend or family member, making a healthy and nutritious meal, relaxing with friends, writing, reading, watching a favorite show or movie, and so much more. There are many ways to positively eliminate stress, so start practicing ways that work for you!

  • Life After High School

    Do you ever think about what you plan to do when you finish high school? Maybe you want to work right away or maybe you want to continue studying. For the first time, you’ll be making decisions that could affect you, your family, and your friends for the rest of your life. You can’t control everything in your life, but you can make a plan that will help you to enjoy whatever you do and to have a fulfilling life.

    You might expect that life after graduation will be completely different from your life in high school. For some of you, this might be true. You might decide to get married or to move to a different country or a different city. Suddenly, you’ll have to make your own decisions about your future, and even if your parents help, you’ll be responsible for your own life. You’ll be an adult.

    For at least the first while, your new freedom might seem very exciting. If you decide to go out and get a job, the freedom of having money might be a lot of fun. You might decide to get a job right away working in the retail or service industries. You might decide to go to university to become a doctor or teacher or go to a vocational school for a career in a trade.

    If you choose to work right after graduation, you might find that your job is a lot like high school. You’ll have to get to work on time and stay for the whole day unless you have a special reason to leave. If you miss work too often without a good excuse, you might lose your job.

    If you choose to continue with your education, you might find that your instructors pay little attention to whether or not you attend classes. You could attend only the first and last classes and still get good marks. However, you’ll still have to take all of the tests and complete all of the assignments if you want to pass the course. The professors likely won’t watch over you the same way teachers do in high school, but they’ll still expect you to get your work done.

    One thing that will likely stay the same after high school is the types of people you meet. Whether at work or in university, you’ll find the same mixture of friendly or unfriendly people, helpful or unhelpful, tense or relaxed. You will probably also remain much the same. Different situations might bring out skills and interests you never knew you had. However, your basic character will probably remain unchanged. That’s why it’s important to begin thinking about not just what you want to do, but what kind of person you want to be.

    Does life after high school sound like the kind of life you already have or like an exciting adventure that is opening up? In the end, both of these possibilities might be true. Use this opportunity to be everything you’ve always wanted to be.

  • Getting a Head Start on Your Future Career

    Getting a Head Start on Your Future Career

    The concept of career planning can send some students into nervous fits, rocking in the corner, curled into the fetal position. It isn’t pretty. For others, it means spending countless happy hours on the Internet, excitedly researching every job they’ve ever been interested in. Regardless of which category you fall under, it’s always a good idea to weigh your options early. Getting a head start will not only help you build experience, but it’ll help you make a solid decision when it comes to planning your career.

    1. Make a list of potential career options. Base them on things that you’re already good at and enjoy. Do you like to write? You could consider journalism or creative writing. Are you good at math? You could investigate engineering or maybe finance. Do you love sports? Think about coaching or even teaching physical education. Don’t limit yourself to one “type” of job; keep the ideas flowing and options open.

    2. Investigate your options. Google is your friend; a wealth of information is literally at your fingertips. Research job descriptions to get a general idea of what your career options involve. Do they still appeal to you? Take a look at job postings. Do the lists of responsibilities make you excited or do they make you cringe?

    3. Work on your skills. If writing is your objective, work on it. If math is your goal, work on it. If sports are your aim – you guessed it – work on it. Now is the time to hone your skills so that later you’ll be that much farther ahead in the race for professional positions.

    4. Test the waters. If you still aren’t sure what you’d like to do, try a few different things. Start volunteering or even working part-time. If you volunteer for just one hour each week, you can try several different things without eating up too much of your time. This will help you to decide which options to eliminate and which you should explore further.

    5. Try new things. Don’t limit yourself to one particular career option, especially if you aren’t sure what you’d like to do. Get involved in a few different areas – for example, you could volunteer at an animal shelter, an environmental non-profit organization and a municipal government office at the same time. The best part about volunteering is that you aren’t signed up for life; you’re free to explore and find out what working feels like.

    Don’t feel pressured to pick a career right away; instead, think of high school as an opportunity to explore your options. Without the obligations of a full-time job, you have time to try different “jobs” in a relaxed and fun way.

  • Discover What You Love To Do

    Discover What You Love To Do

    Do what you love. You’ve probably already heard this advice plenty of times before. But what if you don’t know what you love doing? What if the question, “what do you love to do?” results in a blank stare on your face? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. There are a lot of people (young and old) who don’t know what they love to do. The irony is that the answer is already within you. You just have to pay attention to the clues to find out what it is.

    Here is a little exercise which might help you gain some clarity on what you love doing or what your interests are. First, find a quiet spot away from all distractions. Turn off the TV, your phone and any other thing that could distract you when completing this exercise.

    Next, take out a blank sheet of paper and write the title Interests. Write down anything and everything you are interested in. For instance, if you are interested in bugs, write bugs. If you are interested in fashion, write fashion. If you are interested in plants, write plants. If you are stumped for things to write, try to think of activities you currently do which you completely get lost in — where time just seems to fly by! (The clock seems to be extra slow when doing activities you don’t enjoy!) For example, if you get completely absorbed fixing a car, then writing fixing cars as one of your interests. Or if you get completely engrossed baking a cake, then put down baking as one of you interests.

    Once you feel you have made a thorough list of your interests, look over the list you just wrote. Do you notice any similarities between the different items on your list? Does one interest seem to pop up several times on your list? If it helps, highlight similar interests in the same colour.

    Now, if you had to pick three interests from your list, which three would you choose? Be honest with yourself. Consider which things you truly enjoy. Could you see yourself doing one or more of these things for many years to come? Does this thought excite you or fill you with dread? If it fills you with excitement, then you know you are on the right track.

    Remember, do what you love. Those four words are the most important words to keep in mind when choosing a career path. If you choose a career path or job that involves something you love doing, you will be much happier and fulfilled than if you choose one in which you don’t. So discover what you love to do, and pursue a career path which reflects that. Good luck!

  • What is a PhD and How Do I Get One?

    What is a PhD and How Do I Get One?

    What is a PhD?
    Getting a PhD can seem like an overwhelming undertaking, only pursued by the most ambitious and smartest of people. In Canada, a PhD or Doctor of Philosophy is synonymous with a doctorate degree in many fields of study. It signifies the highest form of academic achievement.

    As the title suggests, the PhD was originally awarded to academic scholars pursuing an in-depth study of Philosophy. Now, it is a research centric nomination, awarded to those who demonstrate the ability to apply the knowledge they’ve accumulated over the course of their university education in the real world. In Dr. Frank Gannon’s discussion of the PhD, he offers an appropriate summation of the experience. “In essence, my PhD showed that I developed from a dependent student into an independent scientist”.

    Getting a PhD
    A PhD candidate or a person in the process of completing his/her degree is responsible for demonstrating specific subject matter expertise on his/her chosen topic. Obtaining a PhD opens the door to becoming a researcher or a professor.

    To qualify for a PhD in Canada, most universities will only accept applicants who have already completed a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree. Exceptions to the rule may be considered for special cases where an applicant already has substantial practical experience in the topic area.

    Application requirements at different universities can vary. Generally, applicants are required to provide full transcripts for every year of post-secondary education completed up until that point. Professional and academic reference letters will also be required, as well as a detailed proposal of what the applicant intends to study. Admission to the PhD program is ultimately decided by the supervising professor.

    How Long Does it Take?
    The time it takes to obtain a PhD varies. It can take anywhere from 3-8 years to complete depending on the candidate and the nature of the research. By the end of his/her PhD, the candidate will have produced a thesis to be presented before a PhD board for approval.

    Tuition
    Many universities offer financial awards to encourage graduate students to pursue doctoral studies. The research done by PhD candidates benefits the research progress achieved by the university. Most students are able to conduct their research through grants and living allowances awarded by the university.

    Along with compiling a thesis, PhD students may also be required to serve as teaching assistants (TA) for their supervising professors. TA’s can be expected to instruct intro level classes for undergraduate degree students and assist in marking students’ coursework, like research papers and exams.
    Once a candidate has successful completed his/her degree, they may choose to go by the salutation “Doctor”.

  • Staying Awake Without Caffeine

    Staying Awake Without Caffeine

    You’re busy, you’re stressed and you hardly have time to eat let alone get a good night’s sleep. When term projects and exams are weighing you down, your first thought might be to reach for that double shot latte or an energy drink with a slew of unpronounceable ingredients stamped on the side of the can. At eight in the morning right through to midnight, caffeine is our crutch that is guaranteed to keep us awake. However, too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to caffeine, can be problematic. To help you ease off the espressos, here are a few ways to stay alert and awake the caffeine-free way.

    Exercise
    It’s a classic. Doctors have been telling us this for years, but some of us have neglected to heed their advice. Exercise, particularly anything that involves the cardiovascular system, is a great way to get fresh, oxygenated blood pumping through your brain. If you’re short on time, try a flash card routine with some weights or listen to an audio recording of a lecture while going for a run. Even a five minute jumping jacks session between revising chapters can do the trick.

    Break up your meals
    Breakfast, lunch and dinner – it’s a routine to which many of us stay faithful. However, eating larger meals less often can have destructive effects on our energy levels. Digestion requires energy; The larger the meal, the more energy is needed and depleted from your reserves. Breaking up meals into four or six smaller portions can vastly improve your energy levels, keeping you alert and able to studying for longer.

    Cat naps
    Getting sleepy? Take a nap! Sleep cycles aren’t as cut and dry as most people think. Some of the most effective sleep routines involve taking a nap at regular intervals throughout the day to boost productivity. Though intriguing, for a student constant nap taking is probably not an option. But there are some tips to glean from those sleep cycles! When your body needs rest it will let you know and sometimes the only thing left to do is listen to it. A ten minute nap may be all the rest it needs to get back on track. If you choose this option, remember to set an alarm without a snooze button! Ten to twenty minutes should do.

    Apples
    They can do more than just keep the doctor away. If you’re having trouble getting by without a caffeine boost, try snacking on an apple. The dose of natural glucose will help pick you up the same way a chocolate bar or gummy worms might give you a sugar rush. But an apple’s natural sugars and fibre content make it a much healthier option.

  • Exploring Careers in Your Field of Interest

    Exploring Careers in Your Field of Interest

    You may already know what you love to do. Great! So what’s the next step? The next step would be figuring out what kinds of jobs are available within your field of interest. Did you know that there are many career paths you can take for any one thing you love to do and are interested in? For example:

    • If you love to write, you could consider a job that involves writing. There are many jobs that would be a perfect fit for a person who loves to write. For instance, you could be a newspaper or magazine columnist, you could work as a copywriter for an advertising agency or you could even be an author!
    • If you love to dance, you could be a dancer. But you could also be a dance teacher or even choreographer!
    • If you love to work with animals, you may be interested in being a veterinarian, animal trainer, zoo keeper or even biologist.
    • If you love to work with your hands, then you may want to consider carpentry, auto mechanics, engineering, dentistry or even massage therapy.
    • If you are an outdoorsy person, then sitting at a desk job is definitely not your thing. Instead, consider jobs in which people primarily work outdoors, such as construction workers, landscapers, forest rangers or even adventure travel guides.
    • If you love to work with children, professions such as teacher, pediatrician, child psychologist or early childhood education assistant would be right up your alley!

    As the above examples show, there are many different career paths available within a certain area of interest. Do a little bit of research to discover what career opportunities align with your interests. Try to determine which of these various careers you would be interested in pursuing and why. Read profiles of various jobs to get a sense of what they involve. And finally, if possible, talk to people who work in these jobs. After all, the best way to find out what a job is all about is to talk to someone who is already doing it!