ESL-OLC is established for the purpose of helping students improve their English skills. The centre provides all sorts of services. Let’s take a look:

1. A series of workshops on topics related to the English language;

2. Small English language learning groups;

3. Individual tutoring on specific language needs (50 min. sessions);

4. Weekly English movie nights with conversation and discussion after;

5. Drop-in services are available during office hours if tutors are free;

6. Library with materials designed for English language learners.

The best part is that all the services are free! So make sure you take advantage of them. Simply go to “http://www.yorku.ca/eslolc” and register an account, and you will have access to all the workshops, movie nights, and study groups.

Please keep in mind that ESL-OLC is not an essay-editing centre. The tutors there will not proofread your essays for you. Instead, they will teach you how to spot and correct your own mistakes, which is a very important skill to learn.

Moreover, ESL-OLC has a strict cancellation policy. If you cannot make to a session you’ve signed up for, you must log in to your account and cancel the session as soon as possible so the spot can be made available to other students. If you fail to show up to a session, you may lose your privilege of booking another session for the rest of that semester.

ESL-OLC is located in 116 Atkinson Building. Their contact number is 416-736-2100 ext. 22940. You may visit the centre yourself or call them at any time should you have any questions.

I hope that you will take full advantage of all the awesome services the centre offers and find them useful!

First of all, taking one or two summer courses can ease your course load when school resumes in September. For example, on average I need to take 30 credits each year in order to complete my Honours degree in four years. I’d like to take some credits in summer so I don’t have to take on a full course load in Fall/Winter. With an easier course load, I have more time to focus on each of my courses and get a better grade; or I can use the extra time to participate in extracurricular activities and make new friends.

Secondly, it’s usually easier to get good marks in summer courses. That is because you are only focusing on one or two courses, which means you can spend more time on studying. Also, professors or TAs are usually in very good mood during summer. That means they are more lenient when it comes to marking papers or tests. You can definitely use summer courses to pull up your GPA a little.

In addition, since you only take one or two courses, it is perfectly possible to work part time or do some volunteer work. That way, you can earn credits while gaining valuable working experiences for future. It would be much more difficult to try to balance work and study in Fall/Winter if you have a full course load.

Finally, the big question that many students may want to ask, “I plan to go back to my home country or travel during summer. How can I have time to do summer school?” Well, if you have taken a look at the summer schedule, you would realize that most summer courses only last between one to two months. Our summer holiday is nearly four months long. Even if you spend two months taking a course, you would still have the other two months at your disposal. Therefore, taking summer course does not have to conflict with your traveling schedule. You just need to plan ahead to fit everything in your calendar.

So, summer school or not? I think it’s a big yes.

Filing a tax return can be a very tedious process. You can easily get overwhelmed by all the forms you need to fill out. However, here’s the good news – there are several services on campus that can help you with your tax return and make your life much easier. Let’s take a look.

Every year, York International organizes income tax information sessions to help students with their tax returns. During these sessions, officials from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will provide crucial income tax information and advise students about the related income tax policies via video-conferencing from Ottawa. This is a great starting point for you to learn about how to properly file a tax return. Thus, you are highly recommended to attend a session. Of course, if you have any questions, you may ask the CRA official.

This year, the income tax information sessions will be held on:

Wednesday, March 7, 2012 (10AM – 12PM)

Stedman Lecture Hall 120E

Or

Wednesday, March 7, 2012 (2PM – 4PM)

Stedman Lecture Hall 120E

You only need to attend one of these two sessions.

In additional to York International, York University Student Tax Association (YUSTA) is also here to help. Every year, YUSTA organizes free tax return-filing services for York students. Trained volunteers will prepare all the forms for you; all you need to do is bringing all your income forms and slips. Free services will run from March 12 – 16 and March 19 – 23. I personally have used their services for the past two years and they really made my life easier. Therefore, you are also highly encouraged to take advantage of this great opportunity. YUSTA has not announced the exact time and location of the services yet; but once they have decided, they will put up posters all around the campus so keep your eyes open for them.

However, not everybody has great writing skills. International students may face more challenges since they have not mastered the language. As a result, many people get a headache when the course instructor announces, “Ok everybody! Let us talk about the requirements of the next research paper.”

Well, you don’t need to have a headache anymore. The solution is right here on campus – Centre for Academic Writing (CAW). CAW is located in room 329, Ross Building South. It is created by York’s Writing Department to help students improve their writing skills and produce better papers. Here, a pool of writing instructors are available to assist you individually. But to use this great resource, you first need to register with CAW. The steps are simple.

First, make a trip to CAW personally and tell the receptionist that you’d like to register for a writing tutor. The receptionist will ask you to fill out a form. You need to write down your program of study and available times. CAW will match you with a tutor who is in the same or similar program and has similar availabilities as you.

Then you just need to wait for a day or two. CAW will email you when they have matched you with a tutor. After that, every time you need help with an essay or a paper, you just need to call CAW at 416-736-5134 to make an appointment with your tutor.  Your tutor will work with you one on one and help you produce a better paper. Each appointment is approximately one hour long.

Keep in mind that CAW is not a proofreading or grammar checking centre. You tutor will not edit spelling and grammar mistakes for you. You are expected to do this on your own. Instead, your writing tutor will help you with interpreting assignments, research, brainstorming ideas, organizing content, and so on. Also, since writing instructors are always in high demand, make sure you book your appointment as early as you can to avoid disappointment. And if you cannot make to an appointment, you need to cancel it at least 24 hours in advance so your appointment can be made available to other students. Failure to cancel may jeopardize your eligibility for future appointments.

In addition to in-person appointments, CAW also offers the option of online writing instruction. This is to accommodate students who have a tight deadline and have no time to book an appointment. Through this option, students may submit their papers to CAW electronically. An instructor will review it and comment on its style, structure, and organization. Again, the instructor will not do any editing or proofreading. The instructor usually does not read more than five or six pages. Therefore, you should send a short draft instead of an entire essay. Finally, it usually takes two to three days before the instructor emails your essay back to you. You want to submit your essay as early as possible so you will have time to make changes after you receive it back. Don’t wait until the day before the deadline.

To submit your paper to CAW electronically, visit “http://www.yorku.ca/laps/writ/etutor.html” and click on “click here to get started” at the bottom of the page. Follow the steps and fill out the required information and paste your draft. Be sure to be as specific as possible on assignment requirements so the instructor can provide comments accordingly.

CAW also offers workshops on topics such as “How to Develop a Thesis,” “Eliminating Basic Sentence Errors,” and “Effective Editing.” These workshops are designed to train you to become effective writers. A list of workshops is available in CAW office. You are highly recommended to attend some sessions.

Well, there are! Unknown to many students, there are places to eat other than Student Centre and York Lanes. We have many restaurants that are scattered across the campus. They do not do a lot of promotion and that is why not a lot of people know about them. I’d like to introduce some of my personal favourites.

1. TEL Cafe

Location: Technology Enhanced Learning Building (#39 on York map)

TEL Cafe logo

TEL Cafe is a mini food court that comprises several restaurants, such as Pita Pit and Miso, a fried noodle shop. You can also grab a slice of pizza or a sandwich from the express stand. In addition, there is a Tim Hortons for all you coffee lovers out there.

Pita Pit

Miso, fried noodle shop

2. Orange Snail
Location: Stong College first floor (#13 on York map)

When I first heard of this restaurant, I thought it was a place where you could purchase snails to eat. But it’s not. Orange Snail is actually a Caribbean-style restaurant. The food here can be spicy, so make sure you bring enough water with you. Every afternoon there’s the buffet style lunch where you can get a really big combo (meat, vegetables, rice or noodle, and salad) at a very low price. Orange Snail is definitely one of the best restaurants on campus in my opinion. The only downside is that the location is remote and it’s hard to walk there in winter.

Orange Snail entrance

3. Seneca@York Cafe

Location: Seneca @ York (#40 on York map)

Like TEL Cafe, Seneca@York Cafe is a mini food court with several restaurants within. However, it should be noted that you cannot use your YU Card here. You must pay by cash, or debit or credit card.

Seneca@York Cafe

4. Tuchner’s Eatery

Location: Schulich School of Business, lower level (#42 on York map)

Many people think Schulich is an isolated area on campus, since Schulich students rarely take courses outside of the Schulich building while non-Schulich students rarely go inside of it. However, the Tuchner’s Eatery is open to all York students. You can find Chinese-style fried rice as well as Western-style steak here. Tuchner’s also host private parties if you call in advance.

Tuchner's Eatery entrance

Daily special menu

5. Big Rock Brewery

Location: Ross Building South (#28 on York map)

Food in this restaurant possesses both quality and quantity – at a reasonable price. You can get burgers, sandwiches, soup…etc. The best part is the half price chicken wing from Monday to Wednesday after 6PM. I often go for that. I should remind you that you MUST bring your YU card if you wish to eat there; moreover, the place is only open to grad students every Thursday.

Big Rock Brewery

The entrance

6. The Underground

Location: Student Centre (#23 on York map)

This pub/restaurant is probably the fanciest place to eat on campus. Nicely decorated and the food is simply amazing. Specialty drinks are also available here. In addition, you can get excellent desserts. However, this is also the most expensive restaurant. So plan your budget wisely before you come and dine!

The Underground

Interior of The Underground

The dessert menu

I hope that you would give these restaurants a try some time. Remember, Student Centre and York Lanes are not the only places to eat on campus. There are always more options.

I had the pleasure of serving as one of the volunteer student ambassadors (VSA) at this event. As a VSA, my duty was to lead campus tours for students and parents. If there were no tours scheduled for me, I would be stationed in Vari Hall, greeting visitors and offering assistance in any way I could.

 
The day started at 8AM with a VSA and volunteer assembly in Vari Hall A. We were given a general run down of the day and briefed on our duties. The volunteers were put into a dozen teams and played a Jeopardy game to test their knowledge of the university. I was the scorekeeper for the game.

Event volunteers practice York cheers

At around 9AM, people started to come to Vari Hall. So we moved to our stations and began performing our assigned tasks. I really enjoyed helping the visitors. I found it was a very rewarding experience. I led two campus tours with my partner. We took our groups to some of the important buildings on campus, such as the Bennett Centre for Student Service, the Scott Library, the Student Centre, and the York Lanes. We introduced York’s history, programs, services, campus life, and other highlights. My partner was very professional and talked about the serious side of university; I was more of a joker and talked about the fun side. I thought we were a really good team.

So by the end of the day, I helped no less than 100 people (including people from the tours). At around 3PM, the crowd started to leave. That was when we started to take down signs and wrap up. But many of us still felt energetic. We formed a circle in Vari Hall and did some York cheers. Finally, all the volunteers and VSAs gathered in the Commons area for a group picture. That was officially the end of the Fall Campus Day.

 
This was my second year being a VSA at Fall Campus Day and just like in the first year, I had such a good time. I was able to make a lot of new friends. More importantly, it was a chance to further enhance my public speaking, leadership and communication skills. I felt that I was making a positive change on this large campus. Not to mention the pizza lunch and a free t-shirt I got! Would I do it again next year? You bet I will!

During Halloween season, the entire park is transformed. Employees dress up as
ghouls, ghosts, and other scary monsters and pop out from nowhere to scare visitors.
Dozens of haunted houses are set up, challenging those who are brave enough to go in.
You could hear creepy music (and horrifying screaming) everywhere. It’s not the same
Wonderland you would experience during summer.

I went there on the night of October 28 with 40 friends from Founders. The best
part of going as a group with your college is that you could get a really good deal. For
instance, with Founders College, the ticket was $30 each and it covered admission,
transportation, and a buffet dinner inside Wonderland! The buffet part was the main
reason why I went.

We arrived at Wonderland by bus at around 6 PM. Since the buffet was only 45
minutes from 6:15 to 7, our first task was to march into the restaurant and fill our hungry
stomachs. I normally go to Chinese buffet restaurants, where there are hundreds of food
items to choose from. But the buffet in Wonderland was different. It only had about 10
items – burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, salad, chicken soup, etc. Nevertheless,
the food was delicious and I was very satisfied. There was also a large selection of
desserts. However, at the end I was too full to try them.

After the meal, it was time to visit the haunted houses and test our courage. There
was the assumption that guys were braver than girls so they should be in front of the line.
That was not the case. I, for one, would never want to be the first in line; nor would I
want to be the last. So I put myself in the middle, thinking that was the safest spot.
However, that did not stop the ghosts/employees from jumping on me and taking me by
surprise. The atmosphere was intense and I was nervous; but it was a lot of fun.

After visiting about six haunted houses, we decided to try some roller coasters.
The new ride – Wind Seeker – was most impressive. Sitting on this swinging, 301 feet
high thrill ride, I enjoyed a beautiful view of the whole park while dangling my feet. It
was both thrilling and exciting. There was only one downside – it was freezing and the
wind blew hard. I had to hold on to my glasses because I was afraid it would get blown
away.  I guess that is why it is called “Wind Seeker”.

At around 11, we had to leave and head back to York. I wish I could stay longer
but the bus wouldn’t wait for me. Of course, before I left the park, I did not forget to get
myself some delicious funnel cake.

   The sale lasted for a week and attracted hundreds of interested buyers. Students would carefully browse through the options, looking from poster to poster. The price was written under each poster for students to consider. To make a purchase, students needed to pick up an order card and record the poster’s code number, artist, title and price. They gave this card to the cashier, who would then pick the poster out from the stockpile.

   Rachel McLean, a third year French student from Glendon, said she found out about this event from the brochures around the campus. She loves posters so much that she travelled all the way to Keele to make a purchase. “It’s nice to have stuff up on your wall to make you feel more at home and more like your own space.” Mclean also said that she would come back for sure next year.

   Matt, a first year geography student, said that while walking through Vari Hall to class, he was amazed by all the posters on display so he decided to stop by. He purchased a poster of Muhammad Ali for his father. “(My dad) is a big fan of Muhammad Ali so I decided to get one for him.”

   Imaginus is Canada’s oldest and largest poster retailer. The organization has been touring Canadian universities and colleges since 1975.

Students visit the poster sale in Vari Hall

Some of the posters on display

  Academic workshops can help you achieve greater in-class success. These workshops cover a wide range of topics such as exam prep, library research skills, note-taking, and time management. There are also workshops specifically designed for international students, who may need assistance to adjust to the new environment. The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies will hold a round table discussion and all students are invited to contribute ideas as how to make our campus better.

  Career workshops can give you the professional skills you need to succeed in the future job market. Need to write a better resume and cover letter? Want to learn about effective job search strategy? Have an interview coming up and don’t know how to prepare for it? Career events have the answers for you!

  Last but not least, the social and community events allow you to have a good time with your friends while meeting new people. There will be college open houses, volleyball game between York and Humber where free goodies will be given out, and tons of other fun stuff. If you want to spend some quality time with your friends, then you must come to these events.

  So what are you waiting for? The Co-Curricular Week is made just for you! Come on down and have fun! For a complete list of all the events, please visit http://www.yorku.ca/fcw/index.htm. See you all there!

Every year, each of York’s nine colleges has a different Frosh Week schedule. As a Founders College Frosh Leader this year, I would like to talk about what we had to offer to first year students.

September 2nd was the first day of the week. In the morning, we helped new students move in. In another word, we were the labor workers and carried all the bags, luggage, and boxes. In the afternoon there were some small ice breaker games. These games were designed to help students get to know each other. After that there was an opening ceremony, followed by a party at night with McLaughlin College!

On the second day, first thing in the morning was breakfast. Then there would be more games, such as water fight, to encourage people to interact more with each other. At night there was another all-night party with Winters College!

After two days of fun and intense activities, everybody was feeling tired. That is why the third day did not begin until noon. The college provided pizza lunch, followed by a Sex and Alcohol information session. The session taught people how to treat alcohol and engage in sexual activities in a safe and responsible fashion. Then a “Condom Olympic” took place. Students were divided into groups and each group would try to put as much water as possible into a condom. Can you believe it? This year’s champion team put 76 cups of water into what appeared to be a tiny condom! The condom was as big as a watermelon before it finally popped. Everybody took a short break after the Olympic and then headed to the hypnosis show. This was one of the highlights of the Frosh Week. The hypnotist chose some volunteers and put them into sleep, making them completely under his control. He then told them to do extremely funny things. After the show, all the colleges got together for a big party in the evening.

The fourth day was a relatively peaceful day. After breakfast, we went to watch a football game between York Lions and Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks. All the colleges attended this event to cheer for our team and show our York spirit, which ran high throughout the game. In the evening we had an amazing party with Calumet College.

The fifth day was the downtown trip. After a tour around the busiest part of the city, we went to catch a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game in the evening.

The sixth day, which was September 7th, was the first day of school. That is why there were only two activities and they were all in the evening. First was the dodge ball competition, followed by a movie night organized by the York Federation of Students.

In the morning of the seventh day there was a workout party with Winters College. Students who had no class attended and had a lot of fun. At night we played intense icebreaker to strengthen our bonds.

On the eighth day there was a carnival in the afternoon at Glendon College. At night there was a big party with Calumet and Vanier Colleges.

The ninth day was a Saturday and everybody had no school. That is why on that day there was another highlight event – trip to the Wasaga Beach! Wasaga is about two hours north of Toronto and has the longest freshwater beach in the world. It is a popular vacation destination. Here, we swam in the Georgian Bay, played beach volleyball, soccer, Frisbee, danced, and much more. We took bus back to York in the evening to catch a party with Winters College.

The tenth day, September 11th, was the last day of Frosh Week. In the afternoon we held a talent show. Many students showcased their talent. Then, in the evening, we had the most anticipated event and grand finale of the week – boat cruise on Lake Ontario and watch Toronto’s night life from the centre of the lake! This was also a semi-formal. On the boat there was food (including appetizer, main course, dessert and fruit), drink (non-alcoholic), and DJ. After everyone had eaten and drank, it was party time! In the midnight, the boat took us back to the shore. We headed back to York by bus, packed our stuff, said goodbye to each other, and Frosh Week officially ended.

However, the friendships we had made did not just end here. These friendships will be with us for many years. Some will still be strong even after graduation. I attended my own Frosh Week in 2008 and met many friends with whom I still have contact today. Frosh Week made me feel that the college is a big home and I am a member of this family. If I did not go to my Frosh Week, I would not be as involved on campus as I am now. Through my involvements, I have made new friends and discovered new opportunities. I can honestly say that Frosh Week has changed me and made my years at York full of joy and rewarding experiences. I want other people to experience the same. That is why I have volunteered as a Frosh Leader for the past three years. I hope more people will benefit and discover new opportunities for themselves from Frosh Week.

Therefore, if you plan on attending York University in the future, I strongly encourage you to take part in Frosh Week. You will not regret it.