What is it?

The Third Year Crisis is that/those moment(s) in an individual’s third year of undergraduate life when one realizes, hey look, there’s only one more year of this “school” thing… wait, what am I going to do after that? Said individual will then enter the 10 stages of The Third Year Crisis, and emerge from the chrysalis a somewhat new being… maybe.

The 10 Stages

1. Failure to Ignore: When one realizes one can no longer brush off the question of what to do after undergrad. “Only one year left… wow that’s not that far away, I guess I should start thinking about things after that for real.”
2. Attempt at Denial: When one realizes thinking about things is starting to increase blood pressure and inner turmoil and tries to go back to thinking about whatever one was thinking about before the Crisis started. “Hm… I can’t really think of anything… oh well, I mean a year is still a bit of a long time right?… Yeah… 12 months…”
3. Panic: When denial fails. “Oh my gosh, that’s not a lot of time. What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? I’m not ready for this.”
4. Considering Job Prospects: When one tries to find a logical career path built off one’s program of study. “Let’s take a quick look at some job options via the Career Centre… ” Followed by “Oh, they require another degree” or “Oh, this isn’t really something I can do” or “Well, that sounds boring” or “I really can’t see myself doing that every day” or “There’s no way this can pay for that 40th floor penthouse I’m going to buy.”
5. The Grad Studies Thought: When the prospect of facing the real world is just too much and one considers postponing entering the work force by continuing to learn. “Maybe I’ll just do some graduate studies and get that other degree? At least I’ll have more time to think about things.”
6. Regret the GPA: When one’s GPA is nowhere near the average entrance GPA of one’s ideal graduate school and the panic is replaced with regret and bitterness. “WHY DIDN’T I KEEN HARDER FIRST YEAR?!”
7. Bitterness and Mental Anguish: When one stares at one’s transcripts, but without really reading it because those numbers have already been ingrained into one’s mind and are chewing away at on’s last little bits of sanity. “What am I doing here? What am I doing with my life? Who am I?”
8. Personal Reflection: When one starts thinking about everything one did in life and how he/she got to his/her current point. This is the best part of the Crisis and once you reach this stage I highly encourage you to speak to family and friends and strangers. “So I always thought I loved learning about <insert subject here> but I think what I really love isn’t just the subject but it’s implications in the world and in my life… You know, when I was only 6 years old… ” or “Yeah, I changed my mind… I don’t like this any more… but now I’m not sure what I like.”
9. Seeking Help: When one finally reaches a better self-understanding/confusion, help is usually sought either in the form of Internet searches, conversations with upper years, or appointments with a Career Counsellor. “So I figured out something about myself, but what do you think about me and my current situation?”
10. The Next Step: When one somehow manages to get a blurry to 20/20 clear idea of what one needs to do next. This may or may not be accompanied by a better understanding of oneself. “EVERYTHING SUDDENLY MAKES MORE SENSE.”

Steps subject to repetition in or out of order.

Seeking Help:

• The Career Centre
• Career Cruising
• A prof who knows you well
• Your Registrar
• Family (if you’re close enough with them)
• Fourth years (and up) who have gone through this
• Friends going through this (caution with this – the two of you may throw each other into further spirals of despair)
• Your goldfish (the best listener)

Always Remember:

At the end of the day, the most important thing to keep in mind is what makes you happy. Do you want to help people? Do you want to be grand? Do you want to settle down with a happy family? Do you want to travel often? Do you want a job with constant changes? Do you want to have a predictable week every Monday?

What kind of life do you want in the end? Because life isn’t just about studying.

The Lost Episode Festival Toronto (LEFT) is an artist-run, non-profit film festival which showcases independent productions of lost episodes. Artists’ projects are screened for the public in the weekend-long festival at the historic Bloor Cinema, where their creativity and quirkiness can be appreciated by all. For only $5, students get in to both days of the festival, June 1 and 2.

Although they already have some awesome-looking projects on the docket, including the Canadian premiere of Star Trek Continues and lost episodes of The Twilight Zone and Batman, LEFT is still looking for submissions. If you have some time, a camera, some friends, and an idea, you should totally give it a shot.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is an annual, publicly-funded, entirely free event dedicated to supporting independent comic book makers and retailers from Toronto and abroad. Spread over two days at the delightful Toronto Reference Library (delightful because you’re at a library and you’re not studying! Ha!), TCAF attracts exhibitors from all over the world who set up their booths to sell their works, chat with fans, sign autographs, and doodle the occasional doodle. Most exhibitors are known only within small circles, so don’t be surprised to find a hidden gem (such as my great discovery of 2011, pictured right). Conversely, some guests are as famous as graphic novelists can be: this year’s headliner is Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winner of Maus, which also happens to be assigned reading to about five or six courses each year.

TCAF is large enough to take up almost the entire library, and it’s impossible to get through it all in one outing. Although entrance is free, you can’t really appreciate the event without bringing some money to drop on a beautiful new graphic novel or, if you’re feeling thrifty, one or two micro-comics (which were my great discovery of 2012, one of which is pictured left). There are also some free events, such as talks by the festival’s guests and book signings. Pins, buttons, and stickers are sometimes free but always awesome. In any case, it’s a big enough venture to be made into a day trip, and an excellent one to be had right before school begins all over again. (Caveat: Former/future students of ENG235 might not experience this as recreationally as others). 

Falsettos, in the form in which it is currently presented (it has undergone many changes since it originated as a one-act in 1979), tells the story of Marvin, a New Yorker who, upon coming out as gay and leaving his wife for a young lover, tries to keep his unusual Jewish family together. His young son, Jason, is frustrated by the changes around him, which multiply when his father’s former therapist falls in love with and then marries Jason’s mother. The entire show is sung through, and although the styles of music vary depending on the content of the song, all orchestrations are centred around the staples of the era, with piano and drum playing the most prominent roles. Each scene is its own vignette; each vignette has its own theme, style, and purpose in the overall non-linear plot of the show. By the end, a series of explorations of love, lust, faith, marriage, monotony, and sanity converge upon the sudden contraction of an incurable illness by Martin’s lover, Whizzer. Although it spans a broad emotional spectrum, from humorous and kitschy to sombre and philosophical, Falsettos maintains a constant sense of humour and wit which make pleasant scenes more pleasant and bleak scenes, by contrast, all the more noticeably bleaker.

Falsettos is driven by stellar performances from its entire cast, among whom Eric Morin as Whizzer and Stephen Patterson as Marvin stand out for their power and tenderness, both emotionally and musically. Also always of note is young Michael Levinson, who once again impresses with his verve. Although all cast members sing well, it is the drama and theatricality, not musicality, that make Falsettos so notable. Tim French’s brilliant choreography bridges the play and the musical by turning the entire stage at times into an extension of the subconscious and, in doing so, draws out every inch of drama and profundity in the pop-inspired score.

Stephen Patterson, Eric Morin in Falsettos (2013). Photography: Joanna Akyol

Falsettos is difficult to categorize. Its components have been featured both on and off-Broadway; its style is comedic but its content is tragic; its music and plot seem antiquated even though they are younger than much of the cast. It is a musical of contradictions and eschewed binaries, the [only] kind of show that would make itself up of a deliberately bizarre assortment of people and then show that they are all one family. Even though coming out and AIDS are no longer quite as pressing as they were at the time of the show’s creation, Falsettos can be enjoyed for so much more than the things that happen to its characters. It is ultimately a musical about people who form bonds with each other, whether they want to or not, and then discover the strengths and weaknesses of those bonds when faced with the challenges from the world, and from themselves.
Note: Students receive 20% off the ticket price. 

Falsettos

music and lyrics by William Finn

book by William Finn & James Lapine

directed by Robert McQueen music direction by Reza Jacobs
choreographed by Tim French

starring
 Darrin Baker, Sarah Gibbons, Sara-Jeanne Hosie, Michael Levinson, Eric Morin, Stephen Patterson, & Glynis Ranney

set design Patrick Du Wors lighting design Kimberly Purtell 
costume design Alex Amini sound design Adam Harendorf

stage manager Melanie Klodt apprentice stage manager Rachel Dawn Woods
production manager Sandra Henderson assistant musical director Tara Litvack

Take, for instance, Lost Episode Festival Toronto‘s upcoming 50 Hour Film Competition. A creative contest open to anyone and everyone with a camera and some friends, this local challenge encourages aspiring film-makers (or anyone else interested in winning terrific prizes) to re-create “lost” scenes from famous TV shows, or to make fake advertisements or trailers, all in only 50 hours. Remember those consecutive all-nighters for that econ final? Remember cursing the time and energy spent in learning something you thought could not have any practical application? Well, now you can put at least some of that experience to use.

The competition begins on the night of Friday, May 3, when each team is given a character, a line of dialogue, and a prop to incorporate into making a film. The teams then have only 50 hours to write, shoot, and submit their masterpieces. The entries will be evaluated by the festival’s judges and the winning teams will be awarded cash, prizes, and all the glamour and prestige that comes with winning a film festival. There’s also an audience choice award, for the film-makers who somehow manage to go commercial in under 50 hours. All entries will be screened in the big, beautiful, fully-licensed Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, only a few blocks from campus

To participate, simply sign-up on the festival website here. Participation costs less than a statistics textbook and is, I’ve been told, at least twice as enjoyable. Anyone of any level of skill and experience is welcome to enter, and a team can be of any size. It’s the perfect activity for those, like me, who have only a few weeks between the end of exams and the beginning of summer school to have a little fun. Or a lot of fun. Or 50 hours of fun.

The Black Students’ Association will be hosting its 14^th Annual High School Conference, entitled SWAG: Students with Academic Goals, on Tuesday, May 7^th at the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus.

A key part of the Black Students’ Association’s mandate is to support aspiring post-secondary students. Critical to the actualization of this mandate is the annual High School Conference, which provides opportunities for high school students to learn from leaders and role-models within our community .

An expected 450 students will attend workshops facilitated by self-identifying minority post-secondary students, and professionals from various industries. The professionals will discuss their careers and the steps they took to achieve their positions. The High School Conference will provide students with the tools necessary to begin their preparation for post-secondary education.

For more information about the conference, please contact:

Hawa Noor, Director of Communications
hawaanoor@gmail.com

April is the cruelest month, though, at least for students. It’s exam and final essay time, that moment when the pedagogical procrastination that manifests itself as culminating assignments of obscenely high value rears its ugly head. Or ass. Excuse me; I’m frustrated.

I am frustrated because just yesterday I completed the first of my two exams this semester (the other is on the 29th; go figure) and just this evening I incorrectly answered a Jeopardy question about a topic that had been on the exam. Now, I’m almost certain I got that question right on the test, which means that in the twenty or since, I forgot something fairly important. Something fairly important that I learnt in a class that cost almost a thousand dollars. Something important and expensive that I spent twenty-four hours of class time learning and another thirty or so studying.

Rather than try to project my own experience on to you (I’m honest like that), I’ll ask you to think back to your winter examinations. If you had to take them again, right now, how much lower would your mark be? 10%? 20? “But of course it will be lower,” you say. “That was months ago.” “But,” I say, “why would you take a class if not to learn? And what is learning if not remembering and understanding after the fact?” And therein lies the problem: final exams are not conducive to learning.

They’re not necessarily obstructive, either; there’s no evidence to suggest that culminating exams encourage the forgetting of information, but there’s very little to suggest that they actually evaluate what students will retain. The most common form of preparation is studying all the relevant material at once, over the course of a few weeks or days. This leads to cramming, which, even when it does lead to higher exam grades – which is not as often as you might think – it almost always leads to lower long-term retention. This can be attributed to the distinction between long-term memory and working memory. (Here I apologize again, to psychology and neuroscience students.) Speaking generally, working memory lasts only in the short term, when the mind is focused on a project and the brain is employing all necessary processes and stressors to complete that project. Once that project is done, the memory is largely discarded as it is no longer useful.¹

Long-term memory, however, is not subject to the fallacies of short-term methods like cramming, and is activated by studying important material in smaller chunks over a large period of time. Think back to a class that had multiple smaller evaluations throughout the year. How well do you remember material from that course, compared to the others you took that year? I know that I can tell you way more about De Morgan’s Theorem than I can about religious imagery in Skyscrapers of the Midwest, and that I can offer much more insight into the influence of African culture in the Caribbean than I can to um, that Shaw play with the guns. Long-term memory is simply better stimulated through evaluations spread out across the year, rather than only once or twice.

These kinds of observations have not gone unnoticed. At Harvard University, for instance, only 23% of classes end in final exams.² Elsewhere in the world, universities are slowly turning to alternative methods to final exams, including the obvious choice of fewer, smaller evaluations. Not as always, the University of Toronto is fairly slow to catch up (that’s the closest thing to a compliment that I can give right now.) Although the percentage of classes with final exams is decreasing, they are still the norm and, in fact, mandatory in first-year courses.³ Welcome to UofT!

I recognize that there isn’t any actually useful information in here. Regardless of whether or not you know how effective exam studying is, you probably still have to do it. It probably still sucks. And you probably won’t remember much of it in a short while. Cruel, eh?

It started last Friday. Wait, no. Too fast.

It started during Reading Week. I got three wisdom teeth removed. I only had three. Two on my right side. It was a painful recovery – as expected – but I survived. I had my medicine and finished my full antibiotic course. I turned into a chipmunk for half a week. The check-up appointment with the oral surgeon went well; he said the recovery looked good. Life was good.

Then it started last Friday. I felt a strange swelling in my lower right jaw. Unsure if I had just slept wrong the night before, I decided it was probably nothing to worry about. Never make this assumption.

I woke Saturday morning and knew that it was time to start worrying. My lower right jaw was swelling most uncomfortably. I cancelled all plans. I called the dental office. They’re closed on weekends. I called their emergency hotline. I was told to leave a message. I did. I waited 20 minutes until they returned my call. I answered the phone. I was prescribed antibiotics again. It was Amoxicillin. The same one I was on during my initial recovery state.

Sunday. Half my face was back to chipmunk status in full. There was some mass in my lower right jaw. Overall things didn’t seem to be getting much better. I resolved to make sure I went to see a dental surgeon in person on Monday.

Come Monday. Lower right jaw mass still there. Overall, though, has not expanded greatly. I called the dental office to make an appointment. They had time for me. I also had two interviews to rush to. I used my hair as cover for my right-side chipmunk. The interviews went well. Life seemed to be good again.

Enter dental office. Smile at everyone. Get taken to room. Enter dental surgeon. Asks a few questions. Light chitchat. Mentions that the surgeon who did my wisdom teeth removal will probably have to deal with the infection that is likely in my lower right jaw. Comes over to inspect it. Feels around my jaw. Does not look too pleased. Asks receptionist how many other patients there are that day. Tells me he’s going to have to remove some pus.

Wait. What?

In come three nurses. BOOM: there’s dental equipment in front of me. Still trying to grasp situation. Wait, pus removal? You mean the lower right jaw mass there? Oh ya I knew that was pus… but remove it? As in, poke a hole in my gum to drain it out? OK, I agree that this is a good idea but this was not what I was expecting on a nice Monday afternoon.

“Open up.” I do. He mentions local freezing. Ok, I can handle that. Just a needle – it’ll be good not to feel this draining process.

OH MY GOSH, THE PAIN.

I’m not sure why, but that injection spread a heated wave of potent nerve-destroying pain around my lower right jaw. Perhaps it was because the mass had already caused that area to be quite sore from the swelling. Perhaps some mixture of pus and numbing solution caused intense pain. But imagine concentrated acid radiating through your lower right jaw to fully understand the terror of the situation. It lasted for about 3 minutes after the needle was removed.

Nurse hands me consent form. “You need to sign this so he can remove the pus.” I’m slightly woozy from the freezing injection. I read over the form. A regular form. I consider not signing it and running out… perhaps not the best thing to do. I scribble what I now recognize as the worst signature I have ever given. I lie back.

For the next few minutes I closed my eyes and was carefully kept informed of what was going on. A short comforting “it’ll be alright” or a “we’re almost done” were heard here and there. In short, the nurse held a vacuum while the surgeon made an incision and squeezed the mass of pus out of my lower right jaw. The process was more mentally taxing than painful; it’s a good thing that freezing injection was done (despite those three minutes of agony).

When all was done, he stitched in a drainer of sort, so that any more pus would drain out rather than stay affixed in my gums. Disgusting as a thought, but I am thankful for it.

Delighted that it was all done, I took my new prescriptions. Two new antibiotic drugs, both more potent. I wait for around half an hour in hunger at the Shopper’s Drug Mart to get them. I go home.

I have a moment of rage thinking that while I finished my full course of antibiotics like a good dutiful patient, somehow I ended up getting infected by a resistant strain. Perhaps I was just unlucky, but let’s not kid ourselves. The amount of drug resistant strains of bacteria are increasing today. Why? Because some people think they’re better than the doctor and don’t finish their course of antibiotics. Guys, I know you start feeling better after you’re half way through. But there are still some bacteria left. And shown by science these bacteria have an increased chance of developing mutations that make them resistant to the antibiotic you were on. OK, so you get better. But how many people did you pass that bacteria onto before your immune system fully got rid of them? Bacteria can exchange resistance genes with each other through a special biological process called conjugation. One resistant strain could pass that resistance on to many others.

Same with people who take antibiotics without a prescription. DON’T FREAKIN’ DO THIS. IT’S NOT ONLY BAD FOR YOU BUT YOU’RE THE REASON PEOPLE NEED TO GET PUS DRAINED OUT OF THEIR GUMS. I exaggerate. But only mildly. Taking antibiotics when you don’t have a bacterial infection (ie. when you have the flu, which is a virus and not a bacteria – they are different. VERY DIFFERENT.) mean that the bacteria in your gut will still be targeted. This may lead to lots of washroom troubles, but may also lead to some of your gut bacteria developing resistance. And guess what? Next time you get a real bacterial infection, your gut bacteria might transfer the resistance over. WHO KNOWS WHERE IT WILL END?!

But on a good note, I’m really thankful to the dental clinic for seeing me. And even more to the oral surgeon who decided to drain my jaw even though I was neither his patient nor his responsibility. Yes it was painful, but it’s much better now than when I had a mass in my jaw. I suppose I overdramatized the pain… no, I don’t think I did. If all my writing of pain and disgusting pus will get people to finally stop abusing antibiotic treatments then it’s all worth your discomfort while reading this.

 * This contest is closed. Congratulations to Sarah for winning tickets to see THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE in theatres *

BlogUT wants you and a friend to win tickets to see
THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE, now playing in theatres. In the comment section below, tell us the name of the Canadian star who plays Steve Gray in this movie!

Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have ruled the Las Vegas strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt’s growing ego.  But lately the duo’s greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they’ve grown to loathe each other.
Facing cutthroat competition from guerilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show looks stale.  But there’s still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act—both onstage and off—if Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.

For more information on the movie, check out the trailer below!
THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE is now playing in theatres !To stay up-to-date with Warner Bros Pictures Canada releases, follow them on Facebook  and Twitter !

 

I’m probably not the only one who was left feeling discontent following last week’s lackluster UTSU election campaign period. We only had one slate running, the debate was so unremarkable that, even after sitting through the whole thing, I had nothing to say about it, and the platform was typical. Team Renew was trying to renew the campus, no doubt, in the same way you would renew a library card. Same books, new card.

I’ve said before that it seems like Team Renew isn’t keen on talking to anyone, especially since they have no real reason to. Well, now someone is talking, and that someone is ex-VP External Candidate, Sana Ali.

Here’s a quick summary of her letter:

• Her job wasn’t to use her brain (her words), but to fulfill a predetermined set of mandates that haven’t changed much over the years.
• The team runs supreme, and everyone part of it must find a way to conform, apparently without question.
• Different opinions will not be tolerated.
• Most importantly: the people are well-meaning and progressive, but the system is corrupt.

So what does this mean?

Well, first is that there are serious communication issues within our student government. It should be no surprise to most of us that the hottest student politics topic this year is the push for defederation by three colleges and one faculty. The biggest reason for is because many of those college and faculty unions think the UTSU is incompetent and unable to meet their needs (that’s the nicest way I can put it). It’s one thing to have other groups criticizing the big guy, but to have one of their own? That’s huge.

Second, it goes far beyond ideology. She talked about being stifled, and the suffocating nature of groupthink. She talked about how her statements were reviewed, and how everything was submitted by the same person. What she said isn’t anything new, but she was the first to say something about it. By doing so, she exposed the inner party politics that exists within our union. Does this make UTSU any different than any other political body? Or any other organization, for that matter? I don’t think so.

I thought it was very nice of Sana to not point anyone out and criticize people explicitly. As far as I can tell, a major reason why she’s pulling out is that her beliefs didn’t match up with the rest of theirs, and that led to undesirable circumstances. She was kept from talking to her friends and conversing meaningfully during the campaign. But even through all that, she doesn’t name any names. That was very classy of her.

Finally, with all the buzz Sana’s letter is generating, I am hoping that this will get more students interested in how our university works. As harsh as this may sound, this kind of press is exactly the kind of thing that gets people going. Team Renew and UTSU will be forced to address this and, if they don’t, it’s indicative of how our unions are run. I want them to take this chance to really review and think critically about what has happened, and what is wrong with the system.

For Team Renew, I want you to consider just how effective and novel your slate is. Is your platform really a bunch of antiquated mandates, and is there really no plan other than to “work together”? That seems sort of flaky. And are you really not letting your candidates talk to “one of them“? Are you five?

For UTSU and all the bodies under it, I want you to take this opportunity to put it all out in the open. The spotlight is on you now, and if things go the way I think they should go, then more people will be asking questions. Your communication skills are lacking. You need to review your agenda. I know you implemented many suggested changes this year, but most of us don’t know about them, and that’s a problem. If you want to address the discontent that is definitely spreading among our colleges and faculties, that’s the least you can do.

For all defederating student bodies, no doubt you think this as a major victory. It really isn’t. First, if you’re going to defederate anyway, whatever happens with UTSU doesn’t matter to you so you shouldn’t spend your time caring in the first place. If your referenda go through, then focus on making your colleges and faculties a better place, not on rubbing it in the UTSU’s face. Second, if you don’t defederate, then you’re just like the rest of us – we don’t have a VP External. I’m not sure how that will play out but, either way, you’ll be just as worse off as the rest of us.

And to all of you, are you really doing this for us, the students, or are you doing this for your bruised egos, as Sana suggests?

Critical thinking doesn’t mean just being critical of others, but being critical of yourself as well. I dare all of the parties and teams I mentioned about to criticize themselves. Seriously. Can you do it?

There’s this one line Sana wrote that didn’t sit well with me:

The day of the All-Candidate’s Meeting when it was revealed that nobody would be running against the team, I was really upset because I saw it as a massive call for reform. When I brought this up, I was told that it did not mean no-one had faith in the system, it simply meant that people were too lazy to put in the work.

Politics isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Some people just have no interest or are repulsed by politics in general, which is fair. And others, like me, like to talk about it (some much more obnoxiously than others) but would never run for it, and that’s fair too. But the least we can do is listen in once in a while, and maybe question things that our governing bodies are doing. You may not care about it now, but one day they may bring up an issue that will affect you. Show that you care in your own little way. We’re adults now, and this sort of practice will extend to “real world” things, like municipal, provincial, and national elections.

Besides, I resent being called lazy. Don’t you?

This is probably the most exciting thing that has happened during the UTSU elections in the past few years. This is even more exciting than the tragic campus bar. There is no word on what the CRO will do in response to her withdrawal this late in the game. I also have no idea what will happen to that empty position. Perhaps a by-election in the fall? Everything will likely fall in the hands of the CRO and the rulebooks.