Preparing for University: Orientation Week

This is my third attempt at writing the Orientation post XD. A part of me just wants to stick a screenshot of the itinerary here and publish it; I am so tired from all my classes. But I promised an Orientation post, and here it is.

I’m not sure if any of them will ever read this, but I do want to give the members of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association (WCSA) a huge shout out and a big thank you for organizing such a fun orientation and helping me make so many new friends.

The festivities started on Monday, September 7, at 10 AM. The first event was the Opening Ceremonies where we were introduced to the wonderful team that put the whole week together, had a few speeches from the Dean of Students, the Principal and the Student Life Coordinator and then watched a few informative videos about consent at UofT. But the video that mattered the most was the one the WCSA made, giving us first years a tour of the college and of the campus. It was so much funnier than any other virtual tour I’d ever been given, and the sound effects were perfection. It was definitely a good way to gauge just how much fun the rest of the week was going to be.

At 11:15, we split into smaller groups for our first Gather meeting. They used Gather as a platform for us to have a smaller meeting and play games (but we eventually switched back to Zoom because of the sheer number of technical difficulties that arose). During that meeting, we played a bunch of ice breaker games: would you rather, Get to Know Me etc. The format was like speed dating. Each round was 10 minutes long and, along with the player you matched, you had to answer 15 to 20 questions and try to get to know them. There were two would you rather games, one about having superpowers, one about the kind of adventures you’d like to have (had a lot to do with aliens for some reason), one about your career and academics and a couple that I can’t think of right now.

It was a lot of fun because, besides getting to know the other person, a lot of the questions resulted in a bit of introspection and I learnt so much about myself as well. I would love to be able to talk to marine animals because that could help us learn more about the oceans and what the deeps seas hold. I would accept an invitation to visit an alien planet only if they promised to help me come back to Earth if I wanted. I would enjoy having ice powers, kind of like Killer Frost from The Flash. I’d use my powers for good reasons, but I think I’d like being a vigilante more than allied with the police force. I’m sure you can tell I’ve watched a lot of DC shows XD.

The next event was a seminar, at 2 PM, “Amazing Relationships: Consent, Connection and Closeness,” which focused on how consent is ongoing and you shouldn’t assume that you have it if the other person hasn’t explicitly stated that you do. It was helpful because the host didn’t only focus on consent during intimate acts, they talked about its importance in daily life and how even a hug could violate someone’s personal space if you don’t clarify if that’s what they want.

The last event I attended that day was another Gather meeting, at 4 PM. This time we played games like Fishbowl (where everyone fills out 6 cards and we use the same cards for a game of Taboo, Charades and Password), Drawphone (where you either see a word and draw it or see a drawing and guess what the word is and then, in the end, you see how far your team deviated from what the first word or drawing was) and Skribble. I won one round of Skribble. There was a dance party at 7 PM but I hadn’t slept since Sunday afternoon and I was too exhausted to dance, so I went to sleep instead.

Tuesday was awesome! We had another Gather meeting, but this time with a random group. We played more Skribble and the first years asked the seniors/executives questions about life at UofT, how getting into programs worked etc. It started at 9 AM and was supposed to last till 11, but they dismissed us a little early because we ran out of things to talk about/do.

At 11 AM, we had a Zumba class. I lasted 40 minutes out of the 60, and I’m proud of that, considering I haven’t exercised all year. At 1 PM, we had Pre-UofT, which was sort of an interview session with the professors and students in Life Sci or Rotman Commerce etc. You clicked on the link corresponding to your stream (Life Sci for me) and then attended a live Q/A with professors who taught first and/or second-year courses in that stream. The session I attended had 4 profs on the panel, the professors I have for Chemistry and Psychology this semester, the professor I will likely have for Biology next semester and the professor who ran the Arrive Ready to Study Life Sciences program over the summer (the one passionate about the biology of exercise). After their part was over, we had 2 students in their 3rd and 4th year of Life Sci talk about their majors and switching around before feeling comfortable with their combinations. One was doing a double major in Laboratory Medicine and Physiology and the other was doing a double major in Neuroscience and (I can’t remember the other one XD).

At 3 PM, we had the last Gather meeting of the week (they switched to Zoom after this) to play Mafia. When I say I love Mafia, I mean I LOVE MAFIA! Thank you WCSA for introducing me to this game XD. We joined another team and played quite a few rounds. I think I was good at hiding who I was, only got killed in one round (must have played 3 or 4).

We had 'Movie Night' at 7 PM. There were two options: Now You See Me or Guardians of the Galaxy. I chose NYSM because I love it soooooo much. My dad bought me popcorn and Coca Cola from the store on his way back from work so I snuggled into my bed and watched the movie till about 8:30, before dozing off.

We had our last random gathering on Wednesday. At 9 AM, I convinced my group to play more Mafia. At 10 AM we had a Meditation and Mindfulness session, but all it did was make me more tired. At 11 Am, we had more professor interviews. The first half-hour was dedicated to the math professors for MAT135/136. The next half hour was for the professors of CHM135 (this semester’s Chemistry) and the last hour was split between the professor for BIO130 (next semester’s Biology) and the professor for PSY100 (psychology). It was cool to be able to talk to them but at this point, I was just hearing the same things over and over again about study tips and syllabus questions. I think my favourite session was the one with my psych professor. He kept things light and fun.

At 4 PM, we met with our original groups and played trivia (about UofT, general knowledge and testing your memory). We finished quite early and then we, you guessed it, joined other groups and played MAFIA! That went on till almost 7 PM and then we split up to go watch the Talent Show. I watched the show from 7 to 8 PM before calling it a day.

The last day of the Woodsworth Orientation was Thursday, which was also the first day of classes. We attended lectures, but there were a lucky few who only had tutorials and labs scheduled for Thursday so they got one more day of freedom, because tutorials and labs start much later in the semester than lectures. Our first event was at 6 PM, another Movie Night. I think the options were Shrek and Catch me if You Can but I slept through it because my first day was tiring. I did participate in the Pajama Social, which was playing Mafia in your PJs.

That was all this week was: Meeting our professors and playing a lot of Mafia. I had so much fun; it was a great way to start my first year of university. I'm happy to have met people who are in the same boat as me, just doing their best to keep up. I think my next post will be about how I survived my first week. it's been hectic and chaotic and all my wishes come true, all at once XD. Once last, big thank you to WCSA for being brilliant organizers and for introducing me to Mafia. I'll stop here and go play a round of it XD. Till my next post, toodles - Aarushi