Tune Your Brain - Peak Performance for Students

Anyone who missed last week's seminar, or would like a copy for their use can find Dr. Taverna's slides through my highly underdeveloped web page:
http://individual.utoronto.ca/mjduncan/PeakPerformanceStudents.htm

Cheers,
Mark

P.S. If the webpage changes I will do my best to edit the link above.

Feed Your Mind

Hey Everyone,
It's been almost a week since our last event and we already have another in the works. The second in our series of seminars on the science of studying is called Feed Your Mind and is lead by Mary Scourboutakos, a vic alum who is now pursuing her masters with the Department of Nutritional Sciences. She will be sharing her knowledge about what (and how) to eat to maximize your GPA!

Join us in EM119 at 4pm on Tuesday October 2nd.

Also notes from the last session will be available shortly (you can't upload pdf files to blogger)! So I need to upload it to my UofT webspace or another first.

Cheers,
Mark

To all our LGBTQ commuter students, this is just a quick reminder that Queer Orientation begins on St. George campus today! You can check out all the events here: http://www.sgdo.utoronto.ca/Programs/Orientation.htm

Office Hours Change

Mark Duncan will be unable to attend his office hours from 4-6pm on the 19th due to a conflicting appointment. He will be making these up at a later date this month. To set up an appointment with him this week email mark.duncan(at)utoronto.ca.

Academic Performance Booster Reminder!

Hey Everyone,
Just a quick reminder that we have a very special session for everyone tomorrow (Tuesday) in EM119 at 4pm on improving your academic performance. More info is in the previous post.

The facebook page is here: http://bit.ly/TuneYourBrain

- Mark

Upcoming Events (Yea yea)

Hey Everybody! I just want to put some events on your radar that I wish I had the opportunity to go to in my first year (and fourth!). Both are conveniently located in EM119 (that's Emmanuel College):  

1) Victoria College Commuter Connections - Mentorship Program Kick-off  

If you are new to Vic and would like to meet some senior students at the college and in your program this is the right place to be on a Friday evening. We have a group of 2nd-4th year students who would love to share their wisdom and guidance with some first year students in the Victoria College Commuter Connections program! So if you want a leg up in your studies and social experience come check us out in EM119 on Friday September 14th. Dinner is provided (BONUS!!!)

 Facebook details: http://bit.ly/VCCC_Mentor

2) Tune Your Brain - Maximum Academic Performance 

On Tuesday Sept 18th at 4pm in EM119 we will be hosting a very special seminar lead by UofT grad and neuroscientist Dr. Franco Taverna. He will be leading a short seminar on performance enhancement in academics, specifically he will be teaching scientifically proven techniques to increase your performance on tests. Everyone is welcome to join and light refreshments will be served.

The facebook page is here: http://bit.ly/TuneYourBrain

- Mark

Victoria College Commuter Connections

For any first year students living off campus who wouldn't mind meeting some people in their program of study and receiving some guidance & study tips from upper year students, Vic is now offering a mentor program. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in you can sign up here: http://www.vic.utoronto.ca/students/commuter/VCCC.htm

Mark's Commuting Pro-Tip #1

Hi Everyone,
As I write this I’m currently sitting in the Commuter Lounge (Birge Carnegie 4 FYI) doing my very first office hours of the year.  As part of Orientation each of us will be doing a very special 1h office hour for anyone who would like to visit their commuter dons before the school year begins. If you missed me but still want to see one of us, you’ll be able to Visit Katie tomorrow (Wednesday) from 1:30-2:30pm, or Christianne on Thursday from 12pm-1pm in the Commuter Lounge.

It’s kind of a rainy day so I can’t blame anyone who has voted to stay inside rather than venture out into tumultuous Toronto today. However, some of you – like me –had no choice and better yet, you had to walk through a torrential downpour because the TTC is fickle at best (15min wait at Spadina & Dundas are you kidding me). So those of you who are sopping wet and still out and about I applaud you and empathize all too well. There are, however, ways to at least mitigate the downsides of weather and other unexpected events, which just involves a little bit of preparation – what I like to call my commuter preparedness kit (CPK).

               

Your CPK may vary from day to day, and some of what I recommend may not benefit everyone but this is what I’ve found useful: 

1) Pair of extra socks – good for rain days
2) Pair of extra underwear
3) Extendable umbrella 
4) TTC tokens/$20 bill for emergency transport
5) Plastic Bag for wets 
6) Travel package of wet-wipes (available at shoppers drugmart) 
7) Travel Package of Facial Tissue 
8) Tylenol (Optionally compliment with: Tylenol Cold & Sinus)
9) Bandages (for blisters and random cuts)
10) Tide to go stick

With these 10 items tucked away in your backpack you’re pretty much able to MacGuyver your way out of almost anything and all-in-all it takes up very little space.

Now if you’re feeling really fancy or if you’re doing a lot of extracurriculars I recommend renting a locker somewhere.  Vic has a bunch of lockers available for rent through VUSAC. I personally prefer to rent at one of the gyms because it’s closer to my classes and it reminds me to go to work-out. If you do decide to grab some real estate on campus I’d recommend keeping an extra shirt and an extra pair of pants on campus. Nothing ruins your day like having to wear a shirt all day with a coffee stain on it from the ride in.

That’s all I have for now. If this is your first year commuting, I wish you luck and I hope that this pro-tip helps. If you’re a veteran commuter let me know if there’s anything you personally like to keep in your CPK that I may have missed.