my fourth year in review
This entire school year I had one goal; to live. To truly take advantage of all the experiences that I could and just get out there. This was kind of a fall out from my whole “turning 20” crisis where I just had no clue what I had achieved in 2 decades of living. Anyhow with this new quest for life outside my comfort zone I packed on a lot of activities that made my fourth year awesometastic. Here are my top 10 favorite memories.
10. Taking a course that had nothing to do with my major
I took a couple of these actually; Graphic novel, Anthropology of Youth Culture and for a little while I took Computational thinking (aka programming for the arts student). I truly valued this experience because it gave me a chance to breathe from all of the social justice thinking for a little while and gain fresh perspective.
9. Travel
Okay I didn’t do a whole lot of travelling but I did go to San Francisco and it was absolutely beeyoutiful! Wasn’t nearly as warm as I had hoped it would be but that was a great trip with a truly awesome tour guide (Shout out to Afrolems!).
8. Network
This year, I feel like I put myself out there a bit more than I normally would. I went to networking events, signed myself up for responsibilities (may have overdone it on this one) and really tried to engage people out of my immediate circle. The pay-off? Amazing friends that I may never have made if I didn’t try and being inspired to do a little bit more.
7. Work
Praise Jesus I had a job in my fourth year. I was the mentorship assistant to the student life coordinator working in the Dean of Students office. Can you tell I love saying that? I don’t think I could have had a job that was better suited to me in my last year. They were always so understanding and eager to offer me opportunities that I may not have known about on my own. I already miss everyone there and I’m so grateful to have met them.
6. Singing in front of people
So in keeping with my whole pushing out of my comfort zone, I volunteered to sing a solo part in my choir (UTGC whoop whoop!!). Singing in front of people makes me pretty nervous so for the most part I just sing around my family and a few of my friends. I was definitely taking a bit of a leap with a solo. I had planned to sing it an octave higher than I did but when my mouth opened and my voice wouldn’t do what my brain told it to I just went with it and it all worked out! Or well so I think :p
5. Getting featured in a school newspaper!!
Now this one had me all kinds of excited. I was asked to comment as President of the Nigerian Students Association on a Nigerian issue. That was one of the few moments where I felt responsible for my team and communicating a strong positive message to whoever read the article.
http://ryersonjournalism.ca/2015/01/28/what-makes-one-horrific-event-more-newsworthy-than-another/
4. Cooking for a crowd
Now as the daughter of 1qfoodplatter you would think that cooking for people is something I do on the regular and while I would like to agree with you, that is a LIE! I lived on residence for all four years of uni and I had a meal plan so the need to cook was very minimal. Anyhow when your student group is trying to maintain its finances, you’ll do things you weren’t sure you could. That is the very basic story of how I cooked for 30 people 0_0.
3. Getting an Award
I don’t think of myself as an overachieving student by any means. I think I was rather modest in my overall involvement and well if I didn’t feel like doing a reading I just didn’t do it (sorry Mama&Daddy). That being said, I was very pleasantly surprised to be awarded the UC Merit Award “for my contributions to student life”. Getting an award in my graduating year was a goal I set for myself so this was a real kicker
2. Terracotta!!!
Oh of all the things I did this year, Terracotta was right up there on my scale of challenging! Just to clarify, Terracotta is the culture show presented by NSA UofT. This year I directed the show. The tears, the hours, the stress but also the people in this show made this an unforgettable experience. I also made costumes for the show which was pretty fun!
1. Presidency
So many of the things I did this year and the people I met were a consequence of my presidency. I learned a lot about myself and I feel like I was better for this experience. Sometimes it felt like I took on way more than I could handle but time after time I received strength to do a little bit more. I wasn’t a perfect leader by any stretch and I’m still learning from some of the mistakes that I made. Through it all I’m very grateful to God for getting me through.
In four years I made a lot of memories and I grew and changed every single year. Thank you UofT for my most challenging four years yet. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.
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