The Commuter Orientation 2011 Schedule can be found here!

The Orientation Week 2011 Schedule can be found here!

For the 2011 Mailing Booklet click Here!

Woo! This is one of the largest residences at Vic, with eight floors, and its own parking garage! Honestly, I’m going into 4th year, and I only recently learned that there was a parking garage there. Go figure. Anyway, this residence is a little unique; the other ones are all single or double rooms, but RJ has suites! What I mean by this is that when you go inside any residence room in the building, it opens up into a larger common room, and then you can walk down the hall to find 3-4 rooms within THAT room itself. Brandon, our VUSAC president and a friend of mine, lives in an RJ suite…Carrie (another exec member) has also lived there, so, yeah, ask them questions if you want to know anything about RJ!

I don’t know if you can see it in this picture, as it’s pretttty small, but…I’m waving. At the camera/at Jennifer. I suppose that means I’m waving at you, too…awww yeah. Anyway, this is a view that you see when you walk around the side of RJ. On your left, then, is RJ, and on the right is North House/the rest of Upper Burwash. I love the way it looks, it’s very….ancient looking. Ivy everywhere, overgrown things all over the place…it’s awesome. Around the corner is a longer little path…one that I rarely travel, since these areas are, I’m guessing, mostly used for residence students…but it’s still very nice. In fact, it was SO nice, we took a picture of it!

Ah, here it is. Yes, this is the remainder of the path. You can see on the left how RJ stretches pretty far back, and how on the right so does Upper Burwash. I’m sure that’s no longer North House…probably Middle House, or even Gate House. South House starts only AFTER the arch, so I’m sure it’s not THAT one, at least. The street at the end there is also different, that’s St. Mary St, and it runs parallel to Charles St. In fact, directly in front there (you might be able to see it a little better in the next pic, but it’s where that black car is parked), is St. Mike’s College! You’ll undoubtedly have some classes there, as their Alumni Hall (different from OUR Alumni Hall) is home to many a course. woo!

The car here makes for a good reference point, since it’s also in the previous picture as well. In any case, this is the archway that leads through to the quad; on the left of the tower there is South House, and I believe INSIDE the tower is part of Gate House. It doesn’t look like it, but, the tower is actually one of the tallest buildings here at Vic. Old Vic, which is currently the picture for the registration link, is taller in terms of how high the actual building is, but I believe the Gate House Tower is the highest point someone can actually physically be themselves. I may be wrong, though, that’s just what I have been told =P

There are several famous grads of Vic, actors, writers, politicians. One of my favourite stories, however, is how Donald Sutherland was a graduate! Not only is he the father of Kiefer Sutherland (wooo Jack Bauer), he is a distinguished actor in his own right…and apparently he stayed in Gate House! I also don’t know how much truth there is to this, but, apparently Donald Sutherland (who was an actor in Animal House, as a professor), used his experiences as a student here at Vic, in Gate House, to his benefit for the craziness of the movie! Gate House, in the past, had been known for its wild partying and crazy antics…and, while it is also no longer a boys-only residence, it still has housed some craziness in past years.

Anyway, once we walk through that archway, we’re now in the quad! What we did here, actually, is that we walked through the archway, down the path a little, and then turned around back towards Burwash, to take a picture of the whole beautiful quad. So, what you’re seeing here is Upper Burwash; that’s Burwash Dining Hall with the high arched windows along the left side of the picture, with the residences along the right side. If the picture continued along to the right, you’d see Gate House Tower as well as the path we walked along. If the picture continued even MORE, you’d see the beginning of South House; you wouldn’t see Lower Burwash, unfortunately, because you have to go down some stairs to see it…we’ll get some more pictures in the next round!

Now, when we came through the arch underneath Gate House Tower…bear with me for a second, so I can describe this. There’s a path that essentially goes allll the way through Vic from St. Mary St., from the Tower, around Old Vic, past the library, past Old Vic, past Northrop Frye (where the registrar is), past Birge-Carnegie (where VUSAC and the Dean’s office is), all the way to Charles. On the right of this path is the quad, which we just saw. On the left…well, as I previously mentioned, is E.J. Pratt Library! They’re doing construction on the front, so we just took this abbreviated photo. It’s an awesome place to study, let me tell you that.

Here, you can see Old Vic. The picture for the registration link is way nicer, but, here it is again nonetheless. The next few pictures are of Jennifer and I walking through the interior of the Old Vic building, and we entered through a specific door, the one that leads out onto the quad. The door I’m talking about isn’t actually visible, as it’s under that little arch in the bottom-right corner of the picture, and it’s in the shadows. Regardless, that’s one way of getting inside. Later pictures will have us exiting Old Vic via the arch near the bottom-left corner of the picture…but more on that when we get there. The inside of the building, however, is quite beautiful…I have attended many an event there, as well as classes…woohoo!

Ah, Old Vic. The inside really is nice, isn’t it? Here we’re standing in the Old Vic foyer, and I assure you that many things will be happening here throughout your university career as well as O-Week itself! For one thing, Casino Night! I’m actually in charge of that event, and all the chairs and tables will be gone, replaced by blackjack tables, roulette wheels, wheels of fortune and more. We were going to take pictures of Alumni Hall, but university staff was setting up for some event in there, so we just left them alone (they gave us weird looks anyway). Anyway, this is where Principal Cook’s office is located, as well as the offices of Alumni Affairs. Finally Caffiends, a student-run coffeehouse (one of your levies), is also located in this building!

After exiting through the arch (in the previous photo, the interior of the arch was seen in the middle of the pic, more or less), we are afforded this wonderful view of Northrop Frye. This building frequently holds a lot of tutorials, but it’s mostly there for all the admin stuff that is inside of it. Many profs have their offices in this building, as does President Gooch, as well as the Victoria University Finance Department. Most importantly for us students, however, is the registrar’s office! They are all located centrally in Northrop Frye, and are very easy to find…just through those main doors and right up the stairs!

I’ll have to cut it here, though, it’s getting a bit long again. We’ll have to see what the Registrar’s Office looks like another time…aka, the next post. The last few posts will take us back to Charles St., where we can see the Isabel Bader Theatre, and both the exterior and interior of the Birge Carnegie buildings! woooooo! Also, after the tour is done, maybe we will go into the residence buildings and take some pics…w00t!

I should start by saying, when I come to Vic (from my home in Scarborough, as I commute and have never lived in res), I *usually* come via Museum station. What better place to start than Museum?

I know, I know…the station doesn’t look that nice. In fact, if you look closely, you can see some caution tape at the bottom of the stairs…but, whatever, it’s the summer. They’re doing some minor repairs to that side of the exit from the station, so….woo! Next stop: Vic! I was debating whether we wanted to take a picture of the inside of the station, but its kind of dreary. The actual platform is nice, but then I would have had to actually pay a fare to go down there. Thinking back, Jennifer actually has a Metropass…so I guess she could have taken one…oh well. The columns and what-have-you in Museum are actually pretty cool…well, they’re better now than they were 20 years ago, so my mom tells me (she went to Vic).

When you turn around, and walk out of Museum, one of the first things you’ll see is this sign. Welcome to Victoria University! Fun fact: Victoria University encompasses both Victoria College AND Emmanuel College, the college that is attached to the Birge-Carnegie building. I know, it’s a little confusing…but, just tell people you go to Vic…I’m sure they’ll know what you mean. The next picture was going to be of Charles Street, the MAIN street that Vic is spread out along, buuuut, I decided not to include it since the main feature of the picture was a lot of cars. Maybe we’ll take another pic and stick in here later! The last pic…just too many cars. It WAS rush hour, though.

Walking down Charles from the sign, you’ll come across this building. This is a view of Annesley Hall (from the side), from the side of the street we were standing on. Annesley is actually an all-girls residence, and I believe it has always been that way. As I mentioned before, my mom used to go to Vic (Professor Reibetanz, btw, used to be her English prof…and he was MY prof last year!! Crazy.), and she said this was the one place she stayed in. I’ve been inside a few times, and it’s pretty nice! I mean, honestly, I think ALL the residences are nice, having always lived at home…but, what can you do. You can kind of see a door near the beige car in the picture…that’s actually the way to the VCDS Props Room, where they build all the sets for all the plays here at Vic!

I’m in this picture…woo! I’m actually in a lot of these pictures (well, not a lot, but still), so…be prepared! It was nice, it was supposed to rain, and then the sun came out when we were taking these pictures. Huzzah! Anyway, this is the old Wymilwood building. When you guys come to Vic, there will be nothing in this building (actually, there’s nothing in it now). It USED to house all sorts of things, such as VUSAC, The Strand, VCDS, VCAA…but, due to the Goldring Centre (which will be completed before you graduate in four years), the building has been closed, and all the things inside moved elsewhere. It has been such a huge part of Vic (and it’s also a really big building hehe), we figured we might as well take a picture of it =P It’s right next to Annesley, btw.

Ah, another residence. This one is Margaret Addison Hall, and this picture is taken from the corner of the driveway that leads towards the front of the building. On the other side of those trees there is Marg Ad field as everyone likes to call it, a small little field where people play frisbee, or football, or soccer…really anything that comes to their mind. It’s a nice place to hang out, and people do that quite frequently. Beware, however, as there is a private school nearby, and the little children are quite noisy, especially early in the morning, so I’m told…=P Their school is actually in the building in the background, which is called the Colonnade…it’s a fast way to get to Bloor, as you can walk through the lobby of that building. woo for shortcuts!

Ah, Burwash Dining Hall. This is the dining hall for the entirety of the Victoria College residences. Yes, I know, it’s called BURWASH Dining Hall, but that’s just because it’s attached to Burwash! If you look at the picture, you can see the archway near the bottom-left corner, where the metal gate is, and that leads into the quad, which we’ll see from another angle in a few pictures (my route was very circuitous, in order to get pictures of all the major buildings, hehe). The building to the LEFT of that archway is actually North House; that wooden door there leads right into the building. So, yuppp, North House is closest to Burwash, as well as being closest to Charles St…of the Houses within Upper and Lower Burwash.

I just added this in because it looked cool. I was also going to say, I wouldn’t be able to tell you the names of all the houses…well, maybe the upper houses, but that’s for a very simple reason: they’re easy to remember. I mean, it’s literally just North, Middle, Gate and South House(s). Not that hard to remember…whereas all the lower houses are stuff like Ryerson….well, actually, that’s the only one I remember. I DO know that the first year house is called ‘Bowles-Gandier’, or BG for short. Again, I’ve never lived in res, I’ve only heard these things from what my friends have told me. A good majority (but not all) of the exec have lived in res…but, alas, I am not a part of that group. <3 Scarlem.

Anyway, this post is getting a bit long, and I have quite a bit more photos to talk about. We literally only talked about 7 photos today, and I have…let’s see….20+ more to go? Jeez, I actually didn’t think it was that much…I guess we’ll be doing this in three parts, then. Ah well. Come back next week for the ‘Empire Strikes Back’ version, it’ll be awesome!

When we last left off, I was talking about VUSAC and the various clubs and levies that are around Vic. It’s always a challenge to be motivated to get involved when you make the jump to the post-secondary world (goodness knows I was super involved in high school, and yet, did nearly nothing in first year because I was a little reluctant/nervous), and so it’s our jobs as the exec team to make sure you guys are all prepared for what lies ahead! You’ll hear this a LOT, so bear with me, but honestly….university is not as daunting as you might think it is, and it will (in all likelihood) be some of the most fun times you can have. I’ve met some absolutely wonderful people who I would have never otherwise met had I not come to Vic, let alone UofT, and it’s changed my life.

But, enough serious stuff (=P). The title of this post involves profs…or, full term, professors. When I thought of professors when I was coming out of high school, I imagined all of my profs to be stodgy old men who were out of touch with the real world. Now, I HOPED my profs would be a little more like good ol’ Dr. Henry Jones…Jr (see: image…awww yeah), but, I guess we can’t have everything we hope for. I won’t lie to you; SOME professors are definitely super boring, and unfortunately everyone will get a few like that. What makes UofT (and university in general, really) so great, however, is that for professors to attain their position in the first place, it means they kind of have to know what they’re talking about. In order to get that far in their craft, they probably also have to LIKE what they’re talking about. Again, yes, you’ll get the odd prof who is just cranky all the time, but….that doesn’t happen too often.

I figured I would share with you two stories that have happened to me over the course of university, one of which actually happened in first year. I’m majoring in English and Political Science, but both of these stories happened in two separate English classes. The first happened in 1st year; I was sitting in the Isabel Bader Theatre, where classes frequently take place, and it was the course entitled ‘Narrative’ (for the life of me I cannot remember the course code =P). Professor Jeremy Lopez was the instructor…and man, this guy looked like Steve Carell. It was uncanny! Anyway, I go to class, and the syllabus indicated that we were talking about narrative within popular media and popular fiction….so, Professor Lopez decides it was a good idea to study the magazine ‘Cosmopolitan’, as well as the novel ‘Twilight’. As an English prof….Lopez did not have nice things to say about ‘Twilight’, and needless to say, it was very entertaining.

The other story was slightly less academic-related, and just goes to show that some profs have a sense of humour. Professor Daniel Justice, of ENG239H1 (I think that was the course code…it was ‘Fantasy and Horror’, which coincidentally I took with fellow exec member Christianne Johnson), told us a prank he was planning on playing on the class next semester (when we weren’t in it any more). The class we were on, he had been planning on explaining the difference between ‘horror’ and ‘terror’, and to illustrate his point, he was planning on hiring several clowns to simply come into the lecture hall, and walk around…stare at people…sit next to them…but not say a word. Of course, he and the Teaching Assistants (TAs) were going to continue along as if nothing was happening….I think that’s hilarious, though I’m sure the people who were afraid of clowns didn’t =P

I have plenty of other stories from awesome professors, but the bottom line is that when professors care about their craft, you care in turn, and you do well in the class. It’s definitely possible to do well even if that’s not the case, it’s just EASIER.

Before I end this post, I’d like to acknowledge the comments that I’ve read so far…I love reading comments! They’re awesome! Let’s see…I saw X-Men: First Class, and, honestly, it’s absolutely amazing. I love comic book movies more than the average person, but my goodness, that was a fantastic movie. Also, the youtube video from Nicolas Cage?! Hilarious! Here’s one of MY fav. Nick Cage videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_mW8mBzmHo Hehehe…oh Mr. Cage. Your acting is so priceless. Thanks for reading guys, I’ll catch you next time!!

First of all, what gave me the inspiration to briefly talk about this was actually the speakers that are in the VUSAC office. VUSAC, which stands for the ‘Victoria University Student Administrative Council’, is essentially Vic’s student council. Every college and faculty has one, and together they represent the variety of opinions of the thousands of students that are here at U of T! Every year the President of VUSAC sits on the O-Week exec team, and this year it’s Brandon Bailey, a friend of mine. Anyway, I was in the office, and I found that the wires to the speakers had accidentally been cut. After an adventure involving an exacto knife, wire strippers, and lots of electrical tape, I managed to fix them…and promptly tested them out by having ‘Getting Jiggy With It’ by Will Smith play. I heard the dulcet tones of Mr. Smith, and knew I had been successful.

ANYway. VUSAC represents your interests to the larger university, and you’ll hear from them on a weekly basis during the school year. During Orientation Week itself, they’ll be wearing green shirts…so be on the lookout if you want to talk to them! They hold elections every fall and spring, and in the fall, there are two positions reserved for first years!

There are always a ton of people coming out of high school who had previously been involved in something, whether it’s the yearbook, or athletic council, or the student council itself, or having been a prefect, or the valedictorian…there are always people who are looking to get involved at the university level. Well, I’m pleased to tell you there is literally something for everyone! We have over 50 clubs at Vic, ranging from the Sci-Fi club, to the Vic Chorus (choir), to Bear Pals (they make teddy bears from scratch to donate overseas), to Humanitas (a journal that collects student-written essays). Evan himself, our illustrious Co-Chair, is the head of a club called ‘A.S.S.S.’, or ‘Alliance of Substandard Silver Screen’…a club where we get to watch bad movies and lol our eyes out. See, to your right: Shark Attack 3. (Also, you should ask Evan about Nicolas Cage sometime. Seriously, do it.)

We also have the levies, clubs that have the special status of being something of an important pillar to the Victoria College community, such as the VCAA (Athletic Association), VCDS (Drama Society), Cat’s Eye (student lounge), Caffiends (student-run/operated coffeeshop), Victoriad (yearbook), Acta Victoriana (journal), VicPride! (LGBTQ + Allies group), WUSC (international students resource) and of course, the Strand (student-run/operated newspaper).

There’s so much to do, honestly, and though I’m entering my fourth year, I cannot say I’ve done it all. I’ve done a fair amount, sure, but…there’s still so much left to do!! I hope you all find something you enjoy, and stick with it….and, of course, I hope to see you all at O-Week so we can talk more about this. woo!

P.S. After looking at the trailer for ‘Midnight in Paris’, I must say, it looks pretty sweet. While I cannot help my affinity for watching action-packed movies and watching things blow up on the big screen, I will definitely be adding this one to my list. w00t!

Even though spring is in the air, it’s actually closer to the beginning of summer! With summer comes something just as exciting as sports…the summer blockbusters! I love movies. Movies are so much fun to go to, and it’s always super fun going to the theatre to see what new concoctions Hollywood has cooked up for the world to see. I have a HUGE list of movies I wanted to see this summer, and here it is:

Thor, Fast Five, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, X-Men: First Class, Cowboys and Aliens, Captain America: The First Avenger, Green Lantern, Cars 2, Harry Potter 7 Pt. 2, and Transformers 3.

That is one massive list. I’ve seen the first three on that list, and they were pretty good. Thor and Fast Five were great, Thor being a 8-8.5/10, Fast Five being a 6.5-7/10, and PotC 4 being maybe 6-6.5/10. Honestly, I was a little disappointed with PotC 4…Johnny Depp being wacky is all well and good, but it’s not enough to make a 2.25 hr movie great. I was never a huge fan of Elizabeth and Will, either, so I’m glad their story is done.

But those other movies?! Look at them all. I think the trailers for nearly all of those movies are available online…and they’re going to be awesome. A fellow exec member (Rebecca!) gave me the idea for talking about how U of T and Vic are related to movies…well, there’s the film studies program that you can major in, but I think SHE was thinking of something a little more fun. U of T and Vic…IN movies! I don’t know if you know this, but our fair campus has been home to quite a few productions over the years…and here’s a list of just a few (another thing good ol’ UofT has ingrained in me is citing…so, I cite the following list to things my professors would dislike me citing in the first place…Google and Wikipedia! …it’s the summer, I’m allowed, alright =P)

Good Will Hunting (the dorm scenes were filmed here)
Skulls (honestly, I’ve never heard of this movie =P)
Time Traveler’s Wife
Mean Girls (Convocation Hall, a popular classroom for many first year courses, was used in this movie, apparently)
The Incredible Hulk (the one with Edward Norton…check it out here! Also, below as well.)
The Prince and Me
Take the Lead

Convocation Hall is in this image, the building with the pillars near the top right. Awesome!

A movie entitled ‘Jesus Henry Christ’ was actually filmed in the Old Vic building and in our Quad! I know this first hand because there was a protest scene in the movie and they were filming it while I had a class last summer. The prof stopped the class just to see what was going on…it was awesome. In addition, several TV shows are filmed at Vic and UofT as well…one ‘Flashpoint’ as well as ‘Nikita’, both filmed quite frequently around our campus.

Anyway, that’s my little tidbit of info, thanks once again to Google, Wikipedia and IMDB (the last of which I failed to mention the first time. Seriously, don’t forget to cite things =P). If you’re going to Open Vic (or if you HAVE GONE to Open Vic, by the time you read this), I hope you enjoy(ed) it! Catch you all later!