Okay, so, I knew that university would be a lot more work than I have ever been used to in my life. I can’t say that I’m particularly surprised! Semesters are shorter than they were in high school, so there’s less time to ease into the course material. I already have three projects – two of which are for one class – and a couple assignments. I’m definitely in the middle of an adjustment period – finding the proper balance between which assignments to spend more (or less) time on is a little harder than I expected it to be, but not impossible. So far, I’ve found that being able to do as many things at once is a help: like going to get watercolour paints from the Curry’s up on Grosvenor and Yonge is something better done while I’m downtown after class instead of having to do it on the weekend when I should be working.

But I did get the paints, and a few other supplies while I was at it.

I have classes every day, but unless I have course work to do, I don’t actually have to be on campus before noon on Thursday and Friday, which is pretty weird. Last week, I just came downtown at a normal hour of the morning and chilled with my laptop in the SLC until it was time for class. It was actually really nice! I’m taking advantage of it as much as I can, considering that I have a lot of work in my future and I definitely won’t be able to do that for too much longer.

I have a couple of professors that don’t want students to take notes on their laptops in class, which I can respect, but not all of my professors have an issue with it. I was expecting it to have more of an emphasis in our first classes, because my mom actually prohibits electronic devices in her class. That is – specifically for note taking, because a couple of years ago, she found that most of her students were actually just on Twitter and Facebook instead of listening to her lectures. I don’t get that. Obviously, this is a really social media focused society, but I can’t even begin to imagine not paying attention in lectures.

I was really excited to have my first class in SID, so the dog filter was just necessary.

Let’s talk about textbooks – who’s tried to navigate the Ryerson campus store only to find that their books are actually in POD252? I’m right there with you! I’d like to say that I caught on pretty quickly, but finding out that you can check where your textbooks are, and if they’re even in stock, on the campus store website was a huge help. For the record, if you haven’t found POD252 yet (my mom says there are a lot of confused frosh passing by her office), it’s on the second level of the building directly across the street from the campus store. Just follow the signs on the floor!

I haven’t even gotten the majority of my textbooks yet because the last time I checked, a lot of them weren’t in stock. I did manage to get my hands on one of my readings for Myth and Literature – I’m definitely keeping it after this semester is over. I’m kind of a mythology nerd, so I’ve already read about these myths, but it’s really cool having an actual reference to other pieces of literature about them, instead of just Google.

I kind of expected this class to be about mythology in general, but I am definitely not complaining.

My program has a list of materials we have to have for class, but it just seemed easier to get the kits from the store, of which there are two: the drafting kit, which has things like trays of lead, a compass, drafting scales, all the standard drafting tools. The number of times I read the word Staedtler was actually impressive. Then there’s the workshop kit, which had a pair of safety goggles that I’m going to have a fun time fitting over my own glasses, a level, that kind of thing. I think my favourite part about getting the kits was going through them and organizing my school bag! It’s kind of heavy now, but I figure I’d rather have everything with me than get to studio and realize that I don’t have my Exacto knife, you know?

You could say I’m definitely ready for studio.

The past two weeks have been a crazy whirlwind of activity, and while I’ve been enjoying settling in and getting used to my schedule, I’m really looking forward to when everything becomes normal. I had two lectures last week that had muffled dance music playing in the background because my lecture room backed right onto Gould St where the Week of Welcome was going on. As much as I loved having a soundtrack to set art history to, I feel like LMFAO lyrics are not an appropriate answer to “what Greek column order has abacus flowers?”

If you ever see me on campus, stop me and say hi! Two places you might find me are Starbucks and Balzac’s – I feel like I’m going to develop a taste for coffee this year.
See you around!

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