Joyce's page 1A

Without doubt, one of the most considerable changes a person experiences through their lifetime, is the transition from high school to university. Thus, I have decided to research methods on how to succeed in the following topics related to university life.

**School/Social Life Balance**

How to Balance School and Social Life. (2017, July 19). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VANtvWWmFk

Balancing between school and a social life is one of the most difficult tasks that university students struggle with. With that in consideration, YesReneau, a Harvard student, decided to share her advice, in the format of a video. Her first tip is to participate in extracurriculars which allows the student to socialize and participate in a school-related activity. For example, the debate club is an extracurricular which allows a student to socialize among his/her peers and looks fantastic on an academic resumé. The next piece of advice is to relax and do absolutely no school work on a particular day of the week. This allows the student to take a break so they will not exhaust themselves. Her final tip is to constantly be creating academic challenges to gain a socializing reward. For example, if she got a text message from a friend, she would challenge herself to read one more page before reading and replying to the text message. The conclusion of the video consists of YesReneau stating the importance of balancing school and a social life in order to maintain a healthy equilibrium.

**Managing a Budget**

Money on my Mind. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from http://blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca/lifeatuoft/2016/08/18/money-on-my-mind/

Alongside with the costly tuition, living in downtown Toronto has caused many students to drain their wallets. I have chosen to look at a blog post, written directly by a University of Toronto graduate, regarding budgeting methods she wish she implemented as a student. She begins by explaining her own experience as an incoming freshman. Her experience consisted of unnecessary transactions, using her parent’s money and government loans, to buy food and brand new textbooks. Instead, she wishes that she had kept track of her monthly expenditure and transactions. This could be done physically, through pen and paper, or through a phone application. In addition, the author mentions that it is helpful to sort monthly transactions by necessary transactions (textbooks and school supplies) and unnecessary transactions (coffee, dinners, etc.). This way she could keep track of where her money is going instead of mindless transactions with a credit card. Lastly, she explains how during her second year of university, she got a part time job which allowed her to create a strict budget with her necessary items. This way she could use her extra money without feeling guilty. Therefore, this article accurately represents and gives advice in regards to the budgeting issue that many University of Toronto students are going through.

**Making Friends as a Commuter**

“Going into second year, and commuting. How do I make friends? • r/UofT.” *Reddit*, www.reddit.com/r/UofT/comments/3k157t/going\_into\_second\_year\_and\_commuting\_how\_do\_i/cutzw6m/?sh=8a3a0298&st=is1299e8.

By far, the most frightening question of every commuter, is whether they can or cannot make friends. Since University class sizes tend to be in the thousands, this makes it less personal, which causes the process of making friends to be more difficult. I had stumbled across a reddit post in the UofT forum, which a third year UofT student describes how he had made friends as a commuter. His first tip is to sit in the same spot every lecture. This is because most people sit in the same spot which will allow the student to naturally get to know the people around them as the school year progresses. The next piece of advice is to move around if the student does not get along with the person they are sitting next to. This is because making friends is a trial and error process. He also explains that participating in tutorials is a great way of making friends. This is because a tutorial consists of a smaller group of people that will gravitate towards a person if they sound intelligent. His last tip is to find fellow commuters through commuter organizations. Fellow commuters will be able to relate to the same struggles as the student and will be more likely to remember the student. Thus, these tips will allow commuter students to make friends during their studying experience.