How to Make the Most of Your Senior Years

What does it take to get into university? What can you do to ensure your acceptance into the program of your choice? It takes a lot more than just getting good grades in school. Not everyone will be accepted into a university program that is the best of the best. This article will help you understand how you can set yourself apart from the rest of the student body and vault toward your thriving future career.

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Early Exam Advice

Exams. A word which only has connotations of fear, uncontrollable shaking, and destruction. But it doesn’t have to be that way! With organisation, meditation and a heavy consumption of fatty processed goods - your stress can be mildly and temporarily alleviated.

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8 Tips For Surviving Summatives

1. Don’t wait until exams to make your review notes. Since many summatives are open book, review notes will be your best friend. They allow you to quickly access all the information you have learned over the course of the semester easily, concisely and quickly. Even if your summative is not open book, creating review notes will help you go over all the relevant knowledge and establish the skills you will need to be comfortable with to get good mark.

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How to Prepare for Your Exams

Exams are possibly the most terrifying things humans have thought of since Godzilla. Since they're worth 15% of your overall mark, they affect your academic performance a lot. Unlike Performance Tasks, they're closed book, so it means a lot of studying and memorizing. It sounds stressful and it can be, but if you follow these 5 tips, you can ace the exams without having to go a psychiatrist.

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The Facts About Victory Laps

      If you are considering taking a victory lap to better your grades, or just to give you another year as a trailblazer, there are some things that every student should know about the effects of a second go on your post-secondary education - they may just change your mind. 

     There are many reasons a grade 12 student would like to take another year at IRHS. Since the abolishment of grade 13 many feel that students are too young for university or college. Others may want another year to bring up their marks on one or all of their classes. Others require more credits for university or college programs. Despite the reason, the pros and cons of a victory lap must be weighed before your grade 12 year. 

     High school victory laps have become increasingly popular in Ontario, in 2007-2008 students over the age of 19 made up 3.7% of all secondary day school enrolment. Though, the trend may not be beneficial to your post-secondary path. It is important to look at what you want to be doing after high school even before grade 11. Even if you can't pinpoint your path yet, effort has to be your default mode. This is because universities may not see a victory lap as a victory. The University of Toronto's director of admissions, Merike Remmel says, "They won't consider, at all, students who have repeated, unless there are extenuating circumstances." This is true for the most competitive courses such as engineering and mathematics. A victory lap does not stop all progression, but narrows choice of school and program, which may not be ideal for everyone’s career goals.

     Lots of students feel stuck, either not having the grades, or the certainty to peruse a university major, they may proceed with a victory lap. This is not the only solution, some students decide to enroll into college and bring up their marks and experience other programs before entering university. This bypasses the hindrance that a victory lap could cause when indeed you would like to peruse a university degree. Despite this, if a victory lap is needed - it's not the end of the world. There have been success stories. Students who have taken a go at grade 13 can still have a chance at entering a competitive post secondary program.

       It's important for all students to know the implications of taking another year of high school. Putting your best effort in before crunch time will help leave you confident in whatever path is right for you. Make sure you talk to your school guidance councilor throughout your high school education so a victory lap doesn’t leave you in last place. 



                                                                                                                                    By: Alessia Collia 

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What’s After Grade 12?

What’s After Grade 12?

For grade 12 students, what comes after high school can often feel like the biggest decision in life. It’s like the world depends on it. But don’t stress too much, as you do not have to have everything sorted out before you leave high school!

Do you hate when people ask the question “What do you want to do after high school?,” and then you are unable to give a solid answer because you have literally no idea? It’s quite common, and you do not need to feel embarrassed or left out. For many people, it’s a difficult question to answer.

I am busily investigating different universities to find out which one is the best for me, and it is honestly difficult for me to decide. What makes the deciding process worse is that we do not have Grade 13 like our parents or guardians did, so that’s one less year to decide. Now the pressure sets in.

At a Waterloo Fall Open House, I was able to listen in on an alumni panel discussion in one of the lecture halls at the university. There were five graduates from the school sitting at a desk on the stage, discussing their experiences at Waterloo and how they got into the career they were in now. What surprised me most about what the alumni members had to say was one thing in particular: none of them went into the career they had planned to go into when first staring university. They all took different paths instead and did something different; some of them had no idea that they would ever be what they were today, but there they were. Their original plans had changed drastically, and they instead discovered the careers they were truly more passionate about. For some people, they know exactly what they are going to be and have known for the longest time; however most students, I think, are uncertain, and are still struggling to sort out their whole life. Don’t! Chances are what you are thinking you might study is not what you are going to be doing as your career. People change, especially young people as they go through a very difficult, confusing, yet exciting time of transition between high school and university, college or other post-secondary options. My advice, and I have talked to many supportive people who also shared the same advice with me, is to follow after your passions and what perks your interest the most, and see where that leads. Right now, things may seem confusing, but that might change later as you start to realize what you were really meant to do. You may not see all the doors that are available to you until you are actually in university or college, and have maybe taken several courses. I was also able to attend a tour at Brock University recently. Our tour guide was a fourth year student in biomedical science, and mentioned he switched his career focus four times before figuring out what it was he really desired to do most; and what’s funny is that he started with biomedical, and ended back in biomedical science after lots of switching around. The first career decision he made ended up being his last one anyway, but it took more exploring of other programs available to make himself feel more certain that his field of study was right for him. So, another thing that is important when deciding your career (which you don’t have to do right now) is exploration, as it allows you the opportunity to discover what you are most passionate about. Exploration and taking chances are both very important.

Don’t stress out too much right now, because it is not worth it. See this struggle as an opportunity to explore and try new things, things that may even take you places where you never thought you’d be! Try your best at everything you do, and above all else, never give up. Instead of trying to determine where to go in life, try and see where life will take you.

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How to… fight the winter blues (By: Cheryl Joseph)

Okay fine – it’s not really winter weather. It’s a sad day when it’s early February in Canada and the grass is as green as ever. Nonetheless, “winter” blues still happen.

1. Focus on the positive. Yes, you may have two unit tests in a day. Yes, you may have only gotten five hours of sleep last night. And yes, that really can put a damper on your day. But there’s so much that we all take for granted. Food, access to clean water, a roof over our heads… the list is endless. So look at the glass half full. In fact, studies have linked optimism to better health* – and even if the study wasn’t reliable, it can’t hurt to be grateful.
2. Smile. It actually releases endorphins that make you happy. It may be hard sometimes to smile when you’re having a terrible day, but even a fake smile works.
3. Find a friend. Friends always have a way of making you happy. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, go chat someone up. In fact, talk to someone you haven’t talked to in a while, and you’ll be sure to leave both of you smiling. Hugs are particularly good pick-me-ups, as well.
4. Call someone. If you’re alone at home, call a friend! Preferably the funny one that manages to make you forget that you ever even had problems.
5. Look nice. Sometimes, you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed. When this happens, you know instantly that you won’t be having a good day. The best way to counteract this? Look good. Now, this may sound both frivolous and unfounded, but hear me out: when you look nice, you feel a little better about yourself, and you may even get a compliment, which definitely puts a spring in your step. And remember that “nice” is subjective: the key here is to incorporate something you like into your look – a hair accessory, jewellery, new pair of jeans… anything that makes you happy.
6. Listen to a good song. Sometimes, music is the best medicine.
7. Sing along, or having a mini dance party. If just listening to the music doesn’t help, sing along, karaoke style. Or, if you’re not much for singing, have a little dance party. Note that the best time to do this is when you’re alone – i.e. where there aren’t witnesses to a slightly embarrassing little musical.
8. Exercise – a little, at least. Exercising for only a minute or so helps blood flow and leads to an overall sense of well-being. But exercising for longer actually boosts endorphin levels in the brain, increases focus, and leads to general contentment.
9. Do something you love. This sounds obvious – and it sort of is. But a lot of people neglect their favourite pastimes. Whether it’s journaling, poetry, reading, cooking, dancing, or watching your favourite T.V. show, take a little time out of your day to have some fun, and you’re sure to feel better.

* Study can be found at http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/05/us-optimist-health-idUSTRE5247NO20090305

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How to… buy the perfect gift (By: Cheryl Joseph)

There is a fine art to buying the perfect gift for someone. It may take a while to achieve Perfect Gift Status, but it’s definitely worth it. There’s nothing more satisfying than the look on someone’s face when they lay their eyes on your gift, and their breathing speeds up and their eyes light up and they start screaming (or maybe I’m the only one who does that).

So with the holidays coming up, there will be ample opportunity to buy gifts. But the question is, what do you buy? Well that depends on a variety of factors. First of all, how well you know the person. Now, this has happened to nearly all of us: when you get invited to some party for some person that you know (and like), but that you don’t know well enough to know what kind of gifts they prefer. Sure, you may know their general preferences: sports, electronics, clothes, movies… this is where the gift card comes in. Once you’ve figured out their general area of interest, it won’t be too hard to find a store wide enough in variety to please even your sort-of-close friend.

However – and yes, there is a however. Gift cards, in general are not acceptable for close friends. We’ve all done it – in fact, I’m notorious for this – but giving a gift card to a best friend is, frankly, a little unimaginative. Of course, this all depends on the reason: for instance, if you know for a fact that your friend loves origami, but you know nothing as to the preferred/higher quality textures, colours, or styles of origami, it makes sense to just get her a gift card to an art store with a good variety of origami paper. In this case, let her know your reasoning, so that she knows that you remember her likes and dislikes, and that you care.

But for other circumstances, you need to find a more specific gift. Different methods work for different people. Some people like to brainstorm gift ideas before getting to the store. Now, a good way of gift-giving is a combination gift: one or more small item paired with a larger item. Small items can be anything; to think of these, think about inside jokes that you may have had with your friend, and buy a little something to make him or her laugh. For example, a friend of mine always said that she wanted a yellow Lamborghini, so we bought her keychain with a yellow sports car. These little things are what make him or her laugh – sort of like an appetizer of what’s to come.

The key here is to get a gift that you know they’ll like. This may mean that clothes are out of the question: I for one have very different tastes from my friends, so they would never like any clothes I would buy for them. The (ideal) main gift has to be something that they’ve mentioned that they like, but that they won’t necessarily expect you to get if for them. For instance, my friend loves vanilla. But she only really mentioned it once: but I remembered, and bought her a vanilla bath kit, which she loved. Personally, for their main gift, I find it much easier to puruse the stores before making a decision. Odds are, there’ll be something that you see that you know they’ll love.

Yes, it may be a bit more effort, but you’ll be surprised how great it feels, knowing that you just made someone’s day.

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Want to be a Scrooge this Christmas? (By: Lara Valles)

Around the holidays we begin to hear stories about the importance of family, giving and love. Yet you don’t hear people ask each other after Christmas has gone and past, ‘What did you give this Christmas?” So why not join in on the well-known phenomenon of getting. For those whose role models aren’t a jolly fat man who gives away presents to all the good children in the world, read on!

First to perfect the art of getting one must develop their skill to create a comprehensive list brimming with all the things that they want. Always start with the biggest things first (which is code for most expensive) and then slowly downsize. Remember not to add too much so people don’t feel daunted and give up once they get to the mall. Even though Christmas is supposed to be a season of cheer, the shoppers at the mall are not an accurate representation of that.

Next is the technique of looking away once you see those charities asking for money. Now some believe the best method is too subtly look away but come on, how can you miss the bright red donation box especially with a person dressed up right next to it. If you want to really to be a scrooge, look straight at them, frown and shake your head like Christmas generosity is a shameful disease. Or if you thinks that’s too harsh then just give them a smile with the universal hand gesture of raising your hands like you’re saying, ‘Sorry no change today”!

Lastly, look up to the Christmas scrooge role models. Follow their techniques, study their ways. I would recommend watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “Scrooge,” and don’t worry; we don’t need to be green or an ugly old man to be a true scrooge.

But most important of all realize how boring and meaningless getting can get. Because when you’re finished watching the movies and you get to the end you realize that gifts don’t matter. That after year and year of getting gifts the novelty of receiving presents becomes more like an expectation. That by next year the gifts we received last year are nothing but a hazy fog, but the memory of making someone else’s Christmas a happy one; priceless. After all if not one gives, how can anyone else get.

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How to… do well in school (By: Cheryl Joseph)

Midterm reports were recently handed out, and we all know what that means: the lecture. Whether it’s from your parents or yourself, someone is almost always pushing you to get better grades. But with the holidays coming around, projects piling up, and a constant parade of tests, how can you improve your marks?

Listen in class. This is a no-brainer, but many find it hard – because frankly, it is. Some days, you don’t want to be listening to the teacher talk about trig identities. Some days, you just want to talk to your friend about your other friend who said she didn’t like this one guy but then ended up telling you that she did, but then it turns out you like him, so you’re in somewhat of a pickle.

Cool story, bro. No really – it is. But as hard as it may seem, you need to wait to tell it. If it’s really pressing, it doesn’t have to wait until after class; just after the lesson. Once you know you’ve understood everything that you need for the homework (and the upcoming test), you can chat (quietly), because we all know that the best way to feel better about a situation is to tell someone about it.

After the lesson, still get at least some work done. Often, a concept will seem easy until you apply it. If you try some of the homework, and if you find that you don’t understand it, you can always ask the teacher for help. This way, you’ll actually understand it, so reviewing for the test will be much easier.

Which brings us to how to review properly. Truth is, there is no “proper” way. Each person has their own, individual way of learning. Find a way that works for you. This quiz from VARK seems to be effective: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire. Once you’ve determined your learning style, you can figure out which study methods work for you. Reading/writing learners usually learn best from charts, notes, and by reading things over and over. Aural (listening) learners need to discuss; listening to the teacher is often really helpful. Kinaesthetic learners like to experience things: labs, field trips, and trial and error are often used.

Regardless of which type of studying you use, be sure to do it regularly. Depending on the class, or how busy you are, you may do this every week, every few days, or even every day. This way, you’ll introduce concepts into your head slowly, so you won’t have to cram.

Homework often helps you to study these concepts. In math or some sciences, for instance, your homework goes over the key concepts, so you don’t need to study quite as much. That also means that you have to do your homework. We all know you’d rather be using your free time for other things, but think about how much more time you’ll get before tests and exams while the rest of your class is cramming.

The greatest tip, however, is to remember that you can’t compare yourself to others. Sure, your best friend may have done better than you in some test, but that’s because you each have different strengths and weaknesses, so you may do better than them in another area. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t try your best: because believe me when I say, your best is pretty darn incredible.

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How to… DIY facials (By: Cheryl Joseph)

You’ve been working hard all week. School, homework, clubs, work, chores… your busy schedule has bound to take its toll. The best remedy for this? An afternoon of pampering. Bring the spa to the comfort of your own home – you’ll be surprised at how much this will relax you.

Many of these ingredients, you already have at home. Oatmeal, for instance, is a great ingredient to use in facial masks. Crush oatmeal flakes with a spoon and mix with milk until a spreadable paste is made. Apply to face, let dry, and rinse off. This will exfoliate your skin, and the milk will nourish it. This works for all skin types: in oily skin, it will exfoliate and unblock oil-clogged pores; in dry skin, it will moisturize skin and soothe itching.

Another exfoliating ingredient likely in your pantry is baking soda. Mix with water to turn into a paste, and apply. Leave on for 5 minutes, then wash off with warm water in circular motions. This cleanses the dirt, facial oils, and other substances that block your pores. This gunk would have otherwise caused acne, which is definitely not fun. So exfoliation is a must! Other exfoliating ingredients include sugar (both brown and white), coffee grounds, and sea salt. Just remember to mix these with moisturizing agents (banana, avocado, honey, peach, yogurt, etc.) to moisturize and protect the skin at the same time – grainy materials like salt and sugar can damage the sensitive skin on your face if used alone.

After all that exfoliating and moisturizing, using a toner will pull everything together and give you a nice, dewy, even complexion. Green tea, apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice are all excellent toners: these not only remove facial oils and other substances from your pores, but many also have amino acids, which help you get rid of that pesky layer of dead skin cells. This helps your face look brighter, cleaner, and smoother.

Although DIY spa treatments are fun, remember not to do them too often; after many treats (like exfoliation), your skin needs time to renew itself. Otherwise, you’d be getting rid of too many skins cells too quickly. And always remember to dab each mask on a small area of your skin to check that there aren’t any negative affects (due to allergies). Aside from that, feel free to experiment with different treatment combinations until you find the ideal one for you!

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What Element are You? (Quiz by Cheryl Joseph)

Are you earth, water, wind or fire? Find out with this simple quiz.

1. You are at a party, and see that your friend is upset. What do you do?
a) Follow him/her to a more private place and ask them what’s wrong
b) Bring the attention back to yourself to distract her; if you’re in the mood, you’ll ask about it later
c) You do nothing, for now, anyway. You wouldn’t really know what to say.
d) For now, you say something funny to make them laugh; later, when it’s less conspicuous, you’ll ask them what’s going on.

2. On Friday nights, you like to:
a) Hang out with a few trusted friends
b) Go do something social with a bunch of people
c) Go home and do something you like
d) Get involved – go to a school club, volunteer, help out with an event

3. When you first meet someone, you:
a) Smile, but don’t decide what kind of person they are until further encounters
b) See what kind of person they are; funny? Athletic? Girly? If they’re good-looking, you flirt a bit
c) Smile a little awkwardly… if they’re nice, you’ll warm up to them after a few more meetings
d) Decide that they seem like nice people. Act friendly, as usual

4. When your friend is mean to you, you:
a) Confront them when they’re alone. Tell them how it made you feel
b) Retort/swear
c) Give them the silent treatment; if it’s really bad, you’ll end up with a huge grudge
d) Feel betrayed and unsure what to do. Later, try to understand their perspective, and confront them if you get the chance

5. Your ideal girlfriend or boyfriend is:
a) Thoughtful and sweet
b) Really good-looking and fun
c) Loyal and pleasantly eccentric
d) Understanding, but also a little mysterious

6. Where would you want to go for a vacation?
a) Somewhere wild; like a rain forest in Peru
b) Somewhere fun and warm like Florida, or Barbados
c) Anywhere quiet and serene
d) Depends on my mood; any of the above, really

a) Earth
If your answers were mostly a:
You are level-headed and dependable. You don’t try to be anything you’re not, and some people dislike that you are your own person; however, many admire you for staying true to who you are. You have a small group of friends, composed of those who understand you; they are the only ones you fully trust, and you are thus loyal to them. You are modest, ethical, and a good listener – because of this, so many people come to you for advice.

b) Fire
If your answers were mostly b:
You are impulsive and unpredictable. You are quick to anger, but also quick to recover. Some think you arrogant, but the simple truth is that you have faith in your strengths. You like to be spontaneous, and in some cases, you are quite sarcastic. Your exuberant – and somewhat boisterous – spirit allows you to have several friends, but if someone truly crosses you, you can be very unpleasant. You are passionate, ambitious, and quite often the life of the party.

c) Water
If your answers were mostly c:
You are mellow until truly provoked; at this point, you’ll hold quite a grudge. You enjoy time alone, often doing an art of some sort, or reading. You are usually quiet and a little shy around people you don’t know, meaning you only really act yourself around the people you love and trust, usually a small group of friends. It may take you longer than most to find yourself; however, when you do, you will finally find confidence in yourself. You are artistic, serene, and quietly passionate.

d) Air
If your answers were mostly d:
You are optimistic and liberated. For this reason, some may think you naïve; you are, however, simply enjoying life to its fullest. You think the best of people; this sometimes results in disappointment, but you are not deterred. You continue to be kind despite the flaws of the people around you. You are a little emotionally volatile, passionate, and determined. You often ponder the larger questions of life. You have many friends, because you have several different sides of you; you subconsciously change your personality to fit that of the people around you. You are kind, very loyal, and friendly.

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