Week 18
So, I've been interested in tours lately; just because I find it interesting to see what people say about the campus. It does really make me want to run some tours; and it's a good lesson in listening and keeping my mouth shut, even when I want to add something! This tour was really exciting to me, because it was run by a colleague/friend of mine who works in my department. While the last tour I did was focused on colleges, this tour was very much focused on Student Life - it was specifically meant for grad students who were about to attend U of T rather than perspective students.
Date: Wednesday August 30, 2017
Event/Activity: Grad Focused Campus Tours
Capacity: Student/Staff
Found: Facebook/through colleagues
Host: Grad Life (a part of my department)
Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1823977937618388/?acontext=%7b%22action_history%22:%22%5b%7b%5c%22surface%5c%22:%5c%22page%5c%22%2c%5c%22mechanism%5c%22:%5c%22page_upcoming_events_card%5c%22%2c%5c%22extra_data%5c%22:%5b%5d%7d%5d%22%2c%22has_source%22:true%7d
Description: If you're new to the University of Toronto St. George campus, or want to learn more about where grad-specific spaces and offices are located, join one of the Gradlife campus tours!
Experience:
What I learned:
I forgot to take a picture! I couldn't believe it.....imagine me being really happy after attending an awesome tour.
-M
Date: Wednesday August 30, 2017
Event/Activity: Grad Focused Campus Tours
Capacity: Student/Staff
Found: Facebook/through colleagues
Host: Grad Life (a part of my department)
Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1823977937618388/?acontext=%7b%22action_history%22:%22%5b%7b%5c%22surface%5c%22:%5c%22page%5c%22%2c%5c%22mechanism%5c%22:%5c%22page_upcoming_events_card%5c%22%2c%5c%22extra_data%5c%22:%5b%5d%7d%5d%22%2c%22has_source%22:true%7d
Description: If you're new to the University of Toronto St. George campus, or want to learn more about where grad-specific spaces and offices are located, join one of the Gradlife campus tours!
Experience:
- The group started off at SGS and went to all the main grad hubs plus more
- It was a really fun experience, I met a lot of people new to U of T and new to Toronto as well
- As mentioned above, it was a great lesson/remind in the importance of being fully present and listening, even though my mind was racing with additional information I wanted to provide!
- The tour guide (my colleague) was incredible, very energetic, and able to project which is very important!
- It was really interesting seeing everything from the eyes of someone who doesn't know the campus; it was really important to repetitively state over and over again where we were in location to the big streets - campus can be overwhelming!
What I learned:
- While I know tons about the campus, Kat had a lot of information specific to graduate students which doesn't necessarily apply to me (eg. info about TAships, TA support, funding support) which I thought was great
- I would really like to lead tours some day - it's so much fun being able to share what you know about a campus/place you love!
- These resources might not necessarily be important for graduate students, but could be important for the students they work with if they become a TA later down the road
- This type of tour is useful and important for students who are already accepted into the institution; I think some colleges do a tour during orientation, but I definitely think more needs to be offered, specific to student life!
I forgot to take a picture! I couldn't believe it.....imagine me being really happy after attending an awesome tour.
-M