Reading Week!

Hi there! My name is Molly Wei, and I am a second year student here at the University of Toronto Mississauga, working towards a Bachelors of Science Specializing in Biology.

Home for me has been many places over the years. I grew up in British Columbia, but I've attended schools in Richmond, Coquitlam, and Vancouver. Then, I moved all the way to the United States and lived in New Jersey until I came here to the beautiful city of Mississauga. However, I am pretty far away from home and I miss my parents and my little Pomeranian puppy so, so much. Thank goodness for reading week!

Reading week?! What’s reading week?

Here at UTM, reading week is a week during the middle of the winter term when students get a break from classes and can study for midterms but also take a breather. For me, this means that I either get to go home and visit my family or they can take a road trip to Mississauga and visit me!

A lot of students go on trips with their friends to give themselves a de-stressing break from the hard work they've been doing, and the UTM Student Union even plans a reading week trip to Montreal every year so that those who don’t have any plans have something fun to do! For most students, though (myself included!), reading week is like a gift of time for us to catch up on our studies and prepare for midterms and finals.

Wait…midterms?

Yes, yes, as University students, we all have to anticipate the dreaded time of midterms. However, as awful as the word “midterm” sounds, midterms are a great way of letting you know whether you’ve been keeping up with your classes or whether you will need to spend your reading week catching up.

A student catching up on his readings.

For reading week studying, I start my day off with a little bit of yoga to relax my body and open up my mind, and I make sure I eat a really big, yummy breakfast! Then, I have an extra burst of energy to get lots of work done.

For those courses that require hardcore memorization, I like to focus on one lecture or one chapter at a time, making logical connections between the points that I need to remember. That way, when you think of one point, you will automatically remember what comes after it or is connected to it. Making concept maps is one of the easiest ways to do this, and it forces you to actually read and know your material.

The most important thing, though, is to allow yourself to take breaks! Your brain can only take so much at once, and during reading week you can definitely afford to have a snack or even watch an episode of your favorite TV show before you continue. Studying can be really hard work, but it definitely pays off! I’m going to be rewarding myself at the end of reading week by taking a trip to Niagara Falls with my friends! What would you do during reading week?

Talk to you soon,
Molly :)