Student Speak

My last blog as the Student Speak Editor will cover the same territory as my first: interesting and compelling ideas. This time I’m going to share the thought of Carl Rogers with you.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to present at an academic conference, or what even happens at these kinds of events?

Last November, Communication student Sam Bates experienced an academic conference herself when she attended the 100^th annual National Communication Association Convention in Chicago, Illinois. I sat down with Sam to discuss her time there, as well as the paper she presented, aptly titled “Is it wrong to put a worm on a hook?: The ethical codes of the modern-day Catfish”.

The term ‘commie’ is usually meant as an insult, whether it’s exaggerated for people with liberal opinions or directed at actual self-proclaimed communists. But at UOIT, a ‘commie’ is largely a playful term for someone in the Communication program (a program which also happens to be the one I and Student Speak bloggers Dan and Shelly call our own.) The fact that we do read a lot of Karl Marx may or may not play into it….

But let’s talk about ol’ Karl later. He didn’t, after all, ever receive a communication degree. These other well-known figures and celebrities, however, did.

What is gravity? Have you ever really thought about it?

In November, I wrote the first of my entries on great academic Albert Einstein. I promised a second part, and here it is – a look at the strange consequences of the general theory of relativity.

Einstein reportedly got the inspiration for his general theory of relativity by imagining what it would be like to release a ball while falling off the side of a building. The person who released the ball wouldn’t see the ball drop, but would see the ball right next to him or her as they both fell (similar to how a feather and a bowling ball fall together when there's no air in the room). Einstein concluded that because gravity affects everything the same way, it must be a result of something happening in space-time which doesn’t depend on the objects it’s affecting.

Last year, current Student Speak blogger Dimitri Tsalavoutas created this video blog about UOIT and Durham College's history. There's more here than you might think for a school as young as UOIT -- watch Dimitri trace the Regent Theatre's history back almost a century!

Last month, I published an entry about the differences between university and high school homework, which many of you seemed to find helpful. Based on the feedback I received from that post, I thought it might do well to write a sequel of sorts: what will you find when you actually enter the university classroom to attend your professor’s lecture? Rest assured that you’ll learn more than just course material (though that’s important as well!)

I started to tread on this territory in my previous entry’s final point: that in university you’re often asked questions for which there aren’t yet definitive answers. This relates to the first point of my present entry:

Remember that Internet trend where people mimicked, erm, 'stuff' that specific cohorts of people say?

In early 2012, one of our video bloggers created just such a video for students taking Communication. Take a look at what the Communication experience was like just over a couple of years ago.

"Ever wished your computer could respond to your thoughts? Good news – it can."

This is the line with which Tobii -- the world's leader in eye tracking technology -- showcases its futuristic EyeX peripheral. What's more is that the technology described by this line is coming to UOIT.

“I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.” – Albert Einstein

(Portrait courtesy of UOIT Communication student Cassy Goulding.)

Albert Einstein – you’ve probably heard the name. He was TIME magazine’s Man of the Century in 1999. Today, his very surname has become a synonym for ‘genius’ (whether used as a compliment or a pejorative), and the figure of the wild-haired, mustachioed old scientist has become something of an archetype in the collective unconscious.

Twice volunteering as an Orientation Leader for September Orientation has contributed to some of my best memories at UOIT. There's absolutely nothing like running, shouting, and bonding for two days while making sure that incoming students have fun and feel one-hundred-percent at home.

Amidst all of the commotion that accompanies Orientation, I often talk to the new students about their hopes and fears. And I found plenty of fears about university's workload!

To help quell those fears and prepare future students for the next step in their academic journeys, I've outlined four distinct differences between schoolwork in university and schoolwork in high school. If you're a high school student concerned about post-secondary homework, read on!