Posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2015
“Education is first. You come here… don’t waste time, don’t go to the bars, don’t party. Spend your 2-3 years, get your piece of paper, then party afterwards!”
Gordie, Assistant General Manager of Food Services
#HumansOfAC
(After nearly four decades, Gordie Esnard of Food Services is hanging up the lab coat on January 29, 2016. Thank you for all you’ve done for Algonquin College, Gordie!)
Posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2015
We know how stressful exams can be. Counsellor John Muldoon, of Counselling Services, has offered various resources and methods of studying to help students achieve their best potential. To enhance your studying experience, John provided these simple guidelines:
Do…
Choose your study environment carefully.
A well-lit, open area, with an upright chair is most beneficial. On campus there are several study-friendly locations: the AC Hub (E217) offers study pods and writable walls for group collaborations, Silent Study rooms (A118, E210) offer peace and quiet, and the Library (C205) offers multiple study resources, as well as a silent study area in the back of the space.
Regulate your study time.
Study for 25minute intervals, stopping to take 5minute breaks. Over the course of several days, this method allows your brain to transfer all the info from short-term to long-term memory.
Review for 15 minutes at the end of each day.
Write down key points or important lessons from each class that day. By doing this, you are more likely to remember this information later when studying, or while writing your exams, plus you can use these notes for a quick review!
Create a study plan.
Break up your course material into visible sections. Once they are separated, make a schedule of which chunks will be studied today, tomorrow, and so on. This method optimizes study sessions by breaking large chunks of course material down into manageable study portions.
Don’t…
Study in bed!
Your bed is one of the worst places to study. The brain is hardwired for sleep in the bedroom. Translation? You are more likely to nod off than you are to actually absorb study materials. Similarly, studying in bed can make it more difficult to sleep – you may find yourself restless, thinking about school. Poor sleeping patterns also affect your ability to learn, and decrease attention necessary for functioning the next day.
Study late at night.
Our brains cannot run at 100% all day long. Studying efficiency diminishes at night, especially after midnight. You may finish that assignment or those study notes at 3am, however the quality of work will not be the same as if you had completed the work at 3pm instead.
Pull all-nighters.
Last-minute cram sessions don’t allow your brain the time to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory. Short study sessions, over a period of time, are proven to be more effective when studying, and storing information. You wouldn’t work out at the gym for 7 hours the day before you run a marathon, similarly don’t cram 7 hours the night before a big exam.
The above was adapted from the AC Hub Newsletter, a monthly publication produced by Student Services.
Posted on Friday, December 4th, 2015
Expect our PR students to be busy as bees, and the campus to be buzzing with excitement next term – after hearing presentations from nine groups of their peers pitching on behalf of charities, Algonquin College public relations students have made a beeline for LiveWorkPlay. They will be fundraising for this important community agency through their annual charity fundraiser in the winter 2016 term.
“LiveWorkPlay is an Ottawa-based charity that works with individuals living with intellectual disabilities. Their goal is to help their members gain independence. They achieve this through assisting them with employment, housing, and arranging social events for members to attend,” said Rachel McWhinnie, a public relations student who pitched LiveWorkPlay to her classmates (just call her ‘Queen Bee’). “LiveWorkPlay is all about inclusion over segregation. We are excited to reflect that in our campaign.”
The Algonquin College public relations students will be hosting multiple events, starting in March, to raise funds and awareness for LiveWorkPlay. Last year’s campaign raised more than $26,000 for the John Howard Society. And if you’ll let us wax nostalgic for a moment, over the 27 years of the program public relations students have raised more than $300,000 for 27 different charities (and isn’t that sweet!).
“All of the charities pitched were deserving, and we would have been happy to work with any of them. We are very excited to come together next semester and work with one goal in mind. Everyone is buzzing to work with LiveWorkPlay,” said McWhinnie.
Public relations students have been pitching their charities throughout the month of November. In total, nine charities were originally proposed, and the program has worked with many of the region’s largest and smallest charities, such as the Royal Ottawa Hospital, CHEO, and the Valerie’s Flutter Foundation (apparently our PR students have a thing for bugs…but whatever you do, don’t buzz off as there are plenty of events to come and our students will be looking for your support!)
Here’s a glimpse of how things went down on (in chronological order)…
