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by Kush Patel  With reading week over and midterm exams around, here is a list of my top exam study tips. If there is one that you do not already use, try it out and see if it helps!
 Best of luck,
Kush Patel HHNS Board of Governor by Julia Kakish
Do you ever flip through your biology textbook and see a very detailed illustration of the heart or a cross section of the brain and wonder who does that for a living? Well that would be a medical illustrator. Being a medical illustrator is not a career a lot of people know about, but can be extremely important. The reason it is such an interesting career is because besides having to be a great artist you also have to have a thorough understanding of medical terminology and human anatomy. These illustrators usually work for large medical centres working on textbooks, and closely with physicians. Having tangible pieces of artwork help patients understand their disease, or to help clarify medical information in a courtroom. There are countless situations where the work of a medical illustrator would be needed. Students interested in the career usually start with a undergrad in science or fine art, preparing their portfolio in their final year. Becoming an professional medical illustrator usually takes a 2 year master program, which are extremely difficult to come by. There are only 4 programs in North America each accepting about 20 people each year. Within the program students learn about human anatomy, biomedical communications technology, and medical visualization. This field of work is great for anyone who wants to combine fine art and science. The career has a lot of opportunity for change. These means it would be great for someone who wants a job that is always progressing. by Alexandra Khozin
Make sure you know it is okay not to be perfect! Try not to be too hard on yourself! No one is perfect and it is only human to make mistakes. Don’t drive yourself crazy studying for a test, try to take it slow and start studying a week in advance. I always try to give myself minimum a week to start studying for tests so that it minimizes the stress closer to the test date. If a test doesn't go as planned, do not be too hard on yourself. Take it as a learning experience on what to improve on for next time! Take some time to yourself! Studying 10 hours a day 7 days a week is not humanly possible. You need some time for yourself in order to stay sane. Do what you love- take a bubble bath, play some sports, get a manicure, play some video games, read a book, watch a movie, etc! Spend time with the people that make you happy! It is important to always surround yourself with people that make you happy! I know that whenever I am feeling stressed or sad, a hang out with my friends and family always turns my mood around. It is a great way to take your mind off of all the stressors of school. by Agam Verma  Each year, the number of qualified students that apply to medical school surpasses the number of available seats. Additionally, many who apply to medical school are some of the country’s best and brightest students. In this super-competitive medical school admissions arena, you’ll need to stand out from other applicants. Your extracurricular activities could give you the competitive edge that means the difference in getting in or not. Extracurricular activities give medical schools a chance to see what you’ve done during your pre-med years. Medical schools are now more focused on recruiting students who beyond having a strong academic background, are well-rounded and will be a good fit for their school. Here are some extracurricular activities that every medical school admissions committee wants to see on your application: 1. Volunteering (Medical): One of the most valued extracurricular activities, medical related volunteering is a very common extracurricular activity that almost all medical schools look for. Below are some example volunteer positions (medical):
2. Volunteering (Non-Medical): With non-medical volunteering comes experience that truly demonstrates your commitment and dedication to being a well-rounded applicant. Different from being involved in medical related volunteering, donating your time to an organization that has nothing to do with you, says a lot about your desire to be in public service. Below are some example volunteer positions (non-medical):
3. Leadership Experience:
If even one of your fifteen slots for work/activities is filled with leadership experience, you’ll be sure to gain a few extra points in comparison to an applicant who can’t say the same. Many medical schools look for applicants who are strong leaders, individuals who can tackle the most vexing challenges. Below are some example ‘leadership experience’ positions:
There’s no way to tell beforehand whether or not the extracurricular activities you chose will be meaningful or not, so it’s essential that you give yourself enough time during your pre-med years to plan and manage your time accordingly. In order to be successful, start by seeking out activities you truly enjoy. Then try to incorporate the medical component. The above extracurricular activities were just some examples of extracurricular activities every medical school admissions committee wants to see. For more information, you can visit your local hospital, university website, or city website to seek out different extracurricular activities. by Alexandra Khozin
Tip 1: The first step is to find what best helps you to memorize the information. Whether its writing things down, saying things out loud, drawing pictures and diagrams, or simply reading the material over, DO IT. Tip 2: Give yourself at least one week to start looking over the material. This will allow you to ask any questions you may have ahead of time. This way, you are not left with a page of unanswered questions for your professor the night before the midterm/final that will of course not be able to get answered. Tip 3: Use all the resources you are given! Professors almost always give practise problems which are usually a very good reflection of how he or she likes to ask questions. There are also office hours, discussion boards, SLGs, and more. These are all resources that are meant to help you, so might as well use them! Tip 4: Make sure you understand the information you are trying to memorize. It will stick much better than if you are just trying to memorize a series of facts that make no sense to you. This will help you save time and help you answer any tricky questions on the test! Tip 5: Take care of yourself. Get enough sleep and make sure you are eating well and staying hydrated. All the hard work and studying won’t pay off if you are running on two hours of sleep and have four coffees in your system. Try not to let your stress get the best of you because.. YOU GOT THIS. by Jasjap Singh Being a Toronto Maple Leaf’s fan hasn’t been easy. They have only made the playoffs twice since the 2003-2004 season and haven’t won the Stanley cup in 50 years. Despite all that, they have remained the most valuable NHL franchise at an estimated value of $1.1 billion USD. The leafs were in desperate need of a makeover, from the management down to the players. In 2014, that makeover finally began with the signing of Brendan Shanahan as the President and Alternate Governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. This led to a domino effect, with the leafs signing the best coach in the league, Mike Babcock, and one of the best general managers, Lou Lamoriello. The Toronto Maple Leafs being such a profitable organization were able to give Babcock an annual salary of $6.25 million, which more than double any other coach in the league! With arguably the best management in the league already in place, it was time to shift their focus to their roster.  With multiple trades, signings and a strong rookie core, the management have created a team that has a lethal offense with Austin Mathews leading the way. Austin Mathews has been firing on all cylinders since he stepped on the ice as a Maple Leaf, scoring 4 goals in his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators. Austin Mathews finished the year second in scoring in the entire NHL, just 4 goals behind Sidney Crosby. The bright spot for the “new” Toronto Maple Leafs has not only been their offense but also their goaltender, Fredrick Anderson, who unnoticeably gets the job done. Anderson has played exceptionally well in the regular season and in my opinion was the MVP for the leafs in the playoffs last year against the Washington Capitals. With offense and goaltending solidified, the defensive side of the game is currently the primary focus and if that can be figured out then we seriously have a Stanley Cup contender.
However, the Toronto Maple Leafs still have to fix a couple things before they can make a serious run at the Stanley Cup. Even though they are taking strides in the right direction they need to address their weak blue line, as the saying goes “defense wins championships”. So don’t start planning the Stanley Cup parade just yet because there’s still quite a bit of work to be done.  This past summer I was an Aggie. I am an environmental sciences student from Toronto, so this was an unexpected adventure for me. My co-op placement took me to small town Saskatchewan working for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on a research farm.
The drive from Regina Airport to Indian Head, where I would spend the next 4 months was flat and straight. Fields of wheat and canola lined either side of the highway, anticipating the warmer weather to come (and did it ever). And Christian billboards preached to us as we drove by. The town of Indian Head is approximately 1800 people strong. It’s a place where strangers wave to you, and the mentality of “Why walk when I spent $50,000 on a pickup truck?” prevails. Fancy speed boats and yappy dogs are common. And there is no Tim Hortons. I lived in the “Sunshine Mobile Home Park” in a trailer with 2 other University of Guelph students, and together we embraced the Saskatchewan life. I learned to drive a tractor, went quadding through mud, put a watermelon on my head for the Roughrider’s game, and got a little wild at the Craven Country Thunder Music Festival. As it turns out, the northern half of the province is Canadian shield, and looks quite like Ontario. We discovered this on the multiple camping trips that we went on. There were also a couple of concerts that we were able to go to, including Regina-natives “The Dead South”, a wonderful bluegrass band. Enough said - we were never bored. My co-op placement was very interesting, and I had a great, easy-going group to work with. There were a few different studies that we worked on over the summer. One related to increasing biomass production of biofuel crops, and another to insect abundances in canola fields. I learned a lot about breeding trees, plant physiology, and agricultural practices. Agriculture is not something I anticipate pursuing in the future, but I really enjoyed learning about plants, working outside, and having diverse daily schedules. My favourite aspect of living in Indian Head, was how quiet and simple the lifestyle was. The people were so welcoming and generous. Compared to the GTA where people always seem so busy, and life is complicated. What I missed most about home, was the lack of wilderness. Parks, woods, creeks, and lakes are more abundant and easily accessible even in the densely populated southern Ontario than in southern Saskatchewan. Other than in provincial and national parks, trees existed only in rows or on lawns. All in all, the Saskatchewan life is pretty swell. There are differences, but it’s not that different. At night, I would fall asleep to the sound of the same trains that pass by my house in Toronto. by Serra Henderson
As a university student, finding time to stay organized and feel somewhat normal is never easy. Especially when it comes to trying to balance the entire world on your pinky finger. For me, I usually break down at the midterm mark. I have 5 assignments, 3 midterms, 2 tutorials and 3 quizzes all due within in 2 days (ok maybe not 2 days but it feels that way sometimes), I definitely tend to put my life on hold. Here are some of my tips and tricks to keep you at ease during this midterm season. Tip #1: Say No You are a priority. Sometimes you have to pick your battles. If you didn't get everything done you wanted to throughout the week, maybe take one night out of the weekend to focus on studying and the other night can be spent with friends. If you've got 10 billion things on the go - volunteering, student council, bee watching, studying AND trying to plan a date with that really cute person you've been chatting up in class - SAY NO. You come first. Make certain things a priority and get them done; if you feel you don't have time for those, say no to the secondary things. It'll free up your time and allow you to get more than 5 hours of sleep. Tip #2: Designate Mental Health Days You may be a student, but don’t forget you're still a person too. Sundays are my mental health days. What does this entail? I do my laundry, clean up my room, get groceries, and organize myself for the week ahead. I'll write out what is due the week coming, and what I plan on having done by certain dates so that way I feel relaxed the next time Sunday rolls around. I refuse to do any work on Sundays; that's what the other 6 days of the week are for. During the week, I can feel lost, exhausted and just plain BLEH. Taking a mental health day makes me take a step back and just feel like myself again. Tip #3: Call the Fam Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, I always find someone to just chat on the phone with. No texting, an actual over the phone conversation. It helps me take my mind off of whatever's making me crazy, or sometimes get an outside opinion on how I should deal with things. Whether this be your mom, dad, sibling, grandparents, or even close friend that you haven't seen in a while - take the time to talk to them and just catch up. It brings you back to reality and back into perspective. Tip #4: Get a Day-Planner We are all adults now. Writing an alarm in your phone at 4PM because you have a dentist’s appointment at 4:05 is not acceptable. I use a 4-month calendar so I can plan things in advance. Outlook calendar is also a great way to give you a visual of how your week will look. Pro-tip: if you're meeting with a group, invite your group members via email so your meeting times all sync and you will get a notification for it. Having a physical copy of a day planner allows you to throw in the little things you may forget. Like maybe you should email your prof about the lecture notes before you know you're going to miss their class. I also keep a little sticky note on the inside of my laptop so that way every time I open it I see what I need to do before I look through Pinterest for 2 hours. Tip #5: Do What Makes You Happy We’re all just chillin here trying to find our place. There is so much opportunity on campus to do stuff. I joined 3 intramural teams because sometimes I can't find time for the gym (even though I work there lol) so having teammates holds me accountable and gets me out of the house. We have clubs for literally every major on campus that hold meetings that anyone can attend. We've got clubs for all kinds of ethnicities, backgrounds, and religions. If there's something you're passionate about, GO FOR IT. Doing what you love not only makes school more tolerable, but it gives you something to look forward to every day. by Pablo Balbiani The concept of the hypercar has always focused on the track experience it can deliver. The 0-100 km/h time has to be blistering quick, top speed has to be well over 300km/h and the weight of the car has to be kept to a minimal. For the past two decades performance has been the only thing that drives the development of these cars, you wouldn’t particularly think that fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions are considered during the development of these speed demons. Well, you’d be wrong! The new breed to hypercars are hybrids! They use a combined internal combustion engine and electric motors to power the vehicle.  The Porsche 918 is a car that goes above and beyond environmental expectations of any hybrid car. It comes with five driving modes which range from strictly electric power to operating both the petrol and electric engines in way to increase power output from the unit. Current estimates suggests that over ¼1/4 of the CO2 emissions come from transportation. Porsche knew that it had to come up with an alternative to help solve the environmental problem that is caused by the automotive industry. On its e-hybrid driving mode the Porsche 918 is more fuel efficient than a Toyota Prius, achieving an astounding 39 km per litre. The current Canadian economic plan forces consumers to pay a tax on gasoline, which the provincial governments adjust as a means to encourage less consumption of fossil fuels. The 918 conforms to the energy alternative of using less fossil fuels. The price of the 918 is just as astonishing as you may think, coming in at a hefty 1.5 million USD.
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