LawrenceOnLife

Dreaming. Daring. Discovering

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Why do we have to be this way; We don't but we are

Why does it have to be this way? There was a time where I met you and you met I We were strangers as strangers can be Right away we were comfortable Like we knew each other from another time So you talked. And I talked. And we talked. About everything and anything. We talked during the day. We talked during the night. We talked on the phone, online and through video. We talked until night turned…

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Guy 101—Because Being A Guy Isn’t All That Easy

With a friend who happens to be a girl: When walking side-by-side, take the outside sidewalk: The reasoning for this one is simple. If there’s water, slush, snow on the side of the road, you’re expected to take the splash and keep her somewhat dry. It’s not a huge deal when it’s nice and sunny out. Still, it’s a simple and nice gesture that a lot of girls probably don’t realise until you’re…

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The saddest of sad stories

Math tells the sad story of two parallel lines who, while being perfect for one another, never get the chance to meet. It also tells the story of two intersecting lines, meeting just once and never to see each other again. In both cases, circumstances and timing prevent the two lines from walking hand in hand together towards infinity.

Life and love are a lot like the two math stories. Sometimes…

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Canada I hope

As the events of today have told us, the Parliament of Canada is very easily accessible. Anyone and everyone can walk the lawns of the Hill. Anyone can stop and take pictures. Anyone can walk and explore the centre of Canadian democracy.

To those saying that Canada and the Parliament itself needs to increase security, I’m not sure how I feel. Airport security scanner are a must for all visitors.…

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5 Quotes to Get You Past Those Hard Days

5 Quotes to Get You Past Those Hard Days

I don’t have a lot of time to write– that and I can’t get myself to write. This week is one of those week’s where everything I write doesn’t look or feel right. Here’s hoping that changes for next week. That said, here are five of my personal inspirational quotes for days like today.

We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence, is not an act, but a habit

-Aristole

A journey of a thousand…

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Procrastination: My Love Hate Relationship With Studying

I make hot tea and leave it by my computer before going to grab my phone. I check it over and over again expecting something. Anything. Maybe a Facebook notification? A phone call? A text? Please something. Nothing. I put my phone down and do what procrastinators do. I lie down in bed and stare at the ceiling. Yes. I would very much rather stare at the ceiling than study. I’ve got my priorities straight. I’m going far in life.

Determined to get something done, I walk down the stairs to the kitchen where I scour the house looking for food. I open cupboard one. Nothing. Cupboard two. Again nothing. Fridge. Nothing I want to eat. Then I ask myself: maybe I missed something? I go back and do it again. Cupboard one. Nothing. Cupboard two. Again nothing. Fridge. Nope. Not satisfied I make a third round. Finally happy that there’s really nothing to eat, I head back upstairs, but not without stopping multiple times here and there, on my way to my room. By the time I sit down ready to work, 7 percent of my battery has died and my once hot tea is now cold.

I’m not sure how long it took me to sit down by the computer, but I do know this: my battery has slowly drained away while my once hot tea is now cold. I boot up my laptop and I do what every other university student does before they study: I go on Facebook and Twitter to check my newsfeeds. One new notification since I last checked. Yes! Finished with that, I browse over to Youtube and watch some videos. I think by now my point is clear–I procrastinate on the computer too. I check the news outlets over and over again expecting something crazy to happen to the world that would, give me an excuse to not study. I’m going far in life.

I wish I was unique enough to say that I’m the only person who procrastinates. I’m not. In fact, ask any university aged student and chances are, they’ll tell you the same thing. They too probably have a routine to try get out of studying. I know I have to study. My grades—my future– depends on it. Yet, I’ll do everything in my power to avoid it.

After what I’ve just said about everything I do to avoid hitting the books, this is going to sound crazy, but I like to study. Hear me out. I like to study. I just hate the part right before it. When I really think about it, there’s nothing inherently bad about leaning. It’s that there’s this notion that when I’m studying, I’m missing out on a lot of different things that I could be doing. Things that, in the present, right now, is more exciting than an old textbook.

When I’m actually writing, researching or studying, I’m too busy to check the time. I don’t notice it tick and tok itself away. Before I know it, the sun is down and the moon is up. And after hours of study, I feel good. I actually did something useful with my time. I learned something. Well, that’s partly a lie. I learned something I need to know. I learn everyday. I just don’t get quizzed on how much I retain or how much I can recall. That’s why I hate school. Memorize. Learn. Write the exam and poof it’s all gone. With that said, I love to learn. But that argument is for another day.

It’s a age old dilemma. Should I sit down, study, and miss everything that goes on in the world as I lose track of time? Or should I constantly connect myself to the ever changing world? Ask my economics professor and his answer is simple enough: what’s the opportunity costs? Well professor. I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. And that’s where my dilemma lies. I don’t want to shut myself out of the world for a couple of hours. I don’t want to fail my classes either.

While procrastination almost won out, I did finish writing this piece. If there’s one thing to be said, I procrastinated, but I still got the work done. Now, enough for the blog. Off to the my textbooks I go. Or so I say.

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University Beyond The Books

University Beyond The Books

Published: September 4 2014

Originally published in: The Charlatan

Original Article: Here

University might become a little less intimidating for incoming students this fall school year as newly developed app CampusGrids officially launches at Carleton.

The mobile app is designed to help students find social events and clubs that may interest them, as well as match students with classmates who…

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6 lessons I learned my first year to make yours a little easier

With classes starting again I figured that I would take some time away from the books and write a little bit about some of the more important stuff I learned during my first year of school.

1.)There is enough time to do everything you want.

Cut inefficiencies with your time and you’ll find that you can do a lot of stuff outside of school without too much trouble. I was in school full time, had two jobs, was on a club and was a representative on the school council. It sounds like a lot, but it was very manageable. I cut my bad summer habits out (Netflix, movies and the like) which created a lot of time. I’m not going to lie and say I was always productive with my time. I wasn’t. But I tried to be and was for a lot of it. Those seemingly little bits of time really add up over the course of a day.

2.)Learn how to study

There are a lot of readings and they are boring. That said, it helps immensely to have read the chapters before going to the lecture. You’ll actually have an idea of what the professors is saying. If they post slides, print them out before the lecture and take a look at them. During the lecture, pull them out, listen and make small notes on them. Also, don’t use a computer to take notes. It’s distracting and keep your mind away from what they professors is saying. After the lecture, study the material covered that same day because if you leave it for a day or two, you’ll forget everything and will have learn everything by yourself. That sucks.

3.)Study in bits

Take study breaks when needed and do something else. Sitting down for hours on end to cram is no good. Trust me on that. There is no point to sitting down and trying to learn something when you too tired to understand the material. Instead, walk away when what your trying to learn stops making sense and do something else and let your mind refresh. When your back, you’ll have an easier time learning again.

4.)Control yourself

It’s a broad statement that encompasses everything. Don’t be the idiot that’s plastered at the party. Don’t be the idiot that’s staying up all night to finish a paper because you decided to go out the night before. When your tired go to sleep. Don’t click one more episode or play one more game. We all know how that’s going to end up: you staying up all night and falling asleep in class the next day. I can go on and on. You know yourself. Don’t do stuff your going to regret a day or two down the road.

5.)Eat well/ Sleep

I get that ramen is cheap and fast. I know that you don’t have a lot of time. But eating well does wonders to the mood and to how you feel. Eat well. It might cost more and it might take longer, but it’s better than feeling like crap all day. Further, sleep. Don’t force yourself to run on a couple of hours rest every night. You won’t feel good. When there’s time, get that shuteye. You will thank yourself when the lecture material makes a little more sense and when you learn a little faster.

6.)Have fun

University is going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be even better if you are smart about it. Being at home, I didn’t go out every Friday night. I had some friends who did. But they were smart about it. They worked hard. They played hard. Plan your time and get what needs to be done done. Learn how to study. Study in bits. Control yourself. Eat well. Have fun.

That’s the gist of it. There’s a bunch of other little stuff like going to see your professors, but I think that’s secondary in importance to the stuff I’ve listed above. Do that and you’ll find university to be a lot of fun. And come midterms and finals, you’ll actually be ready for them.

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I've Left Lifeguarding: Here's Why

I’m going to miss taking my underwear off for work. And while that innuendo may seem sexual to some, let me clarify and say that it is not! It’s what we lifeguards joke about. At least at my pool. And I’m going to miss that. Lifeguarding has been what I’ve known since my grade 10 year of highschool; I’ve grown up with the job. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about the working world, a lot about people, and as cheesy as it sounds, a lot about myself. I’ll always remember my first day. I was on the chair, and tried to picture myself leaving and wondered about the circumstances in which I would leave. I just couldn’t imagine it. It seemed far, far away. How time flies by.

I’ve been asked often why I decided to leave. I want to say that I’m off to do bigger and better things, but the honest answer is, I don’t know. The timing just felt right. And while that may sounds crazy, let me tell you myself –it is! There’s nothing I can say that logically justifies what I feel. I can’t put it into words. Like I said, it feels right. That said, I’m going to miss the fantastic pay (17 plus dollars!). I’m going to miss the consistent and predictable guarding breaks. I’m going to miss closing the pool and playing cards between lightning strikes. Truth is, lifeguarding is easily one of the best student jobs there are. It’s fun. But I’ve realized, after more than three years, that like others before me, it’s now my time to move on.

I had a blast my first two years. Maybe it was just me living off the thrill of being new to everything in my first year and then enjoying my job as I got comfortable the second. But I think it was more than that. It was the staff that I got to work with. They were great and taught me a lot. They showed me the ropes and guided me. As they began to leave, others took their place. And slowly, the dynamic slowly began to change. I was no longer the one being taught. I was the one teaching. As the new staff replaced the old, I found myself lost in a really familiar place. It wasn’t the same anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved to pass on what I learned. It helped me get better and it forced me to think about –to put into words what had become second nature. Most of all, it helped understand how far I’d come. And with that realization, I recognized that there wasn’t much left to learn. Teaching others, while great, didn’t satisfy my quench for learning. I want—need, a new challenge.

I’m not the type of person to do something because it pays great. I want to learn. I want to experience. I want to build a repertoire of know-how so that in the future, whenever that is, I get to do what I really want to do as opposed to what I’m skilled to do. I’m aware that I might get a pay cut where I go next. But that’s okay. Money now is great, but I’ll worry about my finances when I look for a career. For now, I’m more interested in experiences that will make me more valuable in the job market of tomorrow. When I graduate I don’t want to be another number in the unemployment statics. I don’t want to be another student looking for work while burdened with crippling debt. So today, while I don’t have to worry about all that, I’ll go as far as working for free if the experience provides me with something valuable. I rather a well-paying career than a well-paying job. I’ll makeup my lost wages then. Besides, I’m more interested in learning about the world, about myself, than about the numbers in my bank account. At least for now. There are too many things to see and do than to worry myself about pay. That said, I do live with my parents so that takes a lot of the financial pressure off.

I’m excited to able to rejoin the world in keeping my underwear for work. It’ll be a nice change. Though I will miss the freedom in being a lifeguard, I’ll also miss the people I worked with, and the children I taught to swim. I’ll miss seeing the disbelief on face on a child who learned something new and the face of a proud parent. I’ll miss all of that.

I never got to jump in the pool. I did however, deal with heart attacks, numerous heat related illnesses, and countless nose bleeds, cuts and bruises. Public Relations was common while calls to the police happened from time to time. I’m glad no one drowned or seriously got injured on my watch. I pride myself in the lack of crazy incidents. I always saw myself as more of a guard of life, rather than a saver of life. If I could prevent accidents, then I didn’t have to preserve life or promote recovery. With that said, with the team I got to work with, tackling even the scariest of incidence didn’t seem like a big deal until it was over. Friends, both old and new, staying and leaving, thank you for making my job easy!

While I leave without any amazing lifesaving stories to tell the ladies at the bar, I hang my singlet up proud and satisfied with the work that I did. At least now I know exactly how I’m leaving: with a clear conscience; I’ll leave knowing that under my watch, a life wasn’t changed for the worst.