First Year Package

“THOSE WHO COULD
RELATE KNOW THE WORLD
AIN’T CAKE”
CONTACT
THE UNDERGROUND
1265 MILITARY TRAIL, ROOM SL-234
SCARBOROUGH, ONTARIO M1C 1A4
(416) 287-7054
EDITOR@THE-UNDERGROUND.CA
ISSUE/
01
SEPT-
EMBER
Finding your space is important. While some of us have found a
space where we can be at peace with who and what we are, whether that
be in regards to our identities or even our program, there may be a longer
journey ahead for those who have not, and that’s ok. The beauty in finding
your space, especially how it relates to being a student at UTSC, is that
there are endless opportunities to find one to call your own.
If you’re understanding ‘space’ in its most literal terms, I get that.
Those of us who have attended UTSC know how difficult manifesting that
into a reality can be. Although there is no limit to how important a physical
space can be, here I am talking about space metaphorically. It took me a
while to find a space where I could really come into who I am at UTSC. For
me it was meeting regularly with a group of folks who reminded me that
you have to be mindful of how consuming the university experience could
be and to always be kind to yourself. This kind of connection has been
crucial to my success here, and I want to be sure that if you know anything,
it’s how important it is to find your connections too.
Community is crucial and it can be easy to think about university
as an overwhelmingly individualized space. Regardless if it’s the
institution’s intentions or not, the only way to truly get through your journey
unscathed is to build a system that will bring you up. That could be joining
a team, a club, going to campus events, visiting decompressing locations,
learning about new cultures, engaging with ones you are familiar with or
surrounding yourself with folk who understand you.
Without running the risk of sounding too cliché, this is a new leg
of your journey. I’ve never really been a fan of how blockbuster movies
present the university experience, because they never actually pan out
that way. You may switch majors multiple times, you may discover new
parts of yourself, and you may take longer than four years to graduate, and
that’s okay.
Be open to the possibilities that may await you, and that space
may be closer than you think.