York's 53th Birthday!!!

Hi, guys. Today is a special day for York University. Guess what? It is York's 53th birthday!! It is pretty cool, huh? There were events and celebrations everywhere on campus at York, especially in the Student Centre and Vari Hall. The best part of today was definitely the FREE CUPCAKES!! :) Check out these pictures I took to enjoy the celebration with us.

York is U members are distributing free cupcakes,we have both chocolate and vanilla flavors :) See, how happy they are :P

The above picture is the most popular student service program --- RED Zone. It is important for you to come to RED Zone when you come to York :) there are a lot of good resources for you here 

In the above picture, our RED ZONE staff are working hard and concentrating hard looking resources for students =)

By the way, if you want to see more pictures, please visit this link:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/yfile/sets/72157629674683863/

For more information about what occured during York's 53th birthday, please click York U Rocks to see all the exclusive details ;)

York Fun Facts :)

Hi guys. Hope you had an amazing week. It is Friday, Friday and Friday!! I am pretty sure you are excited for the weekend! Before you celebrate the two days "vacations", definitely check out this blog for fun facts about York University.

• York has over 200,000 alumni, 130,000 of whom live in the GTA
• York has approximately 4000 students who live on campus
• York's libraries, located in five buildings, contain over six-and-a-half million items-books, print periodicals, theses, archival materials, micro-forms, maps, films, and music CDs. We have more than 2.5 million books and subscribe to 13,000 electronic journals.
• Sport York offers 23 inter-university sport teams, 15 sport clubs, 35 intramural sport leagues, special events and 10 pick-up sport activities offered daily.
• The Computer Science Building at York has received a number of awards fro green architecture, including a World Architecture Award. It is 50% more energy efficient than any other building on campus and it has a rooftop garden.
• There is an echo spot in the center of Vari Hall. Jump right in the middle of the Vari Hall Rotunda and you will hear it!
• Michael Ondaatje - the author of the book The English Patient (the movie was based on it) is a professor at York (his book In The Skin of a Lion also won the CBC  Radio Canada Reads competition)
• Rachael McAdams, star of the films The Notebook, Mean Girls, The Wedding Crasher and The Family Stone is a graduate of York's Faculty of Fine Arts Theater program.
• There are over 40 restaurants, pubs and take-out food places on York campus including 5 Tim Hortons, one Yogen Fruz and Wendy's.
• York has 2 student-run radio stations. CHRY 105.5 is at the Keele Campus in the Student Center and CKRG is at Glendon.
• York owns an area of rain forest in Costa Rica called Las Nubes.
• Over 6000 cups of coffee are served on campus daily. 

 If you want to know more fun facts about York, feel free to register for a  Campus Tour, which gives a more  detailed introduction to York.

(Courtesy of the International Recruitment & Marketing, Office of Admissions, York University)

An amazing opportunity to explore York University--- York Campus Tour

Hi guys! Whats up?! Leo is here again!! (Claps.....) I hope you guys had an awesome St. Patrick Day! :) Today I just want to briefly introduce an amazing campus service that may benefit you as a prospective York student. There we go, it is "York Campus Tour"!!! (Claps again...)

This service is completely free to all students no matter if you are a future student or a current student. As long as you want to explore York University, the third largest university in Canada, feel free to join the campus tour. We have tours everyday, so don't worry about the registering issues! ;) For those of you who want to visit York next week, feel free to register HERE (it will make your day, with Leo's GUARANTEE :)

During the tour, we usually introduce you to the buildings, academic programs, student services and other issues regarding students' university experience.

 Introduction of York U and the main building --- Vari Hall

 Everybody is really enjoying the tour as you can tell :) RED Zone is in behind

Here is a snapshot of campus tour (Special thanks to Danny, my colleague, and the group for letting me taking these amazing pictures, thumbs up if you like :)

Are you excited about the Campus Tours at the moment? Please register for the FREE CAMPUS TOURS and I hope to see you soon in the upcoming tours ;)

The AMAZING RED Zone Student Ambassador Recipe

I still remember the first day that I came to York University as an International student. On that particular day, I had to get my student card; every emotion was running through my mind. All of these mixed emotions were quickly resolved when I was graciously welcomed by the RED Zone ambassador. The approachable demeanor of the RED Zone staff made me feel like I was back at home where I felt safe to ask whatever question I desired. 

Once I realized that RED Zone was a safe and comfortable environment, I quickly began to ask more questions regarding both the academic and student life at York. RED Zone has provided me with ample opportunities to get involved and has been one of the most beneficial programs.  Ever since that positive and helpful experience, I have wanted to “pay it forward” and help my fellow York peers. 

1.      Knowledge of York:

Vari Hall

I have been volunteering as a student ambassador for two years now at York University. This position has given me the chance to continuously speak and engage with large and diverse crowds of prospective students and their parents. It has also taught me how to interact with people by asking questions and playing interactive games during presentations. Also, this role has given me many opportunities to gain a wealth of knowledge about the University’s academic and student life through: ambassador training, continuous guiding tours and volunteering for a variety of big events, such as Ontario University Fair, Fall Campus Day and Spring Gala.                                       

2.      Knowledge of Colleges:

I hold the position as Peer Mentor at New College since last September, basically, the role of this position is to help first year New College students to get involved in their college and expand their knowledge of the program and service that York offers. This position has allowed me to understand the needs of students and offer them guidance in dealing with the issues they face in their academic or campus life. One of the questions that I am asked on a regular basis is, “How can I apply for scholarships or bursaries?” From that question, I can suggest the process and show them how to. Also, I am in constant collaboration with other mentors and officers to organize college events such as coffee maker, peer mentor ice-breaker and so forth.

3.      Knowledge of Student Clubs and Associations:

During my first year, I will never forget the advice and encouragement that my Don gave to me. He suggest that I be active in the York community and attend campus events to ultimately keep myself busy to overcome being homesick. And, I can honestly say that this advice really worked, it has the Leo guarantee :)  As result, I have joined and held a leadership position in two distinct clubs: 1) International Students Aassociation@ York, where I volunteered for a bunch of events including: International Week and 2) Atkinson Professional Accounting Association, where I am working as the Communication Director. During these positions, I have developed my interpersonal skill and have become a sensitive listener through the continuous interactions with other students. Also, I have developed great organizational and promotion skills through tabling, sending promotional messages to club members and assisting in holding a variety of events such as: the CA Night, PwC recruiting workshop, Annual Spring Networking Night and so forth.

4.      Knowledge of residence:

I have been living in residence for 3 years and regard it as my second home. My experience of living in residence has familiarized me with the Residence Life program as well as issues/concerns facing the residence community. Currently, I am working as a Night Porter at Pond Residence. Through this, I have become a good team player where I work with other porters, greet and sign-in guests by taking a proactive approach in building a cohesive community based on mutual respect, consideration and open-mindedness. On top of this position, I also hold a volunteer position as an event organizer at Pond Rez Council. This is where residence gets really fun! We have organized events such as: Potluck, Multicultural Fair and Pond Semifinal for residents. Click the video to see how amazing it is to live in residence at York. (From HealthED @ York)                                                   

Having an extended knowledge of York, Student Clubs and Associations, the Colleges, and Residences are the core ingredients for becoming an AMAZING RED Zone Student ambassador. I truly would love the opportunity to join the RED Zone team where I could give back to York all of the blessings that have been given to me  ^ ^  

I often visit these sites and what about you?

Hi guys, Leo again :) Hope you guys enjoyed my brief campus tour blogs. Now it is the time to talk to you about websites that I often visit :) 

My Favorite Websites:

1.   York University: As a York student, I visit the university website almost ten times a day to check if there were any new coming events, or check my student account and my email. I found that there are tons of useful resources on the  York website that caught my attention. For example:

YU Connect:  I use YU connect to keep me updated with upcoming academic and social events at York. Also, it is used as a platform for students to expand their social network and join different clubs at York.

RED Zone: As a student, you may encounter different issues; this could range from being lost on campus to other enrollment related issues. Therefore, RED Zone is a great website to gain general knowledge about the campus or just answer specific questions.

Writing Centre: Over the years, I have received a lot of great advice and knowledge from the excellent professional writing advisors at the Writing Centre and York. The website is a very good resource for students to get started in writing professional academic essays.

The three websites above are only a few of the York websites that I use on a regular basis. On a later blog I will discuss other York websites which may be useful to prospective students and are not mentioned above. 

2.  Facebook: My favorite social networking site. I can not only keep in touch with my friends, but also create or join a bunch of social events and organizations which can help to expand my network. As the old saying goes, “Killing two birds with one stone.” :) 

3.   Blogger: I recently started blogging and I find that I am getting quite addicted to it. Once you realize that a lot of people are reading and following your blog, you get very motivated to continue.  Also, this is a great way to inform and stay connected with others all around the world.

4.  Twitter: This is the best way to state exactly what is on your mind at any moment and publicize it. Again, the more followers you have the more addicted you get to it. And it is pretty cool to share what you think with people around the world on a timely base, which we could not achieve prior to Twitter. 

5.  Youtube: One of the best Social Medias known to the world. I usually use Youtube as a source of entertainment as there are so many hilarious clips on it. You can pretty much find anything you want to find on Youtube. As a student, I use Youtube as a study resource and even to help me learn to cook different foods :) 

6.  BBCNews: I like this news website because it updates first hand news around the World. The most amazing part is that the news is divided by continent which makes the website easy to navigate. With the different categories is makes it easy to figure out what is taking place in different parts of the World at one specific moment in time. So sick! :) 

There are many web-sites I may not have mentioned, feel free to bring them to my attention and share with me all the exciting web-sites you find yourself visiting on the web.

Brief Tour of York U (Part 4)

This is our new Life Science Building, which is planned to be finished in the spring of 2011. This building is to respond to the growing demand for health and life science training in the GTA. This 80 million project will add a massive 160000 sq feet of classroom, office and research spaces for the faculty of science and engineering.

The above picture is the logo of Bethune College. Here I just want to briefly talk about the college system, as a York Student you’ll be affiliated with a particular community based on your learning interest and this is called the college system. For example, I am in the Business Administrative program therefore I belong to the New College. Within these colleges you have students, administrative staffs and professors that are in your field and they are there to help you and guide you. They help you to enroll in courses, answer any academic related issues and host many social events such as frosh week etc.

The picture above is Archive of Ontario and York’s research tower, it was recently built coincident with York’s 50 year anniversary. Please it if you want to know more information about this research tower.

The first picture is a snap shot of the Student Centre, it is probably the most popular hangout place for students. Here, students can have a quick meal from different fast food restaurants and chill during class breaks. Meanwhile, we have club offices on the second and third floor, which can be easy for students to register and chill.

The picture above is from York Lane, which is a mini on campus mall. We have many different services here, such as convenient stores, restaurants from different countries, bookstore, travel agency, barbershop and etc.

This big field is known as York Common, a great place to hang out with friends. Each day, about 1600 buses arrive here at York and provide services all over the GTA. There are also shuttles throughout the day, travelling from here to Glendon. One important highlight to share with you guys is that by the year of 2015 we will have a subway system here, making the campus an even livelier environment and further emphasize York’s restlessness in growing both academically and globally.

Thank you so much for reading my brief campus tour blog. In addition, there are more programs and services that I want to bring to inform you guys about such as the go safe program, RED Zone program, writing centre, career centre, ESL Opening Centre and etc. If you want to know more about this program, leave comments below and follow me to ask further questions you want to know about York and I will answer all your questions through the blog, so take actions now and follow me :). I wish you all good luck with your university applications!