it's the most wonderful time day of the year.

this december, strip away the layers of commercialism associated with this (holi)day; it's more than the cards, presents wrapped in pretty paper, trees, lights and store-bought baked goods. yes, Christmas is about so much more. it's about spending time with your friends and family and letting one another know that you love each other and are loved by each other. but most importantly it's about something much bigger and better than anything we could ever imagine...

amongst everything that comes along with this season, let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas. :)

*tick tock, tick tock*

so i finished up my last exam on monday and came home yesterday night. i'm not completely finished my term *yet* since i have one more music therapy group session to do and the placement binder to finish, but at least all the studying is over and done with.

thank goodness, one more day of studying and i would have gone crazy.

for the first time all term i don't have a reason to rush or panick. instead, i have a lot of time on my hands. it feels kinda wierd but don't get me wrong i'm not complaining; i suppose i'll just sit back and enjoy it while it lasts.

i just have one concern: i hope i don't waste it. ;)

hang in there...

(heehee, i love this picture.)

as students we know that when it starts to snow in late november/early december, it can mean only one thing: exams are coming/here.

oh exam time...the time when all-nighters are most common, under-eye bags become even darker and more prominent, messy rooms become clean for the sake of procrastination and better studying, coffee and study/junk food sales are at their highest, stress levels are peaked, spontaneous panicking occurs more frequently, usually empty libraries become full, study sessions are plentiful, cramming is inevitable, eating habits become even worse, sleep becomes a luxury and students become zombies. good thing finals usually only come twice a year. aghh. :P

to those writing exams this month: all the best! study hard!

to everyone else: keep warm and remember, stay away from the yellow snow. :)

"the little university that finally could"

so i was doing some thinking in an attempt to figure out the 'real' reason behind why i was so into the whole vanier cup championship thing. i mean, i've never been into sports before, i've never followed sports and i've never even sat through a whole football game until this past saturday. so imagine my surprise when i flipped through the pages of the cord as i was eating my grilled cheese sandwich (with tomatoes and cucumbers) from union market, and came across an article with a headline that inspired my blog and kinda laid a lot of things out for me. (actually, i stole it word for word. bah hah.)

in a nutshell, it was basically about how laurier students (and alumni too i suppose) celebrated more than just a football victory when the golden hawks football team won the vanier cup. to many students/alumni, they also celebrated the fact that our school, wilfrid laurier university, finally got it's turn to shine after being in the shadows of other bigger schools...

being a laurier student i've heard all the jokes and all the cracks people take at my school. it's been called the "high school down the street from the university of waterloo", the "second best university in waterloo" and a lot of other things...let's face it, these jokes are old and laurier students have heard them all (in fact, sometimes laurier students are the ones that crack the jokes) and more often than not, most of them are in reference to the size of our school. we know it's small. our campus spans one block by one block, we're not stupid. haha. :P

as a result, generally the feeling i get is that many people underestimate our school and don't give it too much respect. to a lot of people laurier is a second-class university. yah, it may not be the most prestigious when put up against more established schools like the University of Toronto or Queen's, but we shouldn't forget all the good things that laurier has to offer (which is a lot and impressive considering its small size.) we have one of the best music programs in the country, we're the only school that has a full-time masters of music therapy program, we have one of the most reputable business programs in the country, we have one of the leading masters of social work programs, we have community and now we have the best university football team in the country. :)

as a result of last saturday's victory, the football team did more than just win the vanier cup. thanks to them, laurier is finally getting more recognition and respect. it's finally our turn, the small usually-forgotten-overlooked-or-completely-ignored school, to be in the spotlight.

so where exactly is all this laurier talk coming from? although i've always worn my laurier sweatshirts and t-shirts with pride i've never really been one to talk about it all that much. well, over the past week (and especially this past weekend) the fact my time here is slowly coming to an end, has really begun to hit home. when i first moved to waterloo in first year i couldn't wait to leave but now that i'm nearing the end of my undergraduate university career i'm starting to get all nostalgic. (saying goodbye was never one of my strong points. :P)

am i going to miss laurier when it's time for me to go? you bet.

"the battle of the unbeaten..."

today the wilfrid laurier university golden hawks and the university of saskatchewan huskies (both were undefeated going into this game) played against each other in the 2005 desjardin vanier cup. today was also the first time in my whole life, that i sat through an entire football game. yup, i watched the vanier cup championship game from start to finish. (i know. even I was surprised. haha) even more surprising though (to me anyway, since i usually have minimal-to-no interest in sports) is the fact that i thought it was exciting! (but only because laurier was playing.) :P

after watching this game, i kinda regret not watching ANY of their games during my time here at laurier. i mean i literally lived ACROSS from university stadium for two years before this year. actually, i think i may have smiled and said "hello/morning" to gary jeffries (the football coach) once or twice as i was walking down seagram to get to school for my morning classes as he looked kinda familiar. whenever i saw him on seagram heading towards the stadium/laurier football house he seemed really nice and friendly. too bad the season's over and next year i'll be a laurier alumni so it won't be the same. (oh my lanta...scary.)

anyway, i seriously thought i was going to have a heart attack, a stomach ulcer or pass out on several occassions during the last couple minutes of the game. i had my doubts at times, but they certainly reminded me that i'm totally clueless when it comes to sports and that even one minute left in a game is enough time to impact the outcome of a game in a huge way.

i've never been ashamed of being a laurier student and i generally really like laurier but sadly my school pride is pathetic compared to others at my school. for example, my neighbours painted a truck PURPLE and wrote GO HAWKS in big yellow letters, then dressed up in "hawk wear" and were partying it up in the trunk of their truck, on their driveway while making a huge ruckus. *i wish i took a picture of them! it was hilarious!* yep, i would probably never do anything like that but today i'm extra proud to be a laurier student!! hmmm...maybe i will end up buying that purple golden hawks sweatshirt i've been eyeing lately...heehee. we'll see... :P

congrats to the laurier football team, the 2005 desjardin vanier cup champions!!! woot woot!! GOOOOOOOOO GOLDEN HAWKS!!! :D