October 7th, 2021: It's Almost Fall Study Week!

As we are heading into our Fall Study Week, we’d like to wish all current and future Thunderbirds a safe and relaxing week!

Whether you are on a scheduled break or not, it is so important to take time to do some self-care in whatever way that might feel right for you. Some awesome ways our staff and students spend their study week’s include:

• Enjoying all the Fall colours with some beautiful hikes, some of our favourites include: Roberston’s Cliffs, Tarp Rock, Claireville Conservation Area, Heart Lake, High Falls, and Hersey Lake Conservation Area
• Taking advantage of the more quiet student lounges on campus to work on assignments/study
• Making the time to visit with family and friends

However you choose to spend your time, we hope you take some time for YOU.

September 23rd, 2021: Ontario Universities' Fairs

Thinking about your post-secondary options? Don’t miss out on Ontario Universities’ Fair events!

During these virtual events, you can join a university session to learn about the universities of your choice and ask questions. Each university will be offering about 30 minute sessions that will highlight programming, student life, and so much more!

The Ontario Universities’ Fairs will be happening on:

Saturday, September 25th from 12 PM-2 PM

Tuesday, October 26th from 5 PM-8 PM

Stay tuned via https://www.ontariouniversitiesfair.ca/ for updates and any additional events. We hope to see you there!

September 9th, 2021: Tips for Navigating Online Studies

My name is Jessica, and I just survived a whole year of online university here at Algoma U.  Throughout the year I learned what worked and what didn’t, and I think I have compiled a good list of tips to help future students navigate virtual learning!

1. Make yourself a schedule that you can realistically stick to.

–   I think this would be the most important tip.  It can quickly get overwhelming when your classes no longer have a set schedule, but you still have a full week of lectures and assignments to get through.  My advice would be to decide to do each class at the same time every week so that you feel like you have a routine.

2. Remember to set time aside for yourself.

–   During online school, your house becomes your classroom, and it can make it difficult to separate school from relaxation time.  Remember to let yourself have some down time so you don’t burn out!

3. Stay on top of assignments, because you won’t physically be in class to get a reminder

–   I think it was easier to remember when assignments were due when I was actually in class.  Since assignments will be due at different times throughout the day, it’s a good idea to go through the syllabus for each class and just make a list of when all assignments and exams are.  That way you can rest assured that you are on track and not missing any due dates!

4. Keep in touch with others in your program so you don’t feel lonely and get together virtually to study when you can!

–   It can start to feel lonely after being online for months.  I found it really helpful to stay in touch with others in my program.  Texting about class and assignments helps make online school feel a bit more normal.  Getting groups together for facetime study sessions is always a fun idea too!

5. Attend the virtual events put on by the school to keep yourself connected to campus

–   Algoma had lots of virtual events throughout the year which was a great way to still feel like you were on campus and meeting new people without physically being there!

Hopefully you find these tips helpful and are ready and excited to get this new school year started, whether we’re online or in person!

August 19th, 2021: What to keep in your luggage back?

If you are reading this blog, then- a) You have finally received your visa and are now all set to board a flight to Canada (Congratulations!!) or b) You are yet to receive your visa and don’t have a particular travel date in mind but still want to start preparing. Well, my friend, if you fall in the latter category then you are just like me. So, I am, today, writing this blog to share with you my emotional journey and a few tips about preparing for Canada.

I made my mind about Canada when I was in 10th grade and a “10th grader me” had nothing else to do other than dreaming and talking about this beautiful country. I just couldn’t wait to get enrolled in the university of my dreams and then one fine day board a flight and move there but when I received my visa and my mom and I decided that it was time for me to move, it just hit me like a truck. I was LEAVING!! Leaving my mom, my house, my state and my country. Yeah yeah, I know, you guys must be like, “Tia, you knew that was going to happen right?”. It’s just, I couldn’t really believe that it was happening and I was leaving and suddenly I started missing everything, even though I was still home. I started missing my house, my car, my plants, the weirdest parts of my town like the stores nearby and gosh, even my nosy neighbor. But most of all, I was badly missing my momma. Like missing in a manner that I stopped leaving her alone. It was a pretty emotional phase for me and I have no shame in accepting this- I started behaving like a Koala bear that didn’t want to leave its Momma Koala Bear. But then I woke up one day and decided that I needed to stop. I reminded myself of why I decided to take this step and the great opportunities it would bring me one day. I went out with my momma, binged watched some horror series on Netflix, weird I know, and most importantly prioritized myself and my mental health and soon I was back to my normal cheerful Cinderella self. 

Now that we are done with an emotional trip down memory lane, fasten your seat beats, amazing people, I am going to share some tips about packing and what things I kept in mind while preparing.

Weather>Clothes:

While doing my shopping what I kept in mind was the weather. I originally had planned on travelling in January, so I kept a stock of winter wear. So make sure you keep the weather in mind especially of the month you are planning on travelling. Also, bring loads of winter clothes ready and don’t forget your winter jacket. Highly recommended- Decathlon, available online and in-store.

“Which letter has its own brand of shoes? 

Wait for itttt—-A D does.” Got it?????

Ask the sales representative if the shoes are waterproof and will work fine in the snow because you’ll definitely be walking in the snow a lot and that’s actually something I do a lot. Buy your winter boots from Canada!

Serious talk!!

Don’t forget to buy tons of moisturizer. You just cannot skip moisturizing in winter. Also, do not forget your sunscreen, it’s really important! I bought most of my makeup from a website in India, Nykaa, because it has all the brands and I don’t really have to worry about the authenticity of the products and office, it offers great discounts. 

>>>I highly recommend Myntra for clothes and shoes (Only in India). For formals-Van Heusen (Factory outlets offer the best discounts) and ZARA. Accessories – Forever 21 or your local street market. THRIFT SHOPPING FOR EVERYTHING!!!

“If you accidentally drop ice cubes on the floor of the kitchen, quietly slide it under the refrigerator.”

Soon it’ll be…..water under the FRIDGE. 

Gosh, I’m hilarious!

I’m pretty sure that you must have heard at least one person say that you don’t really need to buy everything from your native country, especially the kitchen stuff since you can easily buy it from Canada and honestly they aren’t wrong. There are some amazing stores in Canada and you’ll get everything here. However, there’s something called the “Currency Exchange Rate ”. Let me elaborate further, let’s say you are from India and you plan on buying your kitchen supplies from Canada because, why not?! Now a normal induction pressure cooker in India costs around 800-1500 INR ( depending upon brand and other specifications) and it costs around $145.05 in Canada which after converting to Indian Rupees is 8574.21 INR. So whatever you want to buy or from wherever you want to buy is 100% up to you but what you need to keep in mind are some calculations like these. I truly believe that spending in dollars isn’t a wise choice unless and until you are earning in it. Make sure that your utensils are induction friendly since most kitchens in Canada have indications. Now as for your grocery, I’d suggest only taking the dry things for obvious reasons and make sure you check the customs laws of countries if you are coming from a via route since some countries have food restrictions for travelers. 

>>>Documents, School Supplies and Electronics.

I’d highly suggest carrying at least 5-6 photocopies of all your documents like your resume, driving license, passport, etc. Sure, there are photocopy facilities available all across Canada but when you just have entered this new country and have hundreds of things to do, you can’t really waste your time in doing photocopy and all, right? Also make sure that you have all your school supplies like notebooks, pens, sharpies etc. That’s actually something I had in my list, bold and underlined because I love school supplies! Ohh yes, you need a universal adapter for your chargers and all. You can easily get it from any electronics store like or from Amazon since the plug points in Canada are different. You don’t really need to buy a new laptop or phone specially for Canada, you’ll get great deals on Black Friday and some sim providers also provide great discounts on the purchase of phones along with sims. 

>>Also, you can check out mobile plans on https://www.planhub.ca

Also, whenever you are planning on travelling to Canada, make sure that you inform the Arrive Canada Team in our uni and let them know about your travel plans. You’ll also need some supporting documents like the enrollment letter which you can easily apply for through your student portal.

Well, those were all the tips that I had to share with you guys. I hope to see you all very soon and make sure when you are on campus, you come and say hi to me!! 🙂

Tanishka, 1st Year BBA-Marketing Student

August 5th, 2021: Balancing your Wellbeing

This week’s post is on a very important topic that you have been hearing a lot about over the past year, which is mental health. Mental health is a subject that can sometimes be hidden or forgotten about when running on a busy schedule, like most students are. We as students need to be able to set time aside to reflect on how we are feeling, truthfully, not just how we want or think we should be feeling. Sometimes ask yourself:

– What do I have going on today?
– How am I feeling regarding my workload and extracurricular activities?
– How have I felt over the past few days? Has anything changed?
– What can I do to improve how I am feeling/make myself happier?

These are all easy questions to self-reflect on and analyze. Some days it is okay to have an off-day, everyone does and it’s a normal thing. Not everyday you have is going to be easy, there will be times where things can get overwhelming. For students, mid-term and exam time can be chaotic – where there are just so many assignments and studying to do that we will forget to check in on ourselves. Take a break, go grab a snack, go call your friend and have a quick chat to get your mind off of all the crazy things going on! Some of the best ways I find to relax are:

– Yoga/meditation
– Listen to some of your favourite songs
– Grab your favourite snack and watch an episode of your favourite show
– Talk to some friends
– Write in a journal about how you’ve been feeling

Trust me, you won’t be the only one feeling stressed at times!! There are also many resources out there if you ever are struggling! Be mindful of those around you and have awareness of your mind and body!!

Health Services

https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-mental-health-support

July 15th, 2021: How to Strategically Choose your Electives

Choosing electives can sometimes be tricky, especially if you don’t know what you like and don’t like. That’s what this post is here for! Algoma U offers a variety of electives to help you find your passion and experience new areas of interest that you may not have known about before! 

All of our degree programs have compulsory courses, we know that, but there is also room to choose some other courses within or outside of your program! It is always a good idea to choose electives that you ‘need’, but don’t always have to.  Every program requires some electives from certain areas like humanities or sciences, but then the rest is up to you! 

Some of the best ways to choose an elective is to choose something that you wouldn’t necessarily put at the top of your list. This is an easy way to open your eyes to an area that you might not have thought you’d be interested in! You can even just take an elective that you would find interesting to give yourself a bit of a break and a different view of what you have been learning in your program as well. There are lots of options out there and no better time than university to explore them! 

You can find a list of all of the courses we offer in our Academic Calendar here (starting on page 45)