FREE WATER!

Yes, you read that blog title correctly! Free water at York, and I'm not talking about just free tap water. I am talking about drinkable, filtered water for free at York. In Fall 2011, York installed these touch free, fountains that dispense water for free called hydration stations!

Plastic water bottle: not environmentally friendly, and costs money

Hydration station: free, convenient, and environmentally friendly

 

 

Just put your water bottle under the station, and away the water goes!

It's so convenient as there are multiple locations on campus, you get to save money because it is free, be environmentally friendly, and stay hydrated! I recommend bringing a reusable water bottle on the first day of school and I better not see any of you walking around with plastic water bottles. Stay hydrated my friends!

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Don't Let This Concrete Jungle Fool You!

York has over 50 buildings on 457 acres of land, making us a huge concrete jungle! But don't let that fool you, as York does still have some awesome sights. I'm going to let you in on a secret: York has a pond! Now I know, I know, I know it may seem like it's "just" a Pond, but at a big campus such as York it is not to be taken for granted.

The pond that we have on campus- also known as Stong Pond- is one of my favourite places on campus. Located behind the Health Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, it's one of the only places where you can get away from the hustle and bustle on campus to:
- be alone
- relax
- take a few breaths of fresh air
- listen to the birds chirp
- de-stress
It's also my favourite place to jog by every morning!

The Stong Pond (pretty eh?)

It doesn't stop there, as there is also a HUGE family of ducks that can always be found at the Pond taking a swim, walking around, or feeding their adorable baby ducks! They can also sometimes cause a little traffic when they cross the the nearby Pond Road (I know, totally original name), but they are so cute it's hard to stay mad while your waiting for them to cross.

The ducks that live at the Stong Pond

Everyone NEEDS to stop by the Stong Pond at York cause it will be totally worth it, and you'll feel so great after you do. One rule though: you have to invite me! :)

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My Journey To Involvement at York

Back in high school I was not involved in any clubs, organizations, charities, nothing what so ever. As my high school years were coming to an end, I saw University as brand new life. A life where I would be involved with everything I could, meet as many people as I could, and do as much as I could in my limited amount of time here at York.

I spent countless hours searching different clubs at York (even e-mailing a few about how to get involved with them), I remember trying to find out more about this mysterious, and so called "college system" that existed within the parameters of the University, and I even remember looking at the cheer leading and dance teams to find out when they were holding their try-outs (I didn't end up trying out, ending my dreams of staring in the 8th Bring It On).

My campaign poster
(real original)

As you can see I was reeeaaalllyyy keen on being involved. I was probably the first one to sign up for frosh week, and dreamed of once being the organizer of this exciting week that I had heard so much about. Once September rolled around, so did my involvement.

Frosh week was a BLAST, and shortly after I found out there were gonna be elections, so I took the risk and ran for First Year Rep for Vanier College Council! Luckily I got it! :)

Me and my good friends who I met thanks to frosh week
(being a little silly in the Vanier College Council office)

Me becoming involved with Vanier College Council was one of the best decisions I made here at York! Through the position as First Year Rep. I met a huge group of amazing people, learned a ridiculous amount (meetings, minutes, constitutions, etc). and thus was the start of Monika becoming an involved student at York (her dream come true)!

My first year flew by (sadly) but it was awesome, and I'm so glad I made the decision to run for Vanier College Council because it sparked a social, and involved life on campus like no other!

  

Rock Climbing FOR FREE!

In my second year I became Director of Social and Cultural Affairs for Vanier College Council through another election! It was just as awesome as my first year, and I continued to meet more people, and learn more about York! The cool thing is college's run tons of events throughout, and I got to be a part of the planning and participating of all these events!

Me and my council for the 2010/2011 year! 

Me and a friend at a York football game!

Me and my team for RADGE DODGEBALL
(ask me if you wanna know more about this sport!)

As my second year came to and end, and the
elections for the following year were approaching I was deciding whether or not to run for council but then I though really hard and decided... OF COURSE! Being on council was a awesome experience so why in the world would I not be part of it for a third year?! Thankfully I decided to do so, because my dream going into University came true... I became the O-CHAIR for Vanier College Council (O-Chair=person planning frosh week).

A group of us on the last day of frosh week!
(Fancy dinner before the legendary boat cruise!)

First year me would have been so proud! Because I was the O-Chair for Vanier, working at the RED Zone came with the job. Therefore not only was I an O-Chair, but was also a RED Zone Ambassador (another dream of mine when I was an incoming student and came to the RED Zone). The summer flew by but as with every year of involvement, I met even more awesome people, got to plan more events, and attend these awesome events. Frosh week was wicked fun, and so was the school year.

Still making silly faces, 3 years after meeting
all because of frosh week! :)

My third year ended off with the legendary, annual, and ever-so-awesome formal, and yes, I do plan on being involved with Vanier College Council for another year! Thanks to my involvement last year with RED Zone, I got the awesome chance to come back again this year and become the RED Zone Assistant Lead (it is truly the best place to work on campus). I know what you are all thinking: why am I telling you this, and why should you care? Well, take it from me: DO NOT LET YOUR 4 YEARS HERE FLY BY! Involvement is the BEST, and with a school with 400 clubs, organizations, and councils HOW CAN YOU NOT BE A PART OF SOMETHING AWESOME?! DO IT!

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