Brace Yourselves... Essays Are Coming

I have written quite a few essays during my time here at York University. Since it is that time of the year where essays will be due soon I thought Id give some of my best tips which have helped me along the years...

1. Start Them Early

May seem like the most overrated recommendation but its so true! Essays take time because you need to read materiel, do the research, and then actually pump out X amount of pages filled your arguments and ideas. Point is: give yourself enough time... its the difference between a D essay and a A essay.

2. Talk To Your Professor
They may seem scary and intimidating but most profs are nice and approachable. Feel free to ask them questions regarding your essay and it'll give you a feel for what they are looking for in your paper.

3. Writing Centre
The Writing Centre is a service on campus which provides FREE help with all things essay. They offer help through various ways (15 mins drop ins, 1 hour appointments, and even online help). Get more information about them here or visit them at S311 Ross South.

4. Learning Commons

Located on the second floor of Scott Library, the learning commons can provide assistant with your essays too! They can provide help with writing, research, learning skills, and career services. Furthermore they have workshops going on all the time which can help with achieving those A+ essays! Get more information here.

5. Ref Works

Ref Works is my knight in shining armour (in the essay world). Ref works is a tool to make those tedious bibliographies, much easier. It lets you input your sources, and when your done, you ask it to generate a bibliography and citation in the format you have request. Check out my previous blog post which goes into detail about RefWorks or check out their website here.

6. Think About Past Lectures
There is a reason you've been assigned an essay on a particular topic... and it's not to torture you. Its so you can enhance what you've learned in the class so far. Think back on past themes, topics, and vocabulary you have learnt so far in the class and find ways to tie them into your essay. This will show you understand what you've been learning in class which will then give you a better mark!

Good luck with those essays,

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Free (legal) Movie Rentals

With many movie rental shops disappearing before our eyes, it can be tempting to surf on the web for a free view of a movie you've been dying to see.
Tempting but let's keep in mind that even that comes with challenges: too long to load, bad quality, broken links, constant pausing, and the legal risks are all pains of streaming movies from the net... there's gotta be a better way!

"THERE'S GOTTA BE A BETTER WAY"

STOP THE MADNESS with your local... SMIL Library!

What's a SMIL?!
SMIL stands for Sound and Moving Image Library.

What's a SMIL do?!
The SMIL library allows students to take out movies, documentaries, and feature films for FREE!

Where's a SMIL?!
The SMIL library is located inside the first floor of the Scott Library! The Scott Library is located in Central Square!

Why should I SMIL?!
By taking out movies, documentaries, and feature films from the library you will be enjoying movies for free, from the comfort of your own home, and legally! You will usually have up to 7 days to return your movie. In addition movies the movies are actually up to date, with recent releases available to rent.

SMIL FTW!

Until Next Time, I'll be Yorking Around,

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My New Bestfriend... soon to be your's too!

So I was working on my essay the other day (just finished it actually-yay!) and although I have never been one to look at all the resources the library has to offer, I luckily did a few days ago because I discovered my new best friend... RefWorks!

RefWorks is a website that actually helps you make your citation and works cited! You can even "transfer" books from the library onto the website and it will make a works cited page for you using those books!!  I had no idea this website existed, and as someone who is really bad at doing citation, and bibliography's you can imagine how happy I was to discover it (right away, I was like "gotta share this on my blog").

So here I am... sharing it... on my blog! Check it out! For real, it is one of the most useful website's I have ever found for helping with essays! 

It is a very exclusive website that the University pays for, so to access it you have to log-in through the York Library website! 

GOOD LUCK WITH THOSE ESSAYS EVERYONE!

Until Next Time, I'll be Yorking Around, 

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Art Attack.. at York?!

Someone had suggested a topic for a new blog post: Art around York! So I went around York with my handy dandy camera and took some pictures of Art. What i realized very soon though... YORK HAS A LOT OF ART! The following pictures are of art found in only TWO BUILDINGS! Crazy right?! Enjoy the pictures, as they are all pretty cool! 

If you look closely, this art actually lights up!

Interesting piece. Looks almost not finished which is cool!

Two separate pieces, but same concept.

Art in Scott Library!

Crazy, confusing, and cool?

This sculpture is found outside the Health, and Environmental Studies Building!

Cool concept with the mouths covered.

No. This picture is not posted upside down.
The tree is actually hanging on the wall like this!

Hope you guys enjoyed the art! Keep your eyes peeled for Part Two, because there is SO much more art found around campus! :)

Until Next Time, Ill be Yorking Around,

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