RezHero of the Week!

When one asks Christina Laffey how she manages to stay so cheery all the time, she says she remembers just always being this way; “maybe it’s my last name,” she says, laughing aloud to illustrate her point. This 18-year-old from Whitby enjoys living in the heart of downtown and spending quality time with her friends, whether walking around aimlessly with them or soaking in the nightlife at Yonge and Dundas square. “I just like doing things together,” says Christina, expressing her love of group outings and hanging out; “I’ve played sports forever,” she says, and that seems to explain why she’s so good at fostering team spirit on Pitman 7. Christina has been the spearhead behind at least two community service projects on her floor, including one that collects pennies until the monetary value reaches $25 and then pays for a lifetime’s worth of water for a selected individual in Africa, and this seems telling of her career choice in coming to Ryerson for the Social Work program. It’s “very flattering” for Christina to be RezHero for the week, for sure, but more importantly Christina just seems to be at Ryerson itself – when talking to her about her school life or her floor, the happiness in her words makes it obvious that she is exactly where she wants to be.

Written by: Vibhu Gairola

Residence Blog post by Mithila Majithia (AL - Image Arts)

Around this time of year, Image Arts students are usually scrambling to write their Art History essays which are worth a hefty percentage of their grade. One of my clearest memories from my first year in residence was the trip to the AGO that my AL [Alexandre Brandt] ran last year to help his students choose paintings to write about. As I settled into my role as an AL this year, one of the programs that I was most eager to run was the art gallery trip.

Since I organized the trip later than Alex had last year, I was unsure of how many students would attend and was pleasantly surprised by the 23 students that were crowding the lobby of Pitman Hall at 6:05 on a Wednesday evening.

We walked over the AGO as the sun was setting and I led the students to the European art section, pointing out the paintings that their professor had selected for them. The next hour was a blur of answering questions, laying out essay structure, and reassuring students that the assignment would not be the end of them.

Overall, I counted the program as a success and left the AGO feeling like I'd carried on an Image Arts AL tradition.

Mithila Majithia

Academic Link

Image Arts

ResHero of the Week! Oct.22nd: Lauren Poetker

Hailing from Meaford, a small town near the Blue Mountains, Lauren Poetker has found a new home on ILLC 6 and is this week's RezHero. A student of the gruelling Interior Design program, Lauren enjoys the fact that Ryerson's campus is like a small town dropped right into the heart of Toronto, with our very own Lake Devo, our little patch of green within Kerr Hall and our own little statue opposite the bookstore on Gould Street. Lauren has known she wanted to pursue a career in interior design since Grade 8, and speaks animatedly about Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which she has always enjoyed because "people who deserve it" get the makeover they need. The inclination towards helping others seems to be a big part of Lauren's life, as she's the one who many often look to for anything from a clothes-iron to Polysporin. With a particular respect for "anyone who dedicates time to help other people," Lauren has dealt with a big change in jumping from a 5,000 strong town to a city with it's own Backwards-Walking Guy, but she has found "one big family" on ILLC 6.  When not working fervently in her coursework, Lauren can be found hanging out with her floor-family and trying to get to sleep despite all the "night-honking" that habitually surrounds Ryerson.

Rez Hero of the Week- Gerry Houngphilaphet

Gerry Houngphilaphet is passionate about films, design and fashion, but most of all he seems passionate about making friends. Hailing from Hamilton, the 19-year-old has visited

Toronto many times before and is down to help his floor in any way since the beginning of Frosh Week. Whether that involves carrying things for other people or just "being a buddy" when they need company, Gerry is the guy you want. A student in the Graphic Communications Management program, he is unabashedly enjoying his studies here as well; “I did the research before coming here,” says Gerry, “So I knew what to expect.” Citing Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one of his chief personal influences, Gerry says he respects not only J.G.L’s acting chops but also the actor’s online collaborative production company, hitRECord.org, which shares all profits with its contributing artists. Gerry is most animated when he talks about films and the people behind them – on his application to Ryerson, the Film Program was one of his main choices. As a GCM student, however, Gerry still gets to create and be involved in the design industry, and that suits him just fine. When not running around school, Gerry can be found at ILLC 11, where his entire floor is “pretty much joined at the hip.” He doesn’t know who nominated him, but does after some consideration, admit that now he feels like passing the good deed on. 

Residence students in the news!

Check out posts from two of our residence students:

Dillion Li- on experiencing residence a second year in a row from the Ryerson Admissions Blog http://whyryerson.ca/my-residence-experience-2nd-round/

Patricia Skagen-Empokpae- on  being a year round frosh-leader from the RU Student Life Blog http://whyryerson.ca/my-residence-experience-2nd-round/

Our student leaders are amazing!

SHS

ResHero of the Week! Oct. 1-5th: Jordan Mady

His one complaint about living on Rez, or in Toronto for that matter, is that “you can’t see the stars,” but otherwise, Jordan Mady is doing well enough here to be this week’s ResHero. A student of the Journalism program, Jordan is extremely passionate about writing and enjoys sports, but interestingly is considering writing fiction for a living. Jordan enjoys “how nice everyone is here,” especially his home-floor Pitman 14, and looks up to his RA for all her smiles and cheer. Eager to do good deeds and help those who need it, Jordan’s keep-your-chin-up philosophy in life is as simple as it is endearing. The hunt, as it seems for him, is for “something bigger” to be a part of, and perhaps that’ll be easier to find here than in Sittisville, Ont., but the hunt has begun.  For now, this 18-year-old is satisfied just moving along with his studies and lending a shoulder along the way.

Congratulations Jordan, you're awesome!

Business Networking Workshop

Check out this post recapping the Business Networking Workshop by Lisa Hooey one of our Academic Links-Business.

On Friday September 24th Ryerson Business students participated in an "Ice-cream Networking Social" run by us TRSM AL's, Lisa Hooey and Alexa Muir. During this event students discovered the importance of networking in the business world and how to gain contacts and create strong connections.

 The students learned how to utilize their networks to create opportunities, land jobs and climb the ranks in the workplace. After the interactive presentation students were able to then practice their networking skills over a bowl of ice-cream which was when the fun started! The room was buzzing with positive interactions between strangers and we were more than impressed to see contact information being exchanged

. Thank you to those students who participated, we hope to see you again at our next event!

SHS