Hi, I’m the second year student who asked about if having no experiences is bad. Thank you so much for your response I felt a lot better after reading it!
hey there,
yay, glad to hear it! thanks for reminding me i’m not speaking into the void.
over and out,
aska
I just wanted to say thank you for answering all of my questions that I asked while panicking/having a crisis about my life direction. They really helped me feel like it wasn’t the end of the world, cheers. 🙂
hey there,
that is so sweet of you! finally, somebody appreciates me for my helpfulness and not just my nose-breaking, mad-scientist-esque, should-be-showered-with-praises-and-secretly-a-celebrity wit and charm.
being this perfect and flame retardant, you would think i should have a fanbase or at least fan accounts that make edits of me, right? but that area of my life is dry as a desert.
aska has always got your back, my friend. i’m so glad my answers were helpful. with all these anonymous questions, sometimes i wonder who’s reading them and if i made any sense, so thank you so much for getting back to me, it means a lot. you will always be welcome here in aska-land. *pirouettes out the door*
over and out,
aska
hi! first, thank you for all the work that you do! it has deterred many mental breakdowns and instinctive stress eating for me. second, i’d like to ask you a question about when i should start applying for uoft’s faculty of arts and science at st. george. see, i’m a little paranoid about applying too early (like, october to early november) because i heard that means they’ll look into your grade eleven marks and those really aren’t my best (i think i had, like, ib precalculus and ib art at a 79%?). but i’m also afraid of applying a little too late. when do you think would be a good time to start the application process??
thanks!
———————————————
hello!
thank YOU for thanking us! sometimes, it can get a little overwhelming when trying to answer everyone’s questions, especially since there is only one aska at the moment. people can even get mad at us if we don’t respond in time, when really, all urgent matters should be taken elsewhere. we would not be here if it weren’t for people like you having mental breakdowns*. thank you for your kind words and patience. it means a lot.
applying to schools is a lengthy and arduous process and i would recommend you get started as soon as the application comes out. the U of T website states that applications will be available in october, so i recommend that you log into the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) as soon as it’s available and start making your application as appealing as possible. think long and hard about your personal statements and make them genuine.
starting early will give you tons of time to ask your guidance counsellor/ askastudent/ upper-years questions and it’ll give you one less thing to worry about when you’re making the most of your last year of high school!
the application deadline is february 1st, so make sure you have your application in by then.
you’ll also need to rank your colleges at some point and for that, i would recommend you check out our other posts about colleges!
if you want more guidance in this process, this link will give you a good idea of what the application process is like.
best of luck to you and I hope we’ll see you around!
cheers,
aska
*don’t even get me started on the stress eating. i wolfed down an ice cream sandwich, a twinkie, and half a box of chocolate covered triscuits while writing this post.*
Hi,
I tried to comment this but for some reason, the comment verification system didn’t work.
I just wanted to say, you’re HILARIOUS and very edgy. Please keep the excellent work!!! And if whatever you’re doing doesn’t work out for you, consider going into writing as a profession.
Cheers!
———————————————
hey there,
thanks a lot, dude! i try really hard to be a dark and brooding edge-lord, mostly in an ironic way but i do worry for the earnestness of my jokes sometimes.
i have to mention though, that there are two of us writing for askastudent at the moment, and all the good writing comes from my counterpart. when she takes over, i fully expect the quality of this website to increase exponentially in quality and decrease exponentially in outdated sonic meme references.
i don’t even know what my profession is going to be yet (possibly eating saltines while crying? binge-watching broad city? getting into petty arguments with people who don’t deserve it against my better judgement?), but i do hope that writing will always be a part of it. i want to do something meaningful with my life – which you may not have guessed, considering i write like someone whose life is going south fast and who wants to take as many first-years down with me as i can.
maybe i can just be a dan brown ghostwriter for the rest of my life. even if i’m not fulfilled, at least i’ll always be entertained at work.
cheers,
aska
P.S. we are in the process of trying to fix the comments – sorry it’s taken so long!
Dear aska,
I would like to ask some personal questions. (Feel free to skip any of these questions if you feel too anxious about them.)
What inspired you to create this blog sometime 20 years ago?Before you were aska, what were you (other than being in Innis)? What are you doing when you’re not being aska?How does it feel to become a popular blog for UofT?What are your overall expectations/future aspirations for this blog and for life in general?If you could give one piece of advice to every UofT student (based on your experiences and your blog), what would it be?
Many thanks!
———————————————
hey there,
thanks for the questions! they kinda made me feel like a celebrity. *puts on shades* *gives paparazzi the finger* *strokes the Italian Greyhound poking out of my Louis Vuitton bag*
1) i didn’t create askastudent, much as i’d like to be able to take the credit for it. (also, i’m really trying not to get offended that you thought i was like, what…40 years old? at least? please, trust me…i’m still young and hip…you gotta believe me, man).
askastudent has gone through a lot of askas – we tend to rotate in and out on a yearly basis (with some exceptions). askas are always students at uoft, so once an aska graduates, they are OFF to BIGGER and BETTER THINGS.
all the askas are unified by our INCREDIBLE WIT AND CHARM, so people usually can’t tell when there’s a new aska, which can make it seem like there’s been one person writing the same blog for twenty years. but i feel like that would be kind of excessive, so…we don’t do that.
2) before i was aska, i was just another student, like you! after i became aska, i remained another student, like you, with the exception that now i’m allowed to prattle on without restraint on this blog. goodness knows why they let me do it.
3) when i’m not being aska, i’m usually either avoiding schoolwork by binge-watching old Disney movies, being slightly late to class, and complaining about school to friends in various diner spots on campus. i can also be found in a number of other positions/roles at the university, but in the interest of not being too identifiable, i won’t tell you exactly what those are.
just trust that the other things i do are COOL and FUN.
4)/5) *sweeps back platinum blonde hair* well, i never thought i would end up here…so famous…i owe it all to my fans, really…
honestly, i’m just happy i’ve been given the opportunity to be a part of askastudent. a lot of really talented people have written for this website, and i just hope to be able to live up to the example they’ve set. i really care about this blog. i care about keeping an open and honest dialogue between students, and i believe in students helping students, so i guess my future hopes for the blog are that it continues to exist and improve and help out students.
6) my future aspirations for life in general are that i can find a job. just…any job that will let me pay rent and buy food. that would be so ideal.
7) my advice for any uoft student would be: try to experience your time here as deeply as possible. get involved, talk to people, do the things you’re excited about and see where they’ll lead you.
this is the time to try new things and get outside your comfort zone a bit, because the consequences to not conforming are going to be relatively light compared to later on in life.
so stay out with your friends until 4am, join that club you’ve been eyeing, say the controversial thing in class, and put your heart and soul into the things and people you care about.
also: none of the colleges are better than any of the others. so stop asking.
thanks for the Q’s!
xoxo,
aska
Hey aska!
Aska seems like a cool group of people. I’m going into my 4th and final year and I totally wanna get involved with ya’ll. How can I?
———————————————
hey there,
thanks for the compliment! we are a pretty rad group, if i do say so myself.
every aska gets the job a different way. my personal recommendation – if you really want to increase your chances of getting it – is that you spend a month or so serenading me. any genre of music will do; i’m not picky. just make sure that you’re at my beck and call and ready to sing at any time of the day or night – of course, i can’t sing for myself. that would be absurd.
also, if you want to spontaneously bring me coffees and treats, i wouldn’t mind that at all. compliment my hair. replace the flowers in the vases at my place. carry me on a litter from class to class, enjoy some white-water sports with me – just little things, y’know?
or you can just keep an eye on the CLN and apply online, since askastudent is a work-study position. but like, whatever. it’s your decision.
xoxo,
aska
Just wanted to thank you for this blog. And your existence in general. It’s greatly, greatly appreciated. Thank you, aska. Thank you for taking your time out and helping all of our curious souls.
———————————————
see mom??? SOME people appreciate my existence. not everyone wonders “what the h3&k they did to deserve me.”
seriously though, it’s not a problem. i’m happy to do it. keeps me off the streets. it builds character. it’s helping me to become a real boy. or something along those lines.
and hey. HEY. i appreciate your existence too, random person off the internet. i really do.
xoxo,
aska
Hey Aska,
I just have a few first year questions that have crossed my mind since it’s almost time for school again.?*gasp*
1. I’m taking a first year language course that requires me to attend an interview on September 2…which is also during frosh week.? The interview is used to basically confirm that my language skills aren’t higher than the course that I signed up for.? My super awkward questions is: Do I have to dress up for this interview like I would for a job interview? I’m not sure if this is a casual quick interview type of thing.? As it’s during frosh week though, I don’t want to ditch the frosh activities and show up in my frosh t-shirt.
2.? I’m looking to find a Work-Study job.? But I’m having difficulty finding jobs that are geared towards first year students because most of them list “knowledge of campus and clubs and blahblahblah”, which obviously I have no experience with yet. Can first year students apply to be Askastudent? Are there any other jobs for first years?
Thanks,
Inexperienced First Year
———————————————
hey there,
some excellent questions! frosh is definitely all about the big t-shirts and cutoff shorts, so formal wear won’t be very practical. i’m guessing (though i could be wrong) that your interview is for EAS100, because it has a september 2nd interview date. if that’s the case, there’s nothing on their site that indicates business/formal wear is required.
i think these interviews are more to test competency than anything else. just to be safe, you may want to pack a button-down shirt in a duffel bag and take it with you on that day, but i doubt it’ll be necessary.
(also, you can miss some – or all – frosh events, if you need to. just FYI.)
as for work-study, there are a LOT of work-study positions. i would steer away from research-based positions, which tend to go to upper year or graduate students. on the other hand, positions that require multiple people (for example, if a whole team is being hired) often take first years who can then be mentored by upper year students on the team, and groomed to take over in the following years.
as for askastudent, it has typically attracted upper year students because it requires strong writing skills and a good knowledge of the school (experience with WordPress is an asset). however, it’s entirely possible that a first-year student could completely SLAY any upper year candidates in any or all of those areas.
askastudent may not be hiring any new people this year, but keep an eye out on the CLN! if a position becomes available, it will be there, along with all other work-study jobs on campus.
generally, apply wherever you can. if you have most of the skills listed on a posting, but not all of them, apply anyway. the worst they can do is not call you. trust me, if you apply to enough places, you’ll move on pretty easily.
cheers,
aska
You’re hilarious!! May I ask what you are in at u of t?
———————————————
hey there,
what am i in, you ask? that’s a complicated question, and it doesn’t have just one answer. most days, i’m in a sleep-deprived haze, tinged with an?aura of grumpiness and impatience. i’m told this gives off the most delicate smell of lavender. then, after i’ve downed my cup of Life & Vitality, i’m very briefly in a state of euphoria, before i sink back into the bare bones of functionality.
most days at uoft, i’m in the library. which library? well, it depends on whichever one’s closest and not packed. sometimes, around exams, everywhere is full and i just have to spend the evening wandering around campus, in a state of existential despair. “why aren’t the libraries open to me?” i’ll ask myself aloud as i stroll down st. george and people cross the street to the other side. “is this a sign that all knowledge is closed to me?” i’m often in the deepest pools of crippling angst.
also, i’m usually in my most comfortable clothes while at uoft. while most folks go for the smooth and sleek look – you know, hair brushed, matching shoes, shirts and pants not randomly paired together – i prefer to?opt for hobo-with-nothing-left-to-lose chic. it’s fun and functional!
oh, i’m also in the english specialist program.
cheers,
aska
How did you manage to procure this job? And should I be interested once I actually join U of T, is there a chance I could take your job? (Not by force of course, but you would step down and I would step up.)
———————————————
hey there,
well, lemme tell you how it all went down. my family was spending the summer at this random lighthouse, which is really far away on this teeny little island off the coast of England. i live with my aunt and uncle and their son. i’m not super close with them, but, i dunno, i was kind of excited to be spending the summer away, y’know?
there weren’t enough bedrooms for us all in the lighthouse – i mean it was this rickety old thing, my uncle even bought a gun in case we were attacked – so i had to sleep on the bottom floor. i remember i was just about to turn eleven years old. i wasn’t able to sleep because i was too excited about my birthday. i lay there, on the sandy floor, counting down the seconds to midnight.
then, when the clock struck twelve, there was this crazy loud knocking sound at the door. i jumped up and stood there, petrified, as the knock continued. then the door actually completely broke down and there was – no lie – a GIANT at the door.
he walked in and eyeballed me. then he said, “yer an aska, harry!”
but it doesn’t happen that way for everyone. some askas back in the 1400s pulled swords out of stones (weird, right? why would you put a sword in a stone? you keeping it warm, or something?), some had to complete 12 tasks (to see whether the aska was a well-rounded student, i guess), one aska blinded a cyclops, and one aska killed Ned Stark. recently, all the applicants had to battle to the death during this really intense game in an alternate reality where jennifer lawrence is a brunette.
and some askas just apply to the job on CLN, ‘cuz it’s a work-study position.
Are you paid to answer questions? Or are you just that nice?
———————————————
hey there,
hmm, the binary you’ve set up is giving my a squirmy feeling in my belly. do you have to do something pro bono (as the lawyers would say) in order for it to be good? is someone who, day in and day out, assists students with the red tape and confusion of life at uoft, STANDS BY THEM all the way from grade 12 to graduate school, a saint? and are they relegated to demon status if they’re compensated monetarily for their positively monumental efforts?
does the VEHEMENT HYPOCRISY of a capitalist society that both shames and prioritizes the collection of WEALTH stretch so far as to CONDEMN aska, all alone in her little lifeboat, barely afloat as she SELFLESSLY attempts to pull distraught seafarers out of the increasingly intimidating swells in the TUMULTUOUS OCEAN that is TORONTO?
can’t i be nice AND paid???
…yeah, i am. i’m paid to answer questions. i certainly don’t get paid to be nice (or beautiful; that’s just an added benefit 😉 ). as much as i would like to think that i could maintain this blog on the side of my studies without being encouraged to do so by employers who are extremely patient and understanding of all my laziness and craziness, that’s probably all vanity.
aska wouldn’t exist if it were just up to me, one slightly insane student up against the entire university. it runs with the (pretty generous, considering the entire site is really just me trying to keep the sonic meme alive) help of the university.
so that’s that. if you’re sitting there gritting your teeth and going, “i can’t believe she gets to do that for money while i have to carry boxes/wait on drunks/stock shelves for minimum wage,” then not to fear! askastudent is a work-study job.
there are many work-study jobs offered by the university of toronto, some of them like mine, some of them not, but all of them pretty cool. if you’d like to apply for one, keep an eye out here; the fall/winter jobs should be posted around august.
plus, you know, when i eventually graduate/mess up here, you can always have a go at my job.
cheers!
aska
Dear aska,
I am approaching the end of my first year as a student enrolled at UofT St. George campus and I have been following your site ever since
the the latter parts of my high school life. I absolutely love your site and it has helped to appease much of my anxieties about university life. I was wondering if you are in need of any helpers to run your excellent webpage . I would love to give back to the group that helped me so much throughout my young academic life. Thanks!
Lucy
Hey Aska,
I just wanted to know how one applies to be the next Aska, or if there is more than one. I’m not trying to steal your job, I swear! Just thought I’d
like to help out.
Thanks!
Linda
???????????????
Thanks for your interest. Obviously you know that to be an askastudent, you have to born and bred into awesomeness. A knowledge of subject PoST codes and ROSI programming is a bonus of course, but basically pure unadulterated coolness and fighting superpowers and sensational wit and good bone structure all factor into the Aska package.
In all seriousness, the Askastudent position (which will be vacated starting in October 2011) is a workstudy position. To apply you need to be eligible for OSAP and be taking a minimum of three courses. Keep your eye on the Innis workstudy website or inquire within at the registrar’s office (probably early September is best). You’ll probably need to submit a cover letter, resume, and answer some typical Askastudent questions. Keep your tone within the Askastudent voice and you’ll be fine. (Which means you need to cut the beauty queen talk Lucy!)
Good luck and godspeed wannabee askas. May the summer transform you.
xoxo, Askastudent
Hey aska,
I spent some time reading through the older entries on the site and was able
to (roughly) answer my own question using some of your previous advice.
Thanks all the same!
———————————————
It’s responses like this that make my job so worth it. Read the archive people and use the subject tags for previously answered questions, people!
But if your question has not been answered, ask…ask…ask…
xoxo,? Askastudent