CODY SHIMIZU

A look into my life, a journal to look back on, a blog for others to see.

Ive been in university for 1 month now, so that technically makes me an expert on the topic, student life, the university experience, courses you should take, things you should do during your university years, don’t worry Ive already written like 3 midterms!! All kidding aside heres how im dealing with university, from letter grades to GPA, to not having to ask to go to the bathroom.

So a bit of background, I am currently studying Kinesiology at the University of Alberta. Coming into university from an year off I was a little worried that the comfort of working at a bike shop and not having to worry about deadlines would be a life too comfortable to leave behind. But to my surprise I was actually excited to go to school (yea, like seriously I WANTED to go to school). Maybe it was this glorified image of the life of a university students, or just being able to see my friends more often I was looking forward to university. Going to orientation I was a bit nervous like everyone else, new school, new environment, new people, it was the uncertainty of everything. The entire day consisted of making awkward small talk with other self-conscious teens following around our over enthusiastic group leaders (I mean like in a good way, they did an amazing job guiding us around making the day enjoyable). Going into the first class it was a bit of getting used to, small awkward tables to balance the laptops on, classes were like concert halls with hundreds of other students, and our teachers telling that they don’t care if we show up or not. It was also cool to see people that I haven’t seen in years, people from elementary, junior high, from when I played hockey, from air cadets.

In terms of actual studying, to be blunt Ive never studied this hard in my life to this point. In High school I could come home, ditch my bag, grab my bike, and pedal to the trails. But now after every class if I don’t go through my notes, to gain a proper understanding of whats going on in class, and look ahead sometimes I will quickly start falling behind. Also on the fact of how quickly we move through the content. I mean like seriously, in anatomy class they talked about all of the muscles below the elbow in 90min!! LIKE HOLY CRAP I CANNOT REMEMBER 20 muscles of the forearm, 10 muscles of the hand, their actions, where they originate from and where they insert into from a power point slide that we looked at for 2min!! So... yea. At least its interesting.

The first midterm was at the end of September, yes 3 weeks into school. It was probably the most stressful few days leading up to it, I had gotten a cold, I really didn’t have a good system for remembering large volumes of information in a relatively short amount of time. But I got through it, at least it’s a good enough mark for me.

Oh and hows cycling going you ask? Its going nowhere. With my lack of better time management, studying for midterms, writing essays, and papers with unnecessarily strict formats (well, at least I think so), and having a cold, I am disappointed to say Ive barely even touched my bike. BUT don’t worry, my midterms are done (well not really; are we ever done studying?) I am hoping to be rolling out for the last little bit of cyclocross season. Although the fitness is down the drain, the stoke is still there.

FYI University + Studying = LOTS OF CAFÉ TIME