EN -W-lOM(o(-t- Mich mB cela ee M lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca (Y ‘Oz Korean Cuisine’ review (¥ Upcoming winter trends from Paris Fash- ion Week (¥ FAX EXPO 2017 And more! Tips for self-care over winter break > After a long year, it’s important to treat yourself Greg Waldock Staff Writer Ii been a rough semester. Somehow, it feels like everyone is saying that this year. Maybe it’s the global politics, maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the economy—whatever it is, it feels like students are having a harder time than usual this time around. Thank God winter break is just around the corner. Once all the papers are cited and exams are turned in, it’s important to take a moment to take care of yourself a little bit. Cut the booze. If youre like me, you've been hitting the bottle a little harder than usual these past few months. Once all the school work is done, give your body a break. Celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, but otherwise, let your liver have a rest. It'll help you sleep so much better. Make your bed more comfortable. Speaking of sleep, get yourself a new pillow, blanket, or comforter. You can find them cheap at Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Walmart. They don't have to be extra soft—just giving yourself something warmer while the crappy weather moves in is a strong morale booster. Consider it a reward for surviving 2017! Get out and do things. This is the hardest one for me to write, but it’s so important. Everyone loves staying inside over break, but you just spent all semester writing papers, doing lab reports, and completing assignments—plus any job or jobs you have to do to keep yourself afloat financially. Go do something different! Bundle up and walk around a park you’ve never visited, or take a risk and visit an event you've never been to. Vancouver is packed with stuff and your U-Pass is valid through the whole month of December! You'll need to give yourself all the rest and self-care you can get, because most of us will still need to work over winter break, and visiting family and arranging holiday gatherings is always a huge heap of stress. These three tips are just ways to give yourself a little breathing room, and to psychologically reinforce all the damn good work you've done this past semester. Back to the Stone Ages > What it’s like being a student without a laptop Jillian McMullen Staff Writer Buz yourself a personal laptop is part of the university experience: You get a laptop, a solid school bag into which that laptop will go (most likely one of those ubiquitous Hershel Little America backpacks), and perhaps a few articles of clothing that are both trendy and comfortable. I eagerly bought my own HP computer the summer before my first semester. A few years and many essays later, I had become accustomed to my university career and its dependence on that one piece of technology. Unfortunately for me my little laptop came into tragic contact with the floor last fall, and it’s been a learning curve adjusting to my now very low-tech study methods. There are many reasons why I haven’t purchased a replacement. I no longer live at home so rent and bills have to take precedence. Yes, I could finance a new one, but after getting myself into a bit of trouble with credit card debt in the early years of my “independent” adulthood, I’ve made a point of only buying big ticket items with money I actually have. Second to this is probably a bit of stubbornness. I’ve always been more of a pen-and-paper kind of person when it comes to note taking, anyway. First thing I had to reconcile was that despite my stubbornness, laptops are the assumed standard. Every course I have ever taken has required, in some way or another, regular access to a computer— whether that be participating in online discussions, researching scholarly journals, or accessing lecture notes. | can’t just abandon those requirements because I’ve decided to go to school the old-fashioned way. I’m still expected to complete them. This also meant accepting life was about to get a lot more difficult. I have a smartphone, but there’s only so much a smartphone can do compared to a full-sized computer. I now spend a significant portion of my free time outside of class at the library. Where previously I could just complete work from the comfort of my apartment without time constraints, | am now always conscious of preparing the documents I'll need for the coming week because, 1) once the library closes, that’s it for me, and 2) if I have physical copies, I’m still able to complete readings even without any electronic access. I do find, however, that my eyes get drowsy after reading too much, so to save myself from falling asleep on the couch in my notes, I also spend a lot of time at 24-hour coffee shops. Photo via the ‘Vancouver Sun’ Photo by Analyn Cuarto lll eventually get a laptop, but seeing as this is my last semester, it looks like that won't happen until I’ve finished all my final research papers. While this life style definitely wouldn't work for most, I’ve learned a lot about myself as a student over the past year. I’ve finally learned the time management skills I had failed to acquire over my years spent in university. I’ve also learned that having the most advanced piece of technology doesn’t determine the quality of the educational experience.