What are you most excited for this winter break?

• CHRISTMAS - I've started buying gifts already :p - Jessie Chen M3

• I am not excited at all. I love waking up at 6:51 every morning and doing 5 hours of homework every night! - Avielle Spector - Bloch F2

• Summer - Jacob Marr, M4

• SLEEEEEEEEEEEP AND NO OLYMPIADDSSSSS -Gabriel Tian, F2

What are some interesting holiday traditions?

• Waking up at 2 and visiting the Christmas tree...wait doesn't everyone do that? - Margaret Lou, F2

• Me decorating the Christmas tree by myself n crying - Zehra Alvi, M4

• Massive Christmas party every year - Jessie Chen, M3

• Eating snow - Sophia Wang, F2

• Leaving a seat and a set of cutlery for DEAD family members (apparently I am dining with the ghosts) - Daryna Pilkiw, M3

What's the weirdest gift you've ever gotten?

• Actually, nothing that weird. I guess a sex-ed book. That was pretty weird back then. - Matas Keras, S6

• 100% Pure Salt (George) -Aaron Zhou, M4

• A SINGLE sock (and the thing is I received another gift that was also a single sock from someone completely different) -Sophia Wang, F2

What are some ideas for a last-minute gift?

• Put the word MAC in a book and call it a MacBook - Sahil Bhatia F1

• Boyfriend? -Zehra Alvi, M4

• Money. Also known as dough, liquid, and something-Asian-parents-don't-give - Gabriel Tian F2

• The victim's death. It is last minute. - Kevin Guo, F2

What are your plans for the holidays?

• Sleep, sleep, sleep - Elliot Tseng M3

• Skiing, skating, falling, dying - Matas Keras S6

• Existence - Jacob Marr, M4

• sleep. And more sleep, and maybe a little more if I’m feeling daring - Serena Suleman, M3

Ddon’t fall victim to zodiac-y stereotypes this holiday season!)

In the first month of the Zodiac, Aries said to me

“I just want to be free!”

Aries, don’t feel like you have to always be leading the adventure and doing the most. You’re a brave, interesting soul — but make sure to take time for yourself, too.

In the second month of the Zodiac, Taurus said to me

“I’m struggling with love...”

Taurus, it’s no secret that you’re a kind person who’s always down for some winter cuddling. But your relationship status doesn’t define you. Don’t put pressure on yourself if something’s not working out!

In the third month of the Zodiac, Gemini said to me

“I’m fighting with my friends...”

Gemini, it’s okay to get in arguments. We all get frustrated, and it in no way makes you a bad person: it makes you human. Make sure you’re taking enough time for yourself, and don’t overload with too many projects — interpersonal or not.

In the fourth month of the Zodiac, Cancer said to me

“I just can’t find the words...”

Cancer, a lot of people see you as a leader, and sometimes it can get overwhelming: you might not even know where to begin. This holiday season is a good time to take a step back and enjoy some me-time, whether that’s making chocolate bark or binging Disney+!

In the fifth month of the Zodiac, Leo said to me

“Golden hour photos!...”

Leo, it’s no secret you have a big personality. But you don’t need to worry so much about how others see you! Take a step back from social media this winter break and focus on what you need, not what you feel like you need to show the world.

In the sixth month of the Zodiac, Virgo said to me

“I’m always stressing!”

Virgo, being a perfectionist is difficult. Nothing ever feels good enough. But as you approach all of your end of year tasks, remember to breathe and take time to care for yourself every so often. Self-care is totally okay, and a good way to spend this winter break!

In the seventh month of the Zodiac, Libra said to me

“Nothing’s going fairly...”

Libra, justice is very important to you. But it’s not always your job to resolve the conflict in the world around you, especially if it’s just making the rest of your life difficult. Spend time working on projects that matter to you this holiday season, and leave that one group chat for a few hours if it’ll help you take a mental break.

In the eighth month of the Zodiac, Scorpio said to me

Scorpio, you often feel pressured to keep your feelings under wraps, which might manifest as jealousy towards others. Do yourself a favour: be kind to yourself and let others know how you feel! You’ll be able to have more fun hanging out with your friends this holiday season if you give yourself permission to relax.

In the ninth month of the Zodiac, Sagittarius said to me

“This is taking forever...”

Sagittarius, you focus so much on what’s important to you, any slight roadblock makes you feel frustrated and impatient. This holiday season, take a step back from the moment, and work at letting go of this instinctive reflex: you might discover something new you enjoy along the way!

In the tenth month of the Zodiac, Capricorn said to me:

“Don’t even think about it.”

Capricorn, you’ve always been a stickler for tradition. If your holiday plans go quite right, you might feel upset or frustrated well into January! Make sure you work on communicating well this season, though, so you give others room to do things that are important to them as well… and build some new, exciting traditions for yourself as well! It’ll all be okay — we promise.

In the eleventh month of the Zodiac, Aquarius said to me

Aquarius, you like to swim upstream sometimes, and that’s okay. Just make sure you’re giving other people the space they need to express themselves too: whether it’s how they wrap holiday gifts or the way their front porch is decorated. By doing this, you give yourself permission to explore even newer ideas of yours as well!

In the twelfth month of the Zodiac, Pisces said to me

“I can’t stop crying!”

It’s no secret you’re emotional, Pisces. With the decade drawing to a close, all of us are feeling the melancholy and nostalgia. Take care of yourself this holiday season — make sure that you spend a lot of time with others. Don’t feel like you need to deal with your feelings alone. We’re all here for you!

Delights

1. Half day on the 20th!

   • freedom ! ! - Angela

   • Half of the year has gone by!! - Sumin

2. Holiday breakfast

   • Yummiest school event <3 - Sonia

3. Spotify Rewind

   • Spotify, the best invention since sliced bread - Angela

   • Seeing all of the songs from the decade makes me so nostalgic - Sumin

   • The Kahoot music made my top 100 playlist! - Sonia

4. End of summative crunch (for now)

   • a much needed breather for our google calendars! - Angela

   • Two summatives on the last day caught me off guard - Sumin

   • What will I do with all this free time? Certainly not the uni apps I’ve been putting off? - Sonia

5. Binge-watching new movies & TV shows

   • did someone say the knight before christmas - Angela

   • I’m not leaving my bed :,) - Sumin

6. Candygrams

   • Can universities have candygrams too?? - Sumin

7. Tea

   • & hot chocolate & warm drinks all around :”) - Angela

   • Tea making math class infinitely better :) - Sumin

   • There’s tea and there’s the tea...both are good - Sonia

Poisons

1. When the school heating is *always* on full blast

   • a tropical villa vacation - Angela

2. Slush

   • hopefully on the ground, not in your boots - Angela

   • Getting your sneakers wet is a constant mood - Sumin

   • When it snows one day?? And then rains the next??? No thank you - Sonia

3. End of the decade?

   • to new beginnings !! - Angela

   • A new third digit??!! - Sumin

4. Friends or family that are hard to buy gifts for

   • How do you shop for men??? - Sumin

   • Solution: Muji(!), ‘cause everyone loves stationery - Sonia

5. Weather-related TTC delays

   • Always a poison, and with good reason :( - Sonia

6. The day getting dark too early

   • Walking home from the bus in the dark is a pretty surreal experience - Sonia

7. Snowstorms

   • cars that slow down to avoid spraying you with snow >> - Angela

Dear Lagging Reader,

What an excellent question! In order to get yourself out of this pickle, you must be able to strengthen your eye-lid muscles. How do you do this, you might ask? Another exquisite inquiry! You must blink rapidly over 12.5-second intervals. You must do this preferably in a dimly lit room to avoid your eyes having to readjust to the brightness of a lit room every time you open your eyes. Another suggestion would be to always have your eyes closed whenever you’re not using them. There’s no need to have your eyes open when you don’t need to and when they’re closed, they’re secretly building up energy through the use of photosynthesis. If both of these exercises prove unsuccessful, you must buy your own Kobo reader and hold it yourself. This way, the friend you read with physically cannot turn the page without your permission. Once again, you have lived another day in the UTS lifestyle . . . in style. Looking forward to hearing back from you with the results you obtain!

Sincerely,

Miss Advised

Dear Confused,

I’m assuming that you’re asking me how to be successful in life and I’ve got a few tips just for you! First, you have to find out what success means to you. To some, when they think of success, they imagine wealth; others want power; some just want to make a positive impact on the world. All of these are perfectly valid as success is a concept that means different things to different people. No matter what success is to you, it isn’t something that will come easily. Since success is personal and unique to each individual, it’s important to consider the advice of many different people whose ideas of success are similar or even different to yours.

Second, it’s important that you learn how to balance the different aspects of your life. Often, people think that to be successful, they need to make the object of their success their entire life. It’s important for you to get rid of the mindset if you working nonstop, it will lead you to success. This would cost you your rest, health, and enjoyable life. Ultimately you’ll burn out and cease to be successful or productive at anything you do. It’s important to achieve a balance between rest, work, and play in order to lead a successful life.

Third, do not be afraid of failure. It is easy to feel like you should give up after a failure, but that’s not the way to think. Thomas Edison perfectly portrays the attitude one should have towards failure. Edison inventing the lightbulb was the result of several hundred failed attempts. He saw each “failure” as a lesson and learned what won’t work, and also what might work instead. Each failed attempt, each rejection, were key steps on his path to success. This is the mindset that everyone should have in order to succeed in what they do. It’s meaningful to pay attention to your failures, study them, and it’ll help you learn how to succeed.

Finally, it’s important to believe in your capacity to succeed and always maintain a positive mental attitude. Success has to be something you can imagine yourself achieving. It’s possible that you will come across people who doubt you and your ability to succeed. You must not become one of these people because the moment you cease believing and dreaming is the moment these dreams fall away. You need to trust in your ability to succeed. It’s the only way to cultivate the right mindset. Replace any of your negative thoughts with positive ones. You need to approach problems, not as obstacles stopping you, but merely tasks that need to be completed for you to keep going. If you stay positive and think like this, setbacks won’t affect you so much, people’s doubts won’t impact you and even the biggest obstacles will seem like minor problems.

I hope this helped!

Dr. Swagger