My favourite things about second year at TMU

It’s kind of unreal to think about how fast this year has gone by. As my second year in the Journalism program comes to an end, I can’t help but reflect on the amazing year and experiences that I’ve had at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)! I want to take you through my journey from last September to now, and give you a glimpse into some of my favourite events and experiences.

In my Feature Writing and Current Affairs (JRN 272) course, we worked on writing a feature story throughout the semester. I wrote a feature on a Pakistani author-illustrator for children’s books, Anoosha Syed. Through this process, I met up with Anoosha to interview her and her colleagues, and attended a book launch for her new book! Since we get to tell stories and get descriptive in our writing, this course has to be one of my favourites in the Journalism program so far. 

If you don’t know what Ramadan is, it’s a holy month for Muslims who fast from sunrise to sunset in hopes to cleanse our mind and bodies, become spiritually disciplined and empathize with the less fortunate. With that said, my friends and I had classes pretty late on campus, so we each brought our own potluck items and broke our fasts together by the time it was sundown. I look forward to the energy that this peaceful month brings every year, and it’s even better when you have friends and family to celebrate it with you. 

I still can’t believe that we made a show with the possibility of it being pitched to a television company! In  Children's Programming (RTA 956), my group and I created a fantasy-based show for youth, shedding light on the sometimes scary thoughts between life and death. After we collectively planned and wrote the scripts for three entire episodes, I had the job of animating the settings and characters. I got to learn about appropriate themes for children and their psychology. To be honest, the best part was getting to watch episodes of Sesame Street before the lecture began. 

Joining the Islamic Relief Club (external link, opens in new window)  at TMU this year has been such a rewarding opportunity. We organize, host events and encourage donations for humanitarian crises around the world. Doing fun photoshoots for our merch where all proceeds go towards orphan sponsorships, bake sales and dinner fundraisers are only a few things that I loved being a part of. Since I’m the Vice-President of Marketing, my favourite things were reconnecting with my hobbies like continuing to play around with graphic design and building close relationships with the rest of the team. 

Not only did I write the news in my program, but I also practiced what it was like being live on broadcast in Producing the News (JRN 270). After writing a script on different world affairs events, film and business culture, my group members and I went into individual cubicles to get ready for the camera. There, we’d wait for someone on the other end of our screens to tell us that we were live. 

And lastly, this year could not have been as great as it was without joining the Student Communications team at TMU! Reflecting back on my first blog, I was so nervous to be a part of something that was outside of my comfort zone. Connecting with all of you through the Future Student Blog has been such a passion project for me and I won't forget it. The best part is knowing that as I guided you through the university application process, there were actually real people seeing the blogs and emails that I wrote.

Documenting my second-year experience for you has been one of the top experiences that I’ve ever been a part of. Not only has it been great writing for you, but I’m equally as excited to look back on all of this once I graduate TMU! I want to thank you all for such an amazing year — it only gets better from here.

Bye for now,

Hadiqah