What the heck is an enrolment appointment?

First of all CONGRATS on getting accepted to York, that's amazing and you should be proud of yourself!

You've probably been invited to attend an enrolment appointment, either online or in person. You might be wondering what happens at an enrolment appointment/ advising session. If you're anything like me then you probably didn't know how long it would last, what they'd cover or what you should wear :P! That's where I come in...

Here's what you NEED to know about your IN PERSON enrolment appointment.

1. What will you be doing in this appointment?
--At your enrolment appointment you will be taught HOW to enrol in courses here at York via our online system. This is CRUCIAL since this is the system that you'll be using for the full 4+yrs that you're at university. The advisors will explain the requirements of your degree program to you, covering important topics such as GENERAL EDUCATION courses, ELECTIVES and CORE COURSES. You'll want to pay close attention to the instructions, information and advice they offer you; since you WILL be signing up for the classes you'll take in the FALL at this appointment!


2. Be on TIME and be prepared to be in the room for a while!
-- You should AIM to arrive at your appointment at least 10-15 mins early. This is because you need to sign in and collect some pamphlet information before you will be allowed to continue on to the section
of the appointment where you actually enrol in classes. So if your appointment starts at 9am then you should try to be at your advising room by at least 8:45am.

--Also be ready to sit in the appointment for anywhere from 1-3 hours. This means that depending on
how long you take going through the steps of selecting and enrolling in your courses you could be at

this appointment for up to 3 hours. It is perfectly normal to stay for the full 3 hours, it is also totally fine to be completely finished within 1hour it all depends on how many classes you're enrolling in, how you structure your schedule and whether or not the class you're trying to get into is full or not.

***Sometimes parents decide that they'll come with their student to their appointment thinking that
they'll be allowed to enter, they won't. So unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective parents will not be allowed in the room. So if your parents want to come let them know that they'll have to find something to keep them busy for up to 3 hours!***

3. Bring any and all questions you might have
--Your enrolment appointment is THE place to ask any questions that you might have about your ACADEMIC career here at York. Your advisors will be able to answer questions you might have on
your program, double majoring, major/minoring, professional certificates and everything in between. So feel
free to ask them, that's what their there for!

**Also remember to bring a jacket or sweater sometimes the rooms are cold and if you're there for a few hours you don't want to freeze!**

That's us in Vari Hall

4. Remember to stop by The RED Zone after your appointment is done!
--After a 3 hour appointment you might be tempted to RUN AWAY, but I would highly encourage you to make a quick trip to the RED Zone. Your session with us will only last for about 10-15mins and it will
be full of information about LIFE here at York. We'll tell you about The College System, Paying for School, Getting involved and SO MUCH MORE. At the end you get a little thank-you gift and we help you get your YU Card (campus id).

I know it might sound grueling but I assure that your enrolment appointment is important and at the end of it you'll know how to enrol in classes and you'll have visited the RED Zone which some would argue is the highlight of the day!

Come see us!

For those of your reading this blog who are participating in ONLINE enrolment appointments you are more than welcome to come and visit the RED Zone if you happen to be on campus. We'd love to see you at any time during the summer. Or if you'd rather wait till your "making connections" appointment
that's cool too you can always stop by and visit us then :D

If you have any questions about anything in this blog feel free to comment below!


As always remember to take it one day at a time and catch me in the Zone!!

Nicole

We're Glad You Came!

Hey!

Hey there.

Hello you, YES you!!

WELCOME TO YORK!!

You did it! You made it into university. You should be really proud of yourself! Not only did you make it into university but you also made it into York. So double congrats to you!!

Hey Bookworm,
Welcome HOME!

If you're reading this then there is a strong chance that you have already visited The RED Zone. If you have I just wanted to thank you for stopping by and say...

We're GLAD you came!

More than that I hope that you got a lot of information and had a good time while you were with us. I hope that you can use this blog to get lots of information that you'll find useful for navigating your first year here at York. I really encourage you to comment below if you have questions or there's some information you don't see there that you want to read about please let me know!

If you haven't stopped by the RED Zone yet...don't worry we're there EVERYDAY Monday-Friday so feel free to stop by and check out what we've got to offer for all incoming students.

After your enrolment appointment, you'll be invited to check out the RED Zone, you might be tempted to run home after your enrolment appointment but we promise that we'll try to make your visit fantastic.

We're all about getting you ready for your first year, so any questions you might have we're game to answer. The tougher the better.... "Come at me bro" LOL. But seriously feel free to stop by and ask us any and everything you might want to know about York University. We're right in the middle of Vari Hall (which you'll soon learn is the HEART of campus...so you can't miss it)!!

Come by and ASK for
Nicole!

Remember to take it one day at a time and catch me in the Zone!

Nicole

Just landed and feeling a little lost? York University and The Pearson Airport will be there to welcome you to CANADA!

Entering University is an intimidating and scary experience even for the most "prepared" high school graduate. Moving to a new country, leaving behind friends, family and the familiar is another equally intimidating and scary experience. Doing BOTH at the same time can be an extremely overwhelming experience.

Ms. International
Like Pitbull :P

As an international student I did just that. I left behind my home, my culture, my friends and my family to move to Canada for University. Honestly, it was the BEST and most challenging experience of my life. When I first got here I had to deal with the harsh reality that my mom wasn't there to cook and clean for me. I was on my own. There were some growing pains, (like doing LAUNDRY) but eventually I was able to settle in and find my niche. 

For many international students their first glimpse of Canada will be at the Lester B. Pearson International Airport. I can still remember entering the MASSIVE airport and being amazed by how many people were buzzing around.

After clearing customs and collecting my luggage I walked out into the outer waiting area. In movies when people enter this area they are greeted warmly by family and friends excited to see them, this was NOT my experience!! When I walked out into the greeting area I was met by no one, worst of all I had no idea where I was supposed to go. 

I am VERY happy to report that things have changed and International Students are welcomed as soo as they set foot on Canadian soil!!!

Welcome to your home away from home!

The Pearson Airport and The City of Toronto in conjunction with local post-secondary institutions unveiled a "Student Welcome Program" last year which focused on providing International students with a warm welcome to Canada and support as soon as they arrive! The program was such a huge success last year that they have decided to host the program again this year.

What does this "Welcome" look like?
The City of Toronto will set up 'welcome' booths next to the main information booths in both Terminal 1 and 3 of the Pearson International Airport.

At these booths, new International Students will be offered:
-A warm greeting from a current International Student attending an institution in the GTA
-A welcome package
-A free phone call home
-Accommodation and Transportation Support

Does this sound like something you'd be interested in?

Want to know WHEN these booths will be open??
Hours of Operation:
-August 11th- 17th: 7:00am-12 noon and 6:00pm-11:00pm
-August 18th -September 3rd: 7:00am-11:00pm
-September 3rd -10th: 7:00am-12 noon and 6:00pm-11:00pm

If you're looking for more information feel free to check out this link!

If you're an International Student and you have the opportunity to experience this service, let me know what it's like! I'd LOVE to hear about it!

The RED Zone = EPIC!

This is my first year as an RSA, I've been involved with other organizations around campus and people keep asking me how my experience is going on the RED Zone team. A fellow RSA and friend is always reminding us  to "Keep It REAL," and I'm going to be totally honest with you...

I. LOVE. THIS. JOB!

Me and Tori...and YU Connect :)

When the position was open for hiring I wasn't sure if it was for me. I mean, I knew a lot about York from being a student for four years and being involved, but I wasn't sure if I was really "RED Zone" material. It was actually my sister a few close friends that urged me to apply, and I'm SOO GLAD that I did! Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect when I got hired...but now that I've working with the RED Zone team and administration for a few weeks...I can't even picture NOT having this job.

I'd like to think of myself as a friendly and outgoing person, and I LOVE to meet new people. So working with the RED Zone allows me to interact with tons of different people all day.

The point of this post was not to flaunt the crush I have on my job but to talk to you a little bit about the work that we have been doing thus far.

We have been open for "business" for 8 days and we have already talked to over 500 incoming students. If that doesn't impress you then... 1. you've got HIGH standards or 2. you just don't know what AWESOME IS! Either way I'm here to tell you that 500 students in 8 days is EPIC and it has to be some kind of a record or something...seriously we should look that up!






In any event I think that it is safe to say that we are off to a blazing start this summer, and it's only going to go up from here. As we get into the summer more and more students will be coming to York for their Enrolment Appointments and will be directed to the RED Zone. That means that we'll have even MORE people to talk to!

Look how friendly we are!

If you haven't visited the RED Zone yet you should totally stop by and check it out. We are located in Vari Hall room 1005...just stop by the booth in the center of Vari Hall and they will direct you to us. I encourage all incoming students to come and visit us...or visit me, I'd LOVE to meet you and chat about York.

Hi, my name is Nicole and I'm an RSA!!

Helllooo York University!!!

That's ME :D

My name is Nicole and I am a RED Zone Student Ambassador this summer.

What the heck does that mean for you? EXCELLENT QUESTION!

Basically that means that I'm an upper year student that has been through the storm so to speak and will be able to show you the ropes, so that you can hit the ground running. (As you can see I'm all about the OVER used cliches!)

Since we'll be getting to know each other really well over the summer I think I'll start by introducing myself to you. Our friendship has to start somewhere and I think that this is the BEST place for it to begin.  :)  YES I'm going to write this as if I'm writing to a friend, so that it doesn't feel cold and impersonal, plus if you're reading this I consider you a friend for taking time out of your day to spend with me!! 

So who am I? 

What a DEEP question! I feel as though I should have something SUPPER important to say to you. Unfortunately or fortunately (depends on how you look at it) I won't be bearing my soul to you in the here and now. I'll wait until at least my second post before I tell you my biggest secrets :P. 

Basic Info:

Home, Sweet, Home!

I'm an international student, from The Bahamas. Yeah I know it's cool, feel free to ask me about all the hot spots if you're planning a trip to my homeland!

Graduation Day...with the Parents!

I'm going into my sixth year at York. I have already graduated from York with a degree in Anthropology, and a Professional Certificate in Marketing; and now I'm completing a second degree in Political Science. YES that means that I have been a First Year twice at York so I know what you're going through, and I can probably answer any question you have about York life...since I've been here soooooo long (I did an 'o' for each year I've been here :P). 

Best colour EVER!

My ALL TIME FAVORITE COLOR is PURPLE! I know that doesn't seem like something worth mentioning but it's SUPER important to know. When I'm walking around on campus and I see people wearing purple I ALWAYS stop them and tell them how much I like what they're wearing. So if you're walking along wearing purple and I stop you to say "hey I LOVE that ___" then you'll know that you were just NICOLED!

I was a Peer Health Educator for 3 three years and so I can talk to you about a WIDE variety of health topics from managing stress to alcohol use and even sexual health questions. I'm an open person and I am comfortable talking to people about anything. 

Health Ed = FAMILY!

I LOVE to karaoke but I can't sing to save my life. It seriously sounds like a dying cat when I try to belt out a ballad like Beyonce! It's not pretty!! I also LOVE to dance, again I can't dance at all (I'm noticing a pattern starting to develop here!) but it's something I'm always doing. So if you come into the RED Zone and you see this one chick "bustin' a move" that's probably me. :)

Contact info: 

You can feel free to contact me on this blog. I'm open to questions, comments pretty much anything. If you take the time to read my posts and ask questions, I will take the time to answer your questions. I mean come on we're practically FAMILY at this point!!

Also if you want to contact me in REAL TIME, I'm ALL over twitter. My twitter name is @nuriasz I'm on it all the time, thanks to my addiction to my crackberr...I mean blackberry. So you can reach me whenever you have a question and I'll get back to you. Recently my world exploded when I hit 100 followers on twitter...so if you really want to me to go INSANE let's try for 120 followers...seriously I'd FREAK OUT if that many people started following me!

 Humm I think that's it...it's soo hard to think of things to say about yourself without sounding conceited or self-involved. So if there are any questions that you guys have for me...feel free to post them in the comments section below the post and I'd be MORE than happy to answer them!

Soo if you took the time read this thesis length post then...THANK YOU SOO MUCH, You're AWESOME and I'm totally you're BEST FRIEND NOW!

Now that you know a little about me...feel free to follow me, ask me questions or come on over to the RED Zone and meet me and the other AMAZING RSA's!!

Take Care, 

Nicole