Student blogger takes a Brain Break: Join him today!

U of T students gathering at Robarts for some fun exercises with MoveU to give themselves a brain break from all the hard studying for their exams (photo by Oscar Starschild)
U of T students gathering at Robarts for some fun exercises with MoveU to give themselves a brain break from all the hard studying for their exams (photo by Oscar Starschild)
14/10/2022

Like other students at U of T, Oscar Starschild has been hard at work studying for his midterms this fall. On Thursday, he decided to take a Brain Break with the MoveU crew, who set up at Robarts Library to help students relieve some of the stress from studying with a set of fun exercises. He enjoyed it so much, he's hoping more students will take a Brain Break today. Read all about it in his blog.

Fall is midterm season and, like so many other students, I’m beginning to feel increased levels of stress as I prepare for my exams. And because I’m spending a lot more time sitting while studying in Robarts, I feel it’s extra important to give myself breaks.

Yesterday, I participated in a fun “Brain Break”, organized by MoveU, a tri-campus initiative at the University of Toronto with teams on the St. George, Scarborough and Mississauga campuses inspiring students to take a break from their books and get active.  

These events are usually held once each term around final exams but this year, as I was told by an organizer, they decided to target the earlier Fall midterm season instead.

The experience was great. The MoveU crew was camped out on the second floor of Robarts library, outside the Thomas Fischer Rare Book Library. Students lined-up to do exercises in return for food, snacks and a chance at winning some goodies/prizes in their/the raffle draw.

I did some shoulder exercises for which I received a sandwich and snack. And afterwards, I met other students and got to discuss things totally unrelated to my studies, like Premier League soccer and the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. This all helped to take my mind off the stress of exam preparation and truly gave me a much needed “Brain Break”.

There’s another Brain Break happening today (Friday) from 1:30-3:30 in the same spot at Robarts, and I hope that other students can take advantage of the opportunity and get in some exercise, snacks and mental relief. Wishing everyone a successful midterm season!