COOP4 (September - December 2019)
The end creeps into view.
Though in many ways, this semester was a continuation of my previous co-op term also in Toronto, there were a few key differences. The first was that I was not living in my brother’s place anymore but instead in the heart of the Entertainment District with a high school friend. Not a knock against my brother at all (living with him in the winter was super fun), but not living with him meant that I didn’t have the default option of following his lifestyle. With the increased autonomy and bustling neighbourhood I was living in, life in the city felt very busy but in a good way, different than before. The summer ended with a ten day trip to Peru and I carried the “do as much as you can everyday” mentality from that vacation into the fall. With no track season going on, I also had more weekends in the city to be out and about and just hang out.
The second key difference of this semester was that instead of running with my brother’s training group (who are all significantly older than me), I coordinated through my coach to train with the University of Toronto’s varsity track team. With this, I was around more people my age and in an environment more fitting for someone still collegiately competing. Through this new social group, many of whom only a mutual friend or two removed, Toronto was more of a place that I could belong to and less of somewhere I just happened to work in.
UofT is a much larger school than Waterloo, and one that places greater emphasis (and subsequently finds more success) in sports, track being a notable example. The facilities are among the best in the country, the team size is much larger and overall, there is a more “competitive” feel. Being immersed in this setting, it was easy to feel like a collegiate athlete more than ever, despite it being an off season and not even taking any classes! With all the mid-practice banter on the ongoing cross country season or whatever hot gossip making the rounds, I always left practices feeling more motivated than I was going into them. With a large group of confident type A people, there was always at least one person feeling particularly hyped on a given day and that energy easily spreads.
Between all the fun of this varsity athletics focused lifestyle reminiscent of Fall 2018, this semester distinctly was the first major time I glanced up ahead at the road of my university journey and saw the end coming into sight. I remember the moment well, it was near the end of the semester in December and we were warming up for what was going to be a very hard track session. I was listening to “The Pretender” by the Foo Fighters, having doubts on my ability to push through and scared of how the workout was going to hurt. Initially maybe just a way to cope with my jitters, I thought to myself, “you’ll miss this”. That thought quickly escalated and went from “you’ll miss working out with this group” to “you’ll miss the luxury of being able to dedicate your day to running in circles” and finally to “you’ll miss being young and in University”. The workout went well but that thought never left my head and continued to hang in there long after. I went home and started writing what would end up becoming this blog post.
The process of writing out this whole University story has made me realise that in fact, the anticipation of time has been a continually recurring theme throughout. This moment still feels significant - a turning point from when background noise comes to the forefront, inflated only from thereon after.
Scattered memories:
- Reel Life outdoor movies at Hart House
- TIFF
- Red Lobster Endless Shrimp
- Rocky Horror at Hart House
- Terraforming Mars game nights
- Post Monday Practice gym sessions at Goldring
- Don Mills/Fall Classic and Time Trial/BM weekends in Waterloo
- Thanksgiving midnight walk
- Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon day
- Marché work lunch buffet
- Sinfonia Concerts
- Rainy Halloween
- The stepping in poop incident
- Birthday at Annex Billiards Room
- Package Parrot
- Work holiday party
Songs:
- Rawnald Gregory Erikson the Second - STRFKR
- dan collins vs. the maryland judicial system - Teen Suicide
- Mouthful of Diamonds - Phantogram
- The Killing Moon - Echo & the Bunnymen
- Northern Lights (acoustic) - Death Cab for Cutie
- The Pretender - Foo Fighters
- Body Talks - The Struts
- The Less I Know The Better & Sexyback mashup - Tame Impala & Justin Timberlake
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMEBifNPzxE goes so hard