Higher Education

Last week Peter and I decided we owed it to readers to report on the cherry blossoms. High Park was too crowded so we headed east to the John Robarts library at U of T. Unfortunately we were a bit late.

Friday was a beautiful sunny day. We hopped on the GO train and then the subway north to St. George station, all for one price, return, of $1.97 (for seniors). We sauntered along, enjoying the company of students, listening to their playful banter and philosophic debates. There is something invigorating about spending time in the presence of “youngsters.”

We took time to admire the halls of learning, old juxtaposed with new. Peter proudly pointed out all the buildings where his daughter, Andrea, had studied, eaten and slept when she attended as a student. We saw buildings devoted to faculties we hadn’t even heard of in our university days. In the 1960’s there were 3 faculties: Arts and Science, Engineering, and Medicine. On our Friday visit we came across the Faculty of Cellular and Biomolecular Research, the Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory, the Faculty of Information aka iSchool.

Eventually we found ourselves at the Robarts Library, built in 1973 in the brutalist architectural style, which means there are a lot of triangles in the design. The library has been nick-named The Turkey by students. You can see the similarity if you look at its triangular beak and the wings spread out to the sides.

Tucked in behind the library is a walkway lined with cherry trees. As you’ll notice, the blossoms on Friday were turning from soft pink to a kind of over-done shade of brown. But there were still a lot of visitors, one dressed for the occasion, her beautiful kimonno somewhat overshadowed by the food truck in the background.

Learning at U of T is not new to us. When we moved to Toronto, Peter and I enrolled in a Friday morning lecture series focusing on Current Events. We went with another couple and would sometimes go for coffee or lunch afterwards, so we could discuss the lecture. It was informative and energizing.

Next I took a risk and signed up for some creative writing courses. I soon discovered that students were required to read our writing Out Loud. At first we were all nervous, but after the first victim read, we relaxed. I learned a lot from listening to these other would-be writers. Then I enrolled in a course about the various architectural styles one can find on Toronto streets. There were no exams. And the instructor took us for walks to show us in person what she had been describing. I took a second course – about the architecture of small towns in Ontario, and Peter joined me on some excursions based on my notes. I only stopped taking those classes when the instructor retired.

After that I took a big leap and signed up for Italian classes. I started at the beginner level and slowly made my way to intermediate. I was a litte stressed by the pace – most of the other students had goals like moving to Italy for work, but I was only taking the classs so I wouldn’t miss any gossip when Peter’s relatives came to visit. Then the pandemic hit and we switched to classes on Zoom. This was another roadblock for me, especially when the instructor sent us worksheets hidden on an app, and then we had to import them to a split screen. This was worse than reading out loud! Mamma Mia!

But walking along St. George St. on Friday, I was reminded of all the advice we older folks are constantly hearing, about keeping our minds active, learning something new every day. So, one day soon we should all have a look at the School of Continuing Studies calendar. We could meet for coffee after our class.

Sue