Friday, August 23, 2019

You're invited to the premiere of Single & Sexy 2019

A message from Campus Wellness.

Campus Wellness is inviting members of the University community to the premiere performance of Single & Sexy 2019.

Single and Sexy, a play written and performed by University of Waterloo students, is for many the highlight of Orientation Week and addresses situations that first-year students may face while at university. 

“We welcome University of Waterloo staff, faculty and student leaders, family and friends, and community partners,” says a note from Campus Wellness.

The play is a high energy, entertaining, non-judgmental, powerful performance and is recommended by staff, faculty, upper-year students and many community-based agencies. Single & Sexy addresses issues that range from homesickness to abusive relationships to sexuality and shifting values.

Register to attend the premiere performance of Single & Sexy 2019.

The performance takes place on Friday, August 30 at 1:45 p.m. (doors open at 1:30 p.m.) in the Physical Activities Complex Gymnasium.

Student informatics team went to Azerbaijan

From left: Troy Vasiga, Victor Rong, George Gong Chen, Kevin Wan, Zixiang (Peter) Zhou and Carrie Knoll.

The University of Waterloo trained and took a team of high school students to Baku, Azerbaijan for the recent 31st International Olympiad in Informatics.

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach in the faculty of Mathematics Troy Vasiga led a team of students including Victor Rong, George Gong Chen, Kevin Wan, Zixiang (Peter) Zhou with support from Lecturer Carrie Knoll, CEMC Lead, Digital Resources.

At the competition, team member Peter Zhou came in 3rd in the world out of 327 competitors, and Canadian team returned home from Baku with three medals.

This is the best finish since 2000 when one of the Canadian team members tied for second place. With the addition of Zhou’s gold medal, Canada has now won 15 gold medals since they started participating in the IOI in 1996.

“Placing 3^rd in the world is awesome,” said Troy Vasiga. “Peter participated in the Japanese Olympiad, Central European Olympiad, and Russian and Chinese contests to prepare. It obviously paid off.”

Troy Vasiga and Peter were on "Good Morning Azerbaijan" along with the US coach and one of the US students on Friday, August 9.

“Our team leaders provide environments for practice and advice for how to be successful on an informatics contest, but fellow participants can be the best resources the students have,” said Carrie Knoll. “Even though IOI participants compete as individuals, one goal of our training time is for the Canadian participants to spend some time together before travelling to the contest.”

The other two medals went to Victor Rong (silver) and George Gong Chen (bronze). The fourth member of the team, Kevin Wan, also had a strong showing.

IOI is an annual international informatics competition for high school students. Each nation that competes sends four contestants who compete on an individual basis to solve three problems in five hours over each of the two days of competition. The rest of the time contestants were taken around the city of Baku by their team guide, a student at ADA University. 

Get On the Table and other daily directions

If you are passionate about community and coming together for good conversation over a meal, consider taking part in the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation’s “On The Table” project this September.

Between September 27 and 29, our partners at the KWCF are inviting you to bring together your friends, colleagues or strangers over some food to talk about what matters most to you. This is an event that’s happening across Waterloo Region, where you’re in charge. Whether it’s a meal, snack or coffee break, On the Table encourages individuals or organizations to take the time and connect with one-another face-to-face.

The Warriors Football season kicks off (I'm so sorry) with their Home Opener game against the University of Toronto's Varsity Blues on Sunday, August 25 at 7:00 p.m. on Warrior Field. The game will feature the All Canadian Ceremony, and is also celebrating Minor League Day and First Responders Appreciation Day. Minor league players can wear their jerseys to receive free admission, while first responders can contact warriorstickets@uwaterloo.ca for free ticket information.

Campus Wellness is hosting the next QPR Mental Health Training for Faculty and Staff workshop on Monday, August 26. This training teaches participants how to recognize and support someone who may be having thoughts of suicide. QPR is an education and awareness program that provides direction as to how to Question a person with thoughts of suicide, how to Persuade them to get help, and how to Refer the person to appropriate professional resources.

Training content includes:

• How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be having thoughts of suicide
• How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
• Common causes and warning signs
• How to get help for someone in crisis

You can register for the seminar on Workday. The workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in NH 2447.