Meet the PAL Peer Leaders
Name: Anastasia Nikolik
Program: Neuroscience
Role: PAL Ambassador & Learning Peer (Psychology)
Favourite study tip: I find it helpful to use time blocking, where I split each large task up into smaller tasks, and assign specific times to complete each small task!
Favourite learning quote: "The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice." -Brian Herbert.
Name: Andrew Kwan
Program: Computer Science
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Computer Science)
Favourite study tip: Take periodic breaks to keep your mind fresh, especially if you plan to study for a long period of time.
Favourite learning quote: "Work hard in silence, let success make the noise"
Name: Bobby Beemer
Program: HBA + Computer Science
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Computer Science)
Favourite study tip: Get rid of distractions
Favourite learning quote: "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest" - Ben Franklin
Name: Brooke Nagano
Program: Health Science with Biology
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Health Science)
Favourite study tip: Know what time you feel you learn best, and use that time to complete your hardest task/study topic.
Favourite learning quote: “It's not the destination, it's the journey” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Name: Clementine Kohlenberg
Program: Psychology
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Psychology)
Favourite study tip: Rubber Duck Debugging! Technically a debugging method for computer programming, but can be applied to any problem: you explain your problem aloud to a rubber duck (or any object), and in the process of outlining each step, you discover the solution.
Favourite learning quote: "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know" - Einstein
Name: Jack Kempton
Program: BMOS
Role: PAL Learning Peer (MOS)
Favourite study tip: Come up with your own questions that you think will show up on the exam.
Favourite learning quote: You don’t understand anything until you learn it more than one way.
Name: Jina Choi
Program: Health Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Health Sciences)
Favourite study tip: Use fun and creative mnemonics to easily remember lengthy lists or complex concepts!
Favourite learning quote: "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." ―Albert Einstein
Name: Jocelyn Chang
Program: Ivey HBA + Computer Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Computer Science)
Favourite study tip: Try to seek out various resources when studying, so you can better understand the topics.
Favourite learning quote: Don't waste a good mistake, learn from it - Robert T. Kiyosaki
Name: Julia Raguimov
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Ambassador
Favourite study tip: Active recall!!!
Favourite learning quote: “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” - Albert Einstein
Name: Lisa Bi
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Math)
Favourite study tip: Plan specific times for studying and take breaks between study sessions.
Favourite learning quote: Tell me and I forgot, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn. --- Benjamin Franklin
Name: Ryan Hsieh
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Physics)
Favourite study tip: Take frequent naps and do lots of practice tests
Favourite learning quote: "In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn"
Name: Shirley Li
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Ambassador
Favourite study tip: Make a study routine and stick to it.
Favourite learning quote: The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.
Name: Sofia Babapulle
Program: Neuroscience
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Science)
Favourite study tip: Make a study schedule for each week
Favourite learning quote: "Try and fail but do not fail to try"
Name: Sophie Niculescu
Program: Medical Sciences (Honours Specialization in Medical Biophysics)
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Physics)
Favourite study tip: Start as early as possible when studying for an exam
Favourite learning quote: "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you." - Zig Ziglar
Name: Vicky Liu
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Math)
Favourite study tip: Spaced repetition is much better than cramming!
Favourite learning quote: Try to learn everything about something and something about everything.
Name: Yash Balani
Program: BMOS - Management & Legal
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Business)
Favourite learning quote: I love working with others and look forward to building new and better academic working habits through PAL.
Name: Cris Caruso
Program: Clinical Kinesiology
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Kinesiology)
Favourite study tip: Anki for cue cards and lots of repetition!
Favourite learning quote: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started” Mark Twain
Name: Emma Yakimchuk
Program: Honours Bsc Specialization Kinesiology
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Kinesiology)
Favourite study tip: Rewriting challenging concepts from lectures on paper in simpler terms.
Favourite learning quote: "Change is the end result of all true learning." - Leo Buscaglia
Name: Emma Wang
Program: HBA and Electrical Engineering
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Engineering)
Favourite study tip: Review a little bit of content every week, and if something is frustrating you, make sure to take a brain break!
Favourite learning quote: "With every mistake we must surely be learning" (George Harrison, The Beatles)
Name: Ethan Josephson
Program: Mechanical Engineering
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Engineering)
Favourite study tip: Creating a plan is a valuable first step in studying: set goals, understand time constraints, prioritize your tasks, stay flexible, and take breaks.
Favourite learning quote: I am still learning - Michelangelo
Name: Hadi Youssef
Program: Software Engineering
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Engineering)
Favourite study tip: Making a calendar of how many hours you're going to allocate to studying specifics within the subjects for each day in a week at the beginning of a week helps you stay organized. Setting objective goals within those timeframes keeps you motivated to use them efficiently.
Favourite learning quote: "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." — Benjamin Franklin
Name: Haoyi Wang
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Science)
Favourite study tip: If you don't understand, just ask!
Name: Luke Field
Program: Ivey HBA
Role: PAL Ambassador
Favourite study tip: Condense all notes into one page
Favourite learning quote: Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't - Bill Nye
Name: Nabeeha Anwar
Program: HSP Applied Math
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Math)
Favourite study tip: Space out your studying over the entire semester and use studying methods specific to your learning style!
Favourite learning quote: Everything is a learning experience
Name: Nancy Sun
Program: Honours Specialization in Biochemistry
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Science)
Favourite study tip: Understanding what you're learning is more important can pure memorization. And try to start studying for tests and exams as early as you can!
Name: Nour Fayadh
Program: Computer Science
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Computer Science)
Favourite study tip: If you cannot figure it out, take a break, do something you love, and then try again.
Favourite learning quote: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats
Name: Oreoluwa Olojede
Program: Political Science with a minor in Economics
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Economics)
Favourite study tip: Take a 20 minute break every 3 hrs of study... Set a timer and go for a walk, listen to music or a podcast, try not to go on online.
Favourite learning quote: "I hate perfection. To be perfect is to be unable to improve any further"- Kurotsuchi (Bleach)
Name: Parth Patel
Program: Medical Sciences
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Science)
Favourite study tip: Active recall is my go-to strategy! Instead of just rereading notes, I quiz myself regularly to reinforce what I've learned.
Favourite learning quote: "Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing." - Loyal 'Jack' Lewman
Name: Quinn Mazaris
Program: Mechatronics Engineering
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Engineering)
Favourite study tip: Practice problems!
Favourite learning quote: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." — Mahatma Gandhi
Name: Rayhan Abdul Rahman
Program: Physics
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Physics)
Favourite study tip: Going on stackexchange whenever you're stuck
Favourite learning quote: “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ― Mark Twain
Name: Richa Parmar
Program: Honors Specialization in Biochemistry and Genetics
Role: PAL Ambassador
Favourite study tip: Active Recall is the best way to review content!
Favourite learning quote: Everything will work out in the end. You don't need to know how. You just need to trust it will.
Name: Ridhwan Busari
Program: Microbiology and Immunology; Pathology double major
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Science)
Favourite study tip: Always go back to the fundamentals!
Favourite learning quote: "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." — Benjamin Franklin
Name: Tisa Shah
Program: Medical Sciences, Double Major in Physiology and One Health
Role: PAL Ambassador
Favourite study tip: Practice questions—you really get to know which topics you are struggling with
Favourite learning quote: "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr. Seuss
Name: Tristan Gilchrist
Program: HBA Ivey
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Business)
Favourite learning quote: "In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn"
Name: Sharaf Syed
Program: Software Engineering/Ivey HBA
Role: PAL Learning Peer (Engineering)
Favourite study tip: Studying is like exercise, sometimes learning and improving just means doing a simple movement over and over again
Favourite learning quote: “Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” — E. M. Forster
