Hafsa Murtaza arrived at UTM bracing for the usual first-year dip in grades. Instead, in an intro art history course with more than 300 students, she scored 102 per cent on her first midterm, helped along by bonus marks.
She kept it up for four years, crediting handwritten notes, colour coding and drawing out artworks to remember them. She also recommends office hours, and took the UTM Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy's 'Writing for University' course.
It meant that all my work was worth itHafsa Murtaza
In fourth year she was president of the visual studies student society and a research assistant at the same time — all while commuting to campus and de-stressing through embroidery.
The Medal
She graduated in June 2026 from the art and art history program at 22, and UTM principal Alex Gillespie presented her with the 2026 Governor General's Silver Medal, awarded to U of T's most academically outstanding humanities graduate.
She is heading on to a master's degree — still, by her own account, treating every course the way she treated that first art history midterm.
Reported from 'All my work was worth it': Medal-winning UTM grad shares tips for success, by Megan Easton (U of T Alumni News, September 17, 2026).
More from the original reporting: alumni.utoronto.ca/news/medal-winning-utm-grad-shares-tips-success