Tag Archives: school

Seasons

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What a beautiful, sunny afternoon I had today. I walked home through the winding roads of Fairfield, soaking in the sun, the sounds of birds chirping, and the new pink and green growth emerging from brown earth and branches.

I like the change in seasons; spring always prompts me to take stock of my life and direction. Right now, I have a fairly good idea of the next year-ish, though there are some details to still be worked out. Things will always surprise me: I did not expect to go to Kenya last year, but I did and am so thankful I had that opportunity. Still, that does not stop the “J” in me from wanting to have at least a rough idea of the next 1,2,5 years… The last three or four years, around this time, have been a time of real self-reflection and exploration for me. This year is no different, however unlike the last few, I have the “itch” back: the itch to get up and go off adventuring somewhere. A year and a half from now, I will be completed my degree and practicum and will be able to register with a governing body and practice. Then what?

Saturday Night’s (Not) Alright

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It is Saturday night. I am at home finishing writing a paper due tomorrow instead of going to either the Pacific Baroque Festival or the Harry Manx Concert. I briefly left the house this evening to visit my local grocery store for sustenance. On the way, I smelt the kids smoking pot in the bushes along the pathway and the sweet aroma of newly fertilized flower beds outside of the paint shop. Instead of getting the usual crap to munch on whilst writing, I managed to leave with tomato juice and carrot sticks. I’m not sure what is wrong with me.

No Education

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From time to time, a patient at work will ask me how much school is required to do my job. I have to be honest and say that I have had none specific for my position; everything I know about my work has been learnt on the job.

Today, when a patient asked that and after I explained that I’d been doing this for six years and had learnt a lot as I went, he responded, “Its nice to know that there are still some jobs left where you don’t need any school.”

I know it was not meant in a condescending way and I know that there should be no offense taken, but I always take offense in situations like that. I have done seven years of post-secondary education and have three pieces of paper to prove it; I’m working on the fourth piece of paper. I feel like I deserve a little credit for that.

Next time when someone asks me that question, I’ll tell them “None is required, but I’m working on my Masters degree” and just leave it at that.

Tuition Comparisons

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Because I’m crazy, I enrolled in a course at UVic to take on top of my Yorkville courses. I’ll drop it if my plan to add a minor to my undergrad post-graduation doesn’t work.

Looking at the cost of a course now has put me into some interesting reflections.

Consider this:

  • My first semester at a post secondary institution (CNC in Prince George) cost a whopping $950. For five classes, four of which had labs. $950, and that was less than ten years ago (nine, to be exact). This semester, one course at UVic will set me back $607. That isn’t too far off.
  • My last year at UVic (2005/2006) was around $45oo. That is just a little more than what I am currently paying for a term in my Masters.

Uggh. I hate tuition increases.

About that Run

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It is Saturday morning, I’m home alone. One roommate still isn’t back from her week-and-a-half long field trip (who knew they did field trips in university?!?) and the other probably went to visit her parents. The house is quiet, though I was awoke by the loud rain last night, especially when it started to come in my open window onto my bed. I’m having a lazy morning. I made chocolate brownies yesterday and then proceeded to consume far too many of them. Consequently, I should really go for a run this morning. But that would involve… running. Perhaps I’ll just go for a long walk instead.

The sun is out now and aside from some dark, damp spots on the pavement and rooftops, you can’t really tell that there was any rain last night. It is amazing what can happen without our knowledge while we are sleeping. Like the time I woke up with a spider crawling through my hair. How did it get there? Where did it walk before it got to my hair? Possibly there are things I don’t really want to know.

I like my current schedule: work for the first three days of the week then do school/friends/church on the remaining. I haven’t gone insane yet and I haven’t been too lacking in sleep. I am even discovering the joy of having papers written more than 8 hours before their due date. It is really quite freeing. Currently, my assignments are due Sundays at midnight, so writing them on Sunday is not really an option – I’m much to busy. The last two weeks I’ve taken to writing them on Friday which is amazingly early for me. It is quite a nice feeling to not be rushed in the last remaining hours leading up to a due date. Why did I not discover this during my undergrad years? Possibly because I am actually less busy than I was during my undergrad. Even with three (well, two and a half) days of work, I feel like I’m doing less than I have been. Maybe it is because I have less time I need to commit to school work. Maybe it is because I can fit my school work around the other parts of my life and so still have free time when I need it. (Friends in Victoria, that means I can have coffee with YOU!) Now I just need to transfer that healthy schedule over to other parts of my life. About that run…

Masters Degree: Week 3

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It is week three of my degree and already I have managed to write 3 1/3 papers, submit a draft instead of a final copy of my team project for marking, and read more textbook chapters and journal articles than one should in a three week period.

It has been an interesting time. 

To be fair, the last few weekends have been fairly busy: I went to Edmonton for the long weekend, not realizing that my course started the week before the long weekend rather than the week after like every other school in the country. Last weekend was back over to Vancouver (third time in a month and a bit) for the marriage of two good friends and former co-workers.

I wouldn’t change any of it, but it has been challenging, to say the least, to get into a routine of work/life/school when the variables are constantly changing.  This week, well today, has been a bit of a low point in which I question my suitability for even doing the degree. Then I contemplate doing my current job for the rest of my life and I get encouraged to continue in school. But seriously, six years of post-secondary and I sign up for two more?!?

Oh well, it is nothing that a stiff drink and a good sleep won’t fix.

Comments from a Pathetic Poster

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I had lofty ambitions, after being chastized by a friend for my lack of posting, to get right back into the swing of things. For good or for bad, I got used to not posting much this summer – a lack of Internet access in Kenya and on a boat will do that for you. No excuses! I am back on land and have free wireless at home and at every second coffee shop; there really is no excuse for me. I like to think that I am out of practice and need to get back into the habit of transcribing everyday occurrences for the general public to read. Because you are all interested in my eating habits and traveling adventures, right?

As I type this, I am sitting in a coffee shop on W 4th in Vancouver. Beside me is a stimulating Americano, my current poison of choice. I’m in Vancouver for the weekend to spend some time with good friends before school starts on Tuesday and to meet my boyfriend (HOLD ON, stop the train… boyfriend?!?… yes. More on that someday) as he returns tomorrow from a two and a half trip to the States.

Truth be told, I have had some interesting ideas for blogging lately; a rant on how my doctor prescribes medication, how my school begins next week, and so on. But, something else keeps coming up. Like school starting next week. I’ve been labouring under the false assumption for some time now that my course would begin when every other school in the country begins: after Labour Day. Last week, I discovered that no, it begins on September the first. Before school starts, I have six chapters from two different text books to read plus a multitude of online readings. Fortunately, I long ago mastered the art of the skim-read. I just assumed that everyone skim-read their text books, however a message from our prof for the first course indicates otherwise: “Because the work is intensive, and because you’re at a master’s level here, you won’t be able to read as you did in undergrad – reading every detail, preparing to memorize for exams. Here, you’ll have to read quickly, and you do that by skimming, stopping on what you don’t know – not reading & memorizing every detail, but rather grasping the gist of things so that you can apply it.” At least I already have practice.

So now that I am back at school, I suppose we can all look forward to more frequent posting as I sit for hours at a time at my computer and have the opportunity to practice my finest procrastination techniques. Until then, I am going to enjoy my last few days of “freedom” and get back to wandering W4th.

Power and Authority

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Today was good. I accomplished things: 4 chapters of anatomy, 2.5 hours studying chemistry, and 1 chapter of philosophy. I made Pad Thai for dinner and proceeded to eat far too much of it at dinner and just ate most of the leftovers when I got home half an hour ago. I have no self-control. I also listened to a cd I just got over and over and over again. It is by a former offshore trainee who sailed with us on leg 1. She would sing both the hold and foc’s’le to sleep every night with her songs and listening to it brought back great memories of her singing.

I also got to meet up with some friends I haven’t seen in ages tonight. The IVCF group on campus shifted their weekly meeting from Friday night to Thursday night (which meant I couldn’t go, not that I’ve been going to the Friday meetings either) and a good friend was speaking about her experiences in China. We first went to China together three years ago on the Global Partnership and she has been back twice, most recently for nearly a year. I couldn’t go to the meeting for reasons I’ll explain in a minute, but I met up with some of them at Tim Horton’s afterwards. Now that I’ve reconnected, hopefully I’ll be able to see some more of these girls again. We did Bible Study together during my two years at UVic and were on the IVCF leadership team together, and…

The reason I couldn’t go to the IVCF meeting tonight was that Tony Campolo was in town tonight and speaking at a church downtown. I believe he will be at Missionsfest in Vancouver this weekend. He was here on behalf of World Vision Canada so there was the usual push to sponsor a child, however what he had to say went much deeper than that. He started off talking about our inner spirituality (for lack of a better term or Campolo’s eloquence) and the importance of taking time to just be in God. That resonated because that is what I’ve been trying to accomplish over the last couple weeks. He talked about prayer and sitting in prayer, free of distractions and, again being.

He went on to bring things to a larger scale and challenged us that real change does not happen by us electing a “Christian” political party or having the right lobby groups or anything that we may be able to accomplish politically. Jesus didn’t chose to work that way, he was offered political power and rejected it. He was offered economic power and he rejected that too. (See Matthew 4.) What he did do was bring about a radical change through living sacrificially. And he had authority as a result. Power and authority: two very different things. One is commanded, the other is out of respect.

Where are we as the church? Do we try and command power by having people high up in the political proceedings or is our authority respected because of our track record for feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, giving shelter to those who need it, and visiting the sick. I don’t think that many churches could claim to have the kind of authority and respect that we should. We should be at the forefront of social justice but often we are too concerned with maintaining our building and declining memberships. What would it take for us to get back to a place of living sacrificially? I suppose, it is done as Mother Teresa said when asked how she was going to save the tens of thousands of kids on the streets of Calcutta: one person at a time.

That’s (d) for dumb…

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So I’ve been taking a bunch of courses for work lately. The most recent fabulous no-brain needed course is First Aid. Well, maybe not no brain needed, but certainly all one requires is a marginally decent amount of common sense. For example:
There is something lodged in your throat and you are choking. If there is no one around able to administer abdominal thrusts, you should:
(a) Fall hard on your back on the floor and knock the wind out of yourself
(b) Have some one hit you very hard on the back a few times
(c) Throw yourself against a wall
(d) Try to dislodge the substance by administering abdominal thrusts on the back of a chair.
Ummm… lets see. (a) I will die, (b) I will make things worse, (c) I will make myself unconscious.
Yeah, I got 100% on the first half so far.

Update

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Got the call last night. Now I have officially taught French and Calculus as well (although Calculus was just a test, but it sounds good). One kid was bemoaning the fact that he had to learn French and he would never use it. I told him I had used mine for three different things in the past three months. He sarcastically asked if I had gone to France or Quebec or something. I said “both, and now I am here teaching you, so it is useful.” Ahhh, learning French is an uphill battle in Western Canada.