Three years ago this week, I was excited about finally being done and never having to go back to school again, ever, especially not to UVic. I wonder what I would have said if I had known that I would end up back at UVic less than three years later? Once again, that time up at UVic draws to a close. This time I am more done than before (I think…) as I am starting my Masters in a month. Grad school here we come.
Tag Archives: uvic
Ethics
My biomedical ethics prof was interviewed on The Current this morning about the ethics involved in the case of the 60-year-old woman in Calgary who just gave birth to twins. In case you missed it, you can find the podcast on iTunes or in the Current archives. Apparently they called him at 4:30am local time to do the interview.
Crazy Life
Welcome to February!
The next two weeks leading up to reading break have the potential to be slightly crazy. Today is my last “day off” (not including Sundays, but they don’t count since I’m up to be at church by 8:30 am) until the Tuesday of the break. I am working every day I don’t have classes between now and then plus have a couple of “extracurriculars” planned; it should keep my busy and out of trouble and all of that. Not to mention borderline insane. Why do profs like to have their exams either on the last day before the break or the first day after?
This is, I suppose, my roundabout way of apologizing for not writing anything profound in this space. Perhaps once the need for procrastination and distraction becomes more intense, I will have something more exciting to say.
Until then, I am off on a walk to the Christian bookstore to look for a book I can’t find anywhere else and to study some anatomy on the way. Victorians: the strange person walking down the road randomly moving appendages and feeling where muscles attach is me.
How I Did
Here’s how I did on the tasks to accomplish this weekend:
Looking forward to list:
Church – Sunday morning and Evensong.A long walk.Some quality reading time.- The beginning of an illustrious banjo career.
- Sleep.
Not looking forward to list:
Anatomy Lab/Quiz study- Reading chemistry.
- Lots of reading of biomedical ethics.
Goal:
- To accomplish all of the looking forward to things and at least one and a half of the not looking forward to things.
Evaluation:
- Loaner banjo hasn’t arrived, therefore no beginnings of my career. I did look up how to play it online.
- I can always use more sleep. And since I didn’t specify the amount of sleep, I can’t really justify crossing it entirely out. I did sleep at times this weekend though!
- Don’t have my Chem text yet and I couldn’t be bothered to go up to the university to read the one on reserve. Quiz isn’t until Friday anyway.
- Could have read a lot more of the Biomedical Ethics than I did, though I got through a chapter. Another chapter will get done on lunch break tomorrow.
Overall Verdict:
- I didn’t do too badly given that I ended up having dinner with friends on Saturday (when my 3 hour walk and dropping off a birthday card on the way home turned into an extended visit and dinner) and went out for brunch after church on Sunday with half the choir. I’d say it was a successful weekend. Now all I need is a good long sleep before work tomorrow.
7 Things [1]
7 Things from the week, or not. Maybe just 7 things in a randomly connected order that makes sense only to me and my methods of lateral thinking.
- I’m going to learn how to play the banjo. A friend is loaning one to me to play around with. Should be fun…!
- In a related vein, I’ve counted and there are currently 6 instruments in my possession (or will be once I get banjo): two guitars, ukulele, djembe, didgeridoo and the banjo.
- I’m in the midst of trying to figure out what to do with my life. Why can’t think be straightforward?
- Anatomy labs are false advertising. They aren’t labs, they are a quiz and another lecture. Its kind of annoying when you then have to go into the lab on your spare time (like today) and work on the lab that you weren’t given time to work on during your lab time.
- I’m going to doing nothing productive on the school front this weekend. Except maybe a little bit of studying.
- I am really liking my computer that I bought on the way home from Offshore. Its a nice little thing that fits perfectly in my shoulder bag. Its probably my favourite piece of technology at the moment.
- I’ve very nearly weaned myself off the iPod. I rarely listen to it when I’m walking to class or around town. I’d rather be open to hearing the sounds of the world around me.
(In response to Conversion Diary)
Getting my Exercise
Yesterday ended up being quite the day. I was walking to my chiro appointment in the morning when work called me to see if I could come in that evening for a four hour shift. Since I haven’t worked in a month, who am I to turn that down?! As it was, however, the day was getting packed.
By the time I got home, I needed to leave about 45 min later to head up to the university to return some textbooks. (I’ve been able to borrow my anatomy text from a very wonderful person who has saved me $170.) Then it was down to the public library to return a couple of books (Anne Rice’s Called out of Darkness and Peter Hopkirk’s The Great Game that took me forever to read but was quite interesting) and pick up a hold that just came in. The latest addition to my must-read pile (made more urgent by being library books) is a new-ish one by Colleen McCullough, an author I’ve enjoyed in the past. The book is called The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet and is about Mary from Pride and Prejudice. Reviews have been mixed, so we’ll see how I like it.
From the library, I biked, on the new bike I purchased the day before the heavens opened with snow, out to the Saanich Police Station to get my criminal record check done so I can volunteer on the boat this summer. (Trip 3 y’all, be there.) The officer on duty just happened to be the same [very attractive] one who was on duty when I got my check done for work three months ago. He recognized me. My questioning whether or not it is okay to flirt with attractive cops who do your criminal record check has generated one of the most commented Facebook discussions I’ve ever had… The consensus is yes, it is just fine. In my defense, he initiated the conversation. I just kept it going… I guess I’ll look forward to going back next week to pick up the completed check.
I digress. From the Police Station it is a fairly nice (but also partially uphill) bike ride to Royal Oak where I was visiting the wonderful Bonice (of the SALTS log fame). We enjoyed genuine Chinese jasmine tea and chocolate, just like old times in the stern of the Grace, until she had to meet the boys at the bus stop and I had to head back into Gordon Head for work. Whew. I had just enough time to grab a coffee at the new Starbucks in Gordon Head before getting to the home in time for my 4 hour shift. I decided coffee was necessary to make it through the evening. I did cause more than one motorist to double take in my general direction as I was biking down the road with my coffee in one hand. Don’t worry, Dad, I was being safe. They were all backstreets and motorists do it all the time.
By the time I got home, it was nearly 8:30 pm and I did little else but check emails and collapse into bed with a wonderful book I’ve been lent: Organic Edge: Targeted Review to Ace Organic Chemistry. Apparently satisfaction is guaranteed. I hope that means I’ll pass the course. I’ve never used one of those fancy books before, but I’m willing to do a lot to understand this stuff. Dredging up chemistry factoids from the deep, dark recesses of my brain where they’ve been decaying for the last 9 years is proving to be a challenge.
Despite all that exercise, I didn’t sleep as well as hoped last night. Probably because I currently have the sorest bum on the planet from all that cycling.
More Decisions
Re: Decisions, Update, and Strange Turns.
I’ve gotten all of four shifts in my casual position since I started. Four shifts. I was led to believe that they were in desperate need of people and I had a great chance of getting a reasonable amount of hours. Apparently not so much. Either that or the hours they need people for just so happen to be the hours when I’m in classes, meaning that they don’t call. I did turn down one shift. Well, two. The first was because they called me to work a time I had already said I couldn’t, so that doesn’t count. The second was a day I said I could work but was still in Vancouver for Christmas. My fault on that one, though I’d like to blame it on BC Ferries taking a bloody long time to get me home.
The lack of work was fantastic for visiting with family and friends over the Christmas season. I have been able to go to all of my Christmas parties and able to visit with friends in town only for the holiday season. On the other hand, the lack of incoming funds is seriously damaging my bank account. I had to wait a couple days to buy textbooks because I needed to transfer money into my debit account from my savings. That always hurts.
Speaking of textbooks, I’m taking three classes this semester. Only one of them I absolutely need (organic chemistry), but the other ones I thought would be quite useful when it comes to nursing: anatomy and biomedical ethics. Knowing about the human body and its systems if fairly useful in the medical profession, or so I’m told. Not to mention I get to take anatomy with a good offshore buddy. My ethics text I’ve been able to borrow off of a friend (Thank you, Eric, every penny helps!) but the texts for the other two classes are worth their weight in whatever the most expensive thing imaginable is. I’m looking at $400 for two classes. Yikes! Both profs have said we can use previous editions (so if anyone has Organic Chemistry by McMurry or Anatomy by Martini, Timmons, and Tallitsch kicking around, I will love you forever) but these previous editions are virtually untraceable. I’ve got my eye on a super cheap copy of Organic Chem at Alibris, but am not sure if I can wait the “7-14 but up to 30 days” shipping. I’ll have had 2 quizzes by then. I suppose there is always the library reserve section…
Back to the topic pre-tangent: work. I went back on the pavement on Monday, applying at a couple places. One call back thus far (which prompted my embarrassment and a prompt revision of every single version of my resume) for a position which I have a feeling isn’t a great fit for me or them. So, I have sucked it up, swallowed my pride, and called the place I used to work. Not the one of the aforementioned decisions, but the one I used to, used to work at when I first moved down to this lovely city. I’m not really sure why it is even a pride thing except for perhaps I quit and therefore I feel like I can’t ever set foot inside again. Which is BS, because I have. I’ve even bought sunglasses there and had them repaired twice (they didn’t like the boat life very much, especially not smashing into the fore boom. Come to think of it, my head didn’t like smashing into the fore boom much either). The people I worked for and with there were, for the most part, wonderful people. In fact, I’m still in touch, sporadically, with some (even though they don’t actually work there anymore).
So all of this was to say that perhaps I will join the more regular workforce in the future. Near future? I sure hope so. At any rate, I have learnt a lot about budgeting in the last few weeks/months which is likely a good thing.
Life and Times of a Student
It is official, I am back to school. I’ve had two days of classes thus far, although one of the lectures was cancelled due to flooding in Sooke. I’m not joking:
Date: Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 7:37AM
Subject: Class cancellation
Good morning,
Due to severe flooding in Sooke, Dr. —— is unable to make it in for class today.
Sincerely,
————
Department Secretary, Department of Philosophy
I guess it must be pretty bad.
The rain has also brought out what I believe is the new unofficial UVic uniform: trendy gumboots, preferably in plaid, although cute cartoon characters is also acceptable. Lululemon hoodies are so passe, gumboots are the thing of today.
It has been an interesting two days. I made a minor spectacle of myself as the instructor walked by just prior to class starting yesterday exclaiming about some new technology in the classroom. I believe my words were something like “They sure didn’t have this last time I came to this university.” Makes me sound like some kind of university player or something. The prof game me a strange look followed by a smile before continuing to the front of the room. *Sigh,* there is nothing like making yourself noticed on the first day!
School
So sad leaving Victoria today. I don’t know when I’ll be back next. I love that city! I walked over to campus Monday morning and wandered a bit while I was waiting to hear from a friend when he’d get to town. I was wishing that I was going back again this year – this is the first year in the last 20 that I have not gone back to school in September. Crazy. I realize, however, that the wishing to be at school would last about until my first exam or paper was due if I was indeed returning to school this year. Its a good thing I’m leaving the country and expploring otherwise I’d probably go crazy not knowing what to do with myself.
the bicycle
I was in Victoria for the last few days. Monday morning I decided to walk over to UVic, for old-times sake and all that. It was also nice to be on campus before the hordes of students arrived (especially those annoying first years… was I ever one of them?!?) I have been parking my bike in pretty much the same place for the last two years. There is a bike that has been locked up that entire time. It has not moved. In fact, it is still there! Whose bike is it anyway? Did they not want it anymore? Did they loose the key to unlock it? All I know is that at the beginning of each semester I looked to see if it was still there of if anyone in campus services had removed it. It is still there.
gillian's island 