Nicole in BC

I declare today the first official day of summer in PG! It is a dry and sunny 25 degrees outside. Not a cloud to be seen. Today was my first day wearing flip flops (other than in the rain in Vancouver). It's also my first day wearing a tank top (without a sweater!). After class we went out for drinks and food and sat on the patio soaking up the sun where I also got my first sun burn of the year. Yes, I was in the shade and wearing sun screen. I'm going to have to start wearing sun screen everyday to avoid transforming into a lobster. Although, maybe not... It's supposed to go back down to around 12, cloudy, and rainy most of the week. I'm going to remain hopeful though that summer in PG means more than one nice day.

My apartment is really cold still, which is a bit of a shock to the system from the temperature change but a good sign I suppose. Living in a basement apartment seems to work just as well as an air conditioner if today is any indication.

I did a one week intensive course this past week, which meant lecture from 9-5 every day. On Monday night we had to do essay research to pick a topic. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings we frantically prepared for a debate we presented on Thursday worth half of our grade. Thursday night I had 4 hours of my other class. Today we presented models of culturally competent practice. What an immensely exhausting week. The tight time line and sensitive subject matter was intense. It was also a bit of a challenge for me because it's a social work course. To add to the stress, my body decided that it was time to start my period in the middle of week, so I was in a lot of pain for a couple of days. The bonding part of the experience was fun though. Spending 40 hours with the same 12 people engaged in discussion and activities has a bit of a conference type feel to it. Ending the week with the drinks and food was a nice closing too.

I still have to write a 15 page research paper for the other half of the course marks. Originally she wanted the paper to be due yesterday. Impossible! The entire class freaked out all Monday morning and eventually got the deadline moved back until next week. This professor is a really hard marker and has given many grad student failing grades. I'm scared that she will give me my lowest mark and really drop my GPA. Which would be extremely frustrating since it's my second last class.

So, this long weekend I will be sitting here at my computer trying to churn out a stellar essay in record time. I also have research assistant work I have to do and a whole bunch of course work for my other class. Supposedly I should be done all of this in time to go back to work Tuesday morning. I have a feeling I'll be taking a day or two off this week to try and get all of my school work done.

But... sunshine! warmth! summer!
Also, one night earlier this week it was raining while sunny and there were three huge rainbows across the entire city. It was gorgeous. When I got home I went rainbow chasing to get a picture but they disappeared before I got my picture. Still, very, very, pretty.

April was a hectic blur. I really struggled with my papers but came out in the end with decent marks and a pretty good draft of my thesis proposal. Post-paper was vacation time! I did a crazy backpacking tour of the BC coast with Lisa. This was my first ever trip that wasn’t part of an educational program or focused on visiting family - an actual vacation. Woot! Other than dealing with a sinus infection, extremely cold weather, and a lack of sleep the trip was fantastic. I finally feel like I can say that I have lived in BC.

We spent 4 or 5 days in Prince George, took the train to Prince Rupert and stayed the night, took the Ferry overnight to Port Hardy, spend a day and night there, took the Greyhound to Victoria, spent 4 or 5 days there and then the final weekend in Vancouver before flying back to Prince George. The best part of traveling BC was definitely the scenery. From the rocky mountains to a sunset over the ocean, I was in awe the entire time. We also met some interesting people traveling the same routes as us - some that we never want to see again and others whom have become our friends. There is so much that I could say, so ask me about it next time I see you! I will put in as much info as I can with my pictures when I finally get them posted, which will be a little while yet because of how many I took.

I got back home Monday night and went to work for 8:30 the next morning. I am working 8:30 - 4:30 Monday through Friday, that’s right 40 hours a week. I’m working on Orientation for the Office of Student Success (like Student Affairs) at UNBC. On top of which, I am taking my last two courses and trying to move my thesis forward. I updated my wall calendar today and the next 4 or so weeks are going to be really tough since that’s when the bulk of my course work is. Sleep, work, eat & study is my new strict schedule for the month of May. So, uh.... I will talk to you all again in June?

NICOLE'S PICS


B.C. Coast Tour (April 08)

• Prince George
• The Skeena (Train)
  
• Prince Rupert
• Inside Passage (Ferry)
  
• Port Hardy
• Greyhound
• Victoria
• Vancouver

UNBC Fall 07/ Winter 08

• NUGSS Final Affair 
• Food, Drink, & Dance 
• Nicole & Nicole in PG 
• Reading Week 
• An afternoon in PG... snowshoes, forests, and snow
  
• Christmas in Ontario
• GSS Christmas Dinner 
• Christmas Festivals 
• Nicole's Cross-Country-Convocation Adventure
• It's snowing!
• Halloween
  
• Rodeo
• Forests for the World (2)
• Forests for the World (1)
• clubbing 'Prince George style'
• grand opening of the Northern Sports Centre
• Campus at Dusk
• I have furniture!
• First Day at UNBC
• Nicole's First Day in BC
• Misc. PG Pics 

Well, I did survive, again. But, wow, those last three weeks were really tough emotionally and physically. Thank you all for the hugs, love, and other showings of support.

Today (my first paper free day!) was very busy. Between the hours of 6am and 5pm today, I went to the dentist, the doctor’s twice, work, a fitness class, and the NUGSS end of term carnival. I’m pretty exhausted because I had to get up so early and still haven’t had a decent sleep, but it was fantastic to spend a day with lots of people and being active. Two things I have missed while trapped in my apartment with my papers.

One week from this point, I will finally be done my courses for this term. Before I get there I have to write two more papers, one worth half of the course grade, and do a presentation (which happens to be scheduled at the same time I am running an interview session for work). I am falling behind on my RA work and will have to put in a lot of research hours as soon as I get these papers done. I would say that I wasted the weekend because I didn't get anything done for my papers, but really I did what I needed to do - sleep, eat, and relax. My body is reacting to the stress and not doing so well these days. After that short break, here I am back in freak-out mode having realized how much I have to get done before Tuesday and wondering if it's actually possible to do. Since next week is the end of classes there is no room for late assignments and whether they are done or not, I will have to hand in what I have. Maybe I can tap into some of that UTSC lovin' tomorrow to help keep me going.

Here I sit STILL working on my research proposal. On the upside I’m making progress and (hopefully) making a really great foundation for the actual proposal I will have to defend to my thesis committee. It’s just taking SO long and there is SO much to work through. I couldn’t even guess to tell you how many journal articles, books, and texts I’ve read this past week. I think I’ve fallen into the typical life of a grad student. I’ve been drinking more coffee drinks than normal, feeling extra guilty about any sleep that I get, and even talking to my articles (yes, the authors can hear me...).  The journey of academia continues.... Only about 70 more pages of writing and three presentations left until the end of this term’s classes.... *cough*

As I sit here and write, my family is probably cleaning up the Legion hall in Brockville from my Dad and Lorie’s wedding reception tonight. I ended up not being able to go back because of money (grrr OSAP) but even if I had all the money in the world, I would still have this mountain of school work to deal with. In any case, I hope everyone had a great time and I miss you all!

Top 10 Signs Nicole Has a Large Paper Due

1. Her apartment is clean
2. There is cooked food in the fridge
3. She is wearing pyjama like clothing and has matching hair
4. She is downloading new music or movies
5. Her face is scrunched up in confusion and distress
6. She hasn’t left her apartment in days
7. She responds to Facebook messages within 5 minutes of them being posted
8. Alternatively, she hasn’t been online all day in an attempt to force words to be written
9. She can be spotted staring at the wall or a blank computer screen
10. She is posting on LJ

It was a long and fairly productive week of class and work. I'm in the midst of the end-of-term-assignment cram and my brain is already getting kind of mushy. Next up is a large and semi-final draft of my research proposal - not sure how I'm going to get that one done on time..... Orientation is busy, busy these days. We need volunteers - go sign up now! I just got some details about my summer contract and they expect us to keep office hours of 8:30-4:30. My non-morning-self died a little on the inside at this news. I'm done summarizing articles for my research job (for now, anyways) and now looking for articles, which is a nice break. UNBC was participating in the 5 days for the homeless campaign and I spent a fair bit of time reading all of the participant's blogs. It's a bit of a controversial campaign, but all the better for awareness raising, and it's for a good cause.

In other random news, one may think that Toronto is an unsafe place to live, but according to Stats Canada, Prince George is about 40 spots higher on the crime ranking than TO. Leave it to me to pick the city in Canada with the 4th highest crime rate as my new home. The car break-ins are really crazy here though. It didn't take long to notice that pretty much every person I've met has had their car broken into at least once, even if just for a couple of dollars in change. At least murder is down....

Talking about Stats Can.... I received a phone message from them today saying that I (and actually using my name) have been listed as a contact person for some woman that I've never heard of. They want me to call them back and give them a phone number where they can reach her. This extremely odd message is only the latest of weird phone calls I've gotten at this number. I've had lawyers (everyday for weeks!), a collection agency (everyday for even more weeks!), random rowdy people (one man I'm pretty sure offering to sell me something I don't want), pretty much every business in town trying to sell me their products (for this I can blame the Welcome Wagon for giving their sponsors my contact info), and about a billion recorder messages telling me that I've won something (I wish that trip to *insert place here* was real). I guess it's a good thing that my phone is quite messed up and either doesn't ring or has an intensely loud buzzing sound of interference. I'm slowly working on fixing this, but haven't found a good solution yet. In the meantime, the random messages might as well keep coming....

Tomorrow is Friday! I plan to not set my alarm, which I'm realllly looking forward to. I just hope that I'll actually be able to sleep and not be woken by my landlord's phone ringing or him stomping around. It's another friend's birthday so I plan to drag myself out of the house tomorrow night and be social before settling in for a long stretch of article finding and proposal writing.

And I'm out. Good night!

I've had discussions with a few people recently about the minimum wage and how I thought it was higher in Ontario than in BC. So, I finally looked it up, and here are the results:

BC

General Minimum Wage        $8.00

First Job / Entry-level wage   $6.00
(never worked before November 15, 2001 and have worked fewer than 500 hours)

Ontario

General Minimum Wage        $8.00
                                          $8.75 (as of March 31, 2008)
                                          $9.50 (as of March 31, 2009)
                                          $10.25 (as of March 31, 2010)

Students                              $7.50
                                          $8.20 (as of March 31, 2008)
(under 18 and working not more than 28 hours per week during the school year or working during a school holiday

SO, at the end of the month the minimum wage in Ontario will be higher, but it is currently the same as in BC. Students in Ontario however are getting paid .50 less then their colleagues, while students in BC get equal pay (but, even though they are being paid less, they will be making more than the BC students at the end of the month). BC might have plans to raise the minimum wage as well, but if they do, they certainly aren't advertising it. I don't quite understand how the First Job wage works and who it applies to, but 500 hours is a very long time to get a $2/hour penalty when you are only working a couple of hours a week....

For more random information, here is a list of the minimum wage for each province/territory.

I walked through a lot of tv/movie sets taking classes downtown in the summer and I knew that Degrassi was one of them. Watching some random tv episodes before bed, I came across 'Jesse's Girl', which doesn't have the best content but is obviously filmed at UofT. You can see the SAC office, Hart House, and they even have an engineering party complete with hard hats.

I went to pick up a prescription today where I went through the embarrassing conversation of how I would like a liquid version, and yes, it’s for me. I ended up turning down the liquid and opting for the capsule because the liquid literally costs twice as much as the pills, and my current drug plan only covers the cost of the cheapest option. So, for that amount of money I figured that I could crush/chew/break the pill or do whatever needs to be done to get it down. Unfortunately it is a very large fancy looking capsule that with my luck, is probably time-release.

This disheartening discovery brought me to the world wide web where I read about various techniques and success stories of people who managed to start swallowing pills. I’ve tried pretty much all of their suggestions already, except for numbing my throat with a sore throat spray - I hadn’t heard of that one before. The other new one was a product that you spray on pills to make them easier to swallow - and I actually ordered a bottle online... it was an impulse buy, but if it actually works....

The best part of my search was a blog that I found where a thirty-something man somewhere in Africa wrote about how he has never swallowed a pill. Following his entry were 88 responses of people from around the world ranging in age from 11-58 who are just like me! They talked about the frustration of the pill melting in their mouth, getting sick after trying to consume the crushed pill, being laughed at by their doctors and friends, and the embarrassment and shame. Experiences I know all too well. It was exciting to find out that other adults share my lack of ability to take pills, but discouraging that I might be sitting here in 40 years and still not able to do it. Oh, well.... things could be worse....

Motivated by my find I spent the next two hours trying various techniques to swallow cinnamon hearts and tic-tacs to no avail. I put off the pill taking until tomorrow, and I will be opening up that stupid capsule in some food.... *sigh*

This morning I saw my very first PG moose! It was actually walking casually down my street. crazy! Sadly I didn't get a picture - next time.

I signed the RA contract! I now have a small salary and a whole lot of work to do.

I went to the Fusion class all by myself. Yay me! It was an intense leg/ab workout today. ouch.

All afternoon was spent on Orientation. We got quite a bit done. more woot!

Also, last night I finished a full draft of my assignment that is due Wednesday. That's right, I'm done EARLY.

Oh, and I found a place online in PG that serves fondue, dessert and bubble tea! I have an obsession with bubble tea. I hope to go this week.

Life has picked up pace since I last wrote. I’m trudging through one large assignment due each week for my classes, things are slowly starting take shape with Orientation, I’ve gotten myself on some more list-serves and such so I have a better idea of what’s going on around campus, I submitted scholarship applications last week, have been invigilating midterms, and I’ve managed to go the gym for at least two hours each week.

I admit I like having more on the go than just classes. I’d still like to have some sort of club or program on campus to be involved with though, to give me more of that community feeling. Over the last couple of days I’ve been negotiating a contract for a Research Assistant position as well, so I might be picking up part-time job number 3! I have a meeting on Monday to work out the contract and go over the details. I’m worried it might be too much for me, but I’m only working 4 hours a week right now for Orientation, so I should be able to handle more than that.

Reading week started today so I will hopefully get caught up on some cleaning and sleep throughout the week. It’s not much of a break though, I still have an assignment due on Wednesday and class that night. I will also have a full week of work for Orientation and the new RA position (if everything works out on Mon.) and I will have to make sure that I still put in my gym time. The following week, Nicole will be in PG! Then it will be time to take a little break and go out. :)

characteristics of Authentic Blue people:
- people-oriented
- makes a favourable impression
- creates cohesive environment
- enthusiastic and stimulating
- sensitive to the needs of others
- supportive, empathetic, inspirational
- expressive and animated
- seeks and appreciates harmony
- ethical, honest, and sincere
- concerned for others
- optimistic

   

It's the type of cold outside that chills you deep down inside. I drank a whole pot of tea just to try to warm up and it still didn't work. With wind chill, it is below -40. That is COLD. A cold that I experience fully waiting at the unsheltered bus shelters. *shiver*

I actually went to the gym today. Yay me! Fusion class was ok, It wasn't as intense as I thought it would be, but I don't want to speak too soon... I can already feel my muscles starting to hurt tonight and I bet that I'm really going to feel it in the morning. The Stretch class was kind of boring, but relaxing I guess. I'm not a big fan of this getting up Monday mornings thing, but I do have plans to make it back again.

My first paper of the term is due tomorrow (well... tonight at this point). I'm not still up because I'm stressed about it, I'm actually working on it quite peacefully. This prof. allows/encourages creativity so I'm adding details that you wouldn't be able to do using proper APA. Believe it or not, I had most of the paper done Sunday. Yay me! (again). I'll go to bed soon and work away at it again tomorrow to finish it up.

- I finally got a job! I am one of two new student staff in charge of planning UNBC's 2008 Orientation! Which is fantastic because I really love Orientation, I really need money, and it's nice to have something to work on that isn't school work (not that there isn't enough of that to keep me busy).

- Last night I turned on the tv during the 11pm news just in time to hear 'a man was shot at Moxie's restaurant in Prince George this afternoon.' Umm... scary. It turns out that it was in the parking lot, which actually makes me feel better. Somehow it seems less bad than someone standing up inside the restaurant and gunning another person down. This and similar crimes are being blamed on 'a drug problem'.

- I'm still plugging away at getting the groundwork in place for my thesis. I've re-evaluated what it is that I'm trying to look at and wrote out a very basic question that I think captures the essence of what I want to find out. Now, I'm meeting with every professor that will listen to me to get feedback and somehow make it into a real research question and choose an appropriate methodology.

- I've managed to stay on top of my readings so far this term, even ahead in some rare instances. I'm starting to get into assignments now though which tends to be the point where assigned readings go out the window. I have a small paper do next week and a large one the week after, so I need to finish the first and start the second this weekend. Looking for motivation..... anyone have some to spare?

- I didn't drag myself to the gym last Monday. I woke up feeling crappy and decided against it. My throat is still slightly off and I haven't been sleeping peacefully but I'm going this Monday for sure. I must!

- My Dad and Lorie are in the Bahamas at this moment. Their wedding is on Wednesday. My dad was really nervous about flying so hopefully he enjoyed it.

The Transit System Is Out To Get Me
        Friday night the GSS was hosting a bowling night. I'd like to meet some new people and like bowling.... so I got all ready to go and went to stand at the bus stop early and everything. Eventually the bus comes... but doesn't stop! When I realize that it's not slowing down I start flailing my arms helplessly hoping to get the drivers attention, but no. The bus goes down the street and turns the corner never looking back. So, I took it as a sign that I wasn't meant to go bowling that night for whatever reason. I didn't have many other options. I'm trying my hardest to not spend any money so a cab was out of the question and if I waited an hour for the next bus I would have to leave to catch the last bus of the night home as soon as I got there. On the upside, I did get some decent reading done that night that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.
        Then, yesterday on my way home from campus the bus turned in the opposite direction from my house and started going down a different bus route! For those who know what I'm talking about, I was on the 16 and it turned up St. Lawrence on the 88 route. I was too shocked and confused to protest so I simply got off at the next stop and resigned myself to the 20 minute walk home. I checked the number on the bus when I got off and it did say 16, I felt slightly justified that at least I hadn't imagined it.

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A Feminist's Hope & Despair
        I was watching Dance Wars last Monday night and the host kept referring to the 'guys' and the 'girls'. At one point he said 'boys' and girls' and then stopped the live show to correct himself. He said something along the lines of "oops, I meant guys and girls, I don't want to be condescending." *head/palm* I was very proud that he (kind of) got it, but (kind of) amazed that he couldn't/wouldn't/didn't make the same connection with the word 'girls'. Argh.

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Returning to Sport
        Yesterday I went for a hike through a forest beside campus with a group of people opposing the development of the area (as the plans currently stand anyways). I'm not sure opposing this plan is my environmental calling, but they are going to change the name to something more positive and inclusive like 'Students for a Green University'. That, I might want to be a part of. Anyways, the hike was great. It was my first time on snowshoes and I'd love to try them again. Although next time I will definitely pull out the snow pants. I was all proud that I wasn't feeling sore or out of breath or anything, although I am a little stiff this morning.
        My one problem with snow shoes is that my feet aren't straight. A little know random fact about me is that in Grade 5 I 'broke' my ankle. The hospital said that I didn't need a cast but it was obviously worse than they thought because I was on crutches much longer than they predicted and my ankle healed on an angle. So, I am physically unable to make my knees and feet line up straight. This isn't a big deal except with some sports. In Karate it was a problem for the horse stance, where the Sensei comments on your toes pointing forward. I had to try to explain that my toes were in fact pointing forward according to the ability of my foot to do so. And, with the snow shoes it meant in order to not have the shoes cris-cross over each other I had to twist my right leg all funny to point my knee inwards to make my toes more straight. I plan to try skiing at some point this winter but I forsee the same problem.
       Over the Christmas holidays I printed off the schedule for fitness classes at the NSC and I've decided that I want to try doing a weekly two hour workout. The first class is called Fusion, which is a mix of Yoga and Pilates. The second hour is a class called Stretch. Fusion is so that I can generally be more active and hopefully eventually trim my tummy some. Stretch is a feel good thing. I miss the stretching component of Karate and being able to do the splits. You just feel so good after a great stretch and I'm hoping to recapture that feeling. So, now that I've stated this in public you can help me actually find the motivation to go.

For my first week back from holidays I did an amazing job of eating healthy, exercising and sleeping well. All of that is already over. I’m back to work and back to my old habits of skipping meals, snacking, being much too sedentary and not getting enough sleep. I woke up just before 7 this morning even though my alarm is set for 10. My mind is a whirlwind of thoughts (as usual) that won’t shut off to let me get much needed rest.

What am I thinking about? Yesterday I interviewed for a part-time position on campus and so I’m thinking about all of the things I should have said in my interview and didn’t. I’m thinking about my schedule for this term, what I want to commit my time to, how to meet new people, how to be social without spending any money, how to get all of my school work done, etc...

The largest weight I am bearing right now is choosing my thesis topic. I am taking 3 classes this term (one more than last). Each class is about research methods, but from a different perspective - how to conduct 1) qualitative research 2) feminist research 3) educational research. Each of those 3 classes require me to write some version of a thesis proposal, and for at least 2 of them, present it. So, I have to write my thesis proposal 4 times this term - once for each class from the differing perspectives and then the final report for my committee that draws from the information learnt in these courses as well as from the research methods class I took last term (quantitative) as my official proposal.

What is keeping me up at night is choosing my research question and putting together my supervisory committee. I have to submit my first piece of my proposal in one class in about A WEEK and a half. Which means I have to decide what my research question is in the next few days. eek!

The pressure is eating at me. Choosing my exact thesis research question seems so significant and so very final. The whole point of doing a Masters is to write your thesis. It has be something that you are extremely passionate about, it has to be feasible (considering ethics approval and funding), it has to be ‘cutting edge’ or at least offer something new to the already existing field of knowledge in your area, and it has to be something that you can work at getting published and can present at conferences.

And forming my committee? My assigned supervisor and the coordinator of my program are both on research terms and not on campus, one is available by email and the other is not available at all. After this term my supervisor is going on sabbatical (for the entirety of my degree). I haven’t had a chance to get to know very many other profs. I have to find a supervisor and two committee members in the next month or so for sure.

Narrowing down my topic, laying out a research methodology, and finding organizations to partner with/potential interviewees/etc.. is my latest hurdle. That, and more fighting with OSAP and financial troubles. The money problem I’ve always been dealing with to some degree though. It’s the thesis that is really eating away at me. I’m looking forward to actually carrying out research and putting my thesis together, but the steps that are between my current stage and that point are going to be a rough journey.

It's the New Year and time to get back to work. If I were in PG right now I would be going to two lectures tomorrow. Since I can't go to lecture I'm trying to do some school stuff that I can do from a distance like thesis research, scholarship apps, etc.... I can already feel the impending stress of playing catch-up when I get back next week.

Holiday time has gone by quickly even though I've had the longest break this Christmas that I've ever had while in school. I spent the first while in Belleville with my grandparents and a carousel of visiting relatives, and then it was off to Toronto for a brief three days. Now I'm in Gananoque until the end of the week and then back to Belleville on the weekend before heading to the airport on Tuesday. Whew - so much traveling!

My body hasn't been very cooperative with my holiday plans. I woke up with an irritated eye two and half weeks ago and finally got two eye lashes out of my eye yesterday. My eye is still sore and I can't tell if there is still something in there but at least it hurts less. Most of you know that I am really squeamish about anything touching my eye and it hurt enough last week that when I got to Toronto I headed to a doctor who froze, dyed, prodded and flushed my eye. gross.

I feel bad that I wasn't quite myself while in Toronto. Between my eye and a very early and unexpected period I was in pain the whole time I was there which made me much less social than I would have liked to be. It was still great to see everyone! It feels like I've been gone much longer than four months but at the same time hanging out with everyone it felt like no time had passed at all. I hope we are able to keep that feeling in the future as even more of us spread out around the world.

To everyone who reads my journal:

Take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. 
Any old thing at all, the more trivial and fascinating, the better.