I just finished a bit of self-reflection over the break including writing a narrative about my life. I thought about coming to the US from Canada and not really thinking about going back to live in Canada until I visited Mount Allison and I may not be back to live here for a number of years. Only time will tell.
It's been an interesting experience to have my preconceived notions about what's best (and even what's acceptable in terms of prices, customer service, competition, the role of government, cultural protectionism, etc) which has led to many spirited debates with friends who agree to continue believing the other is completely wrong.
To give you an extent of the price-gouging I've experienced, witness the frozen pizza for $13.69. That's one of the few things which most people there agreed was over-priced.
But right now I'm not worried about food prices. Due to the joy of scheduled posts, right now I should be on a plane from Boston to Halifax going through Canadian customs one last time.
Today's flight will be the last time I'll be flying 'back' to Canada for the foreseeable future (albeit at that point I can only see to May, after which I'll be attending graduate school in Syracuse (NY), New York City, Boston or Los Angeles). At this point it is up to four separate groups of admissions professionals which of those options I'm able to choose from. That's a bit nerve-wracking but... no it's pretty much entirely anxiety provoking. There is a small sense of relief after submitting the applications.
However, even knowing it's partly a numbers game (and I've got higher than last year's class average for GPA and GRE scores) and partly qualitative analysis (who has the best references, best personal statement, who seems like they'd be a good 'fit') for the school and that there's very little I can do at this point to positively affect their decisions I and millions of others awaiting graduate school decisions won't exhale until we receive that fat envelope (or long e-mail).
Although this upcoming semester will again be incredibly busy (5 courses, 2-3 PT jobs, volunteer work, and hopefully some fraction of a social life) I'm feeling rested and prepared for it. The break has given me ten days off of most the hectic pace of everything this past semester. I was able to catch up on sleep, detox from excess stress and caffeine, and finally finish a book given to me last January.
A week from today I'll be off to represent The Argosy at the 5-day annual conference of the Canadian University Press along with two co-workers. Then I'll be putting what I learned there into practice creating roughly bi-weekly content for the paper, providing input to Mount Allison website redesign project, and (pending the final okays) starting a 3rd social media-related side-project.
For right now thought, I'm probably listening to a song like the one below trying to get some shut-eye on the short trip to Halifax:
It's been an interesting experience to have my preconceived notions about what's best (and even what's acceptable in terms of prices, customer service, competition, the role of government, cultural protectionism, etc) which has led to many spirited debates with friends who agree to continue believing the other is completely wrong.
To give you an extent of the price-gouging I've experienced, witness the frozen pizza for $13.69. That's one of the few things which most people there agreed was over-priced.
Today's flight will be the last time I'll be flying 'back' to Canada for the foreseeable future (albeit at that point I can only see to May, after which I'll be attending graduate school in Syracuse (NY), New York City, Boston or Los Angeles). At this point it is up to four separate groups of admissions professionals which of those options I'm able to choose from. That's a bit nerve-wracking but... no it's pretty much entirely anxiety provoking. There is a small sense of relief after submitting the applications.
However, even knowing it's partly a numbers game (and I've got higher than last year's class average for GPA and GRE scores) and partly qualitative analysis (who has the best references, best personal statement, who seems like they'd be a good 'fit') for the school and that there's very little I can do at this point to positively affect their decisions I and millions of others awaiting graduate school decisions won't exhale until we receive that fat envelope (or long e-mail).
Although this upcoming semester will again be incredibly busy (5 courses, 2-3 PT jobs, volunteer work, and hopefully some fraction of a social life) I'm feeling rested and prepared for it. The break has given me ten days off of most the hectic pace of everything this past semester. I was able to catch up on sleep, detox from excess stress and caffeine, and finally finish a book given to me last January.
A week from today I'll be off to represent The Argosy at the 5-day annual conference of the Canadian University Press along with two co-workers. Then I'll be putting what I learned there into practice creating roughly bi-weekly content for the paper, providing input to Mount Allison website redesign project, and (pending the final okays) starting a 3rd social media-related side-project.
For right now thought, I'm probably listening to a song like the one below trying to get some shut-eye on the short trip to Halifax:
It may be a while until I'm able to post again. For now I wish you all the best in the new year.
