I am writing to you today from The Ocean, a northbound Via Rail train, and I’m heading for home, which for me, is Campbellton, New Brunswick. My boyfriend, Fraser, and my good friend, Aldous, are both on board as well, and will be spending this Reading Week with me. Fraser is from a town just south of Edmonton, Alberta, while Aldous is from Victoria, British Columbia, so it would be just a tad more expensive for them to go home. So, they’re coming to the North Shore with me, and I’m excited! Fraser has already been to Campbellton over Remembrance Day weekend, but it’s Aldous’ first time. Aldous is a real outdoors and travel guy; he’s backpacked to more countries than I can count, and has even worked in the Yukon during the summers as a kind of outdoor adventure guide, involving a lot of kayaking, rafting, canoeing, mountaineering, hiking and fishing. And, since Campbellton, and New Brunswick in general, are very nature and outdoor oriented, Aldous is very excited that we have plans to go cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding and hiking while we’re at home. I’m pretty excited too, because I haven’t gotten to do any of these things in ages!
This past week has been a tad strange; it’s been both wonderful and disappointing, busy and relaxed. As most of you probably realized, Valentine’s Day was Wednesday, and I have to say, it was the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had, and it was complete with red and white carnations, dinner and coffee, a beautiful card, and the most adorable stuffed beaver you’ll ever see. He came with the name Bibbers, but I decided I would name him whatever the German word for “beaver” was. After I searched it, it turned out to be “biber”, which is quite a crazy coincidence. So, Biber it is!
Now, that was the wonderful part of the week. The disappointing part was the three mediocre marks that I got back in Psychology, Macroeconomics and Western Religions. The material in those courses isn’t extremely challenging, and I felt very confident going into the midterms. A lot of the questions on the tests were multiple choice, which I’m not a big fan of, because you’re either 100% right or 100% wrong, with no points for effort, partial knowledge or things like that. But that’s not my biggest problem with multiple choice exams; it’s the fact that some professors seem to look specifically for questions that will trick you, or ask such obscure questions that you remember reading about that piece of information, but thinking it to be such a minute detail that you focussed your attention on more central and important information. I just don’t believe it to be a good reflection of the professor or the testing method used when students like me, who understand, complete all the assigned readings, attend and pay attention in every class, come out of the midterm with a pretty average mark. I work to get above average marks, and it’s just frustrating when you’re not able to achieve those marks because of these reasons.
This week was busy and exciting in the sense that elections have been happening everywhere; House Executive elections in my residence, Harper, as well as in the residence next door, Campbell, where a bunch of my friends live, as well as for the Executive of the Students’ Administrative Council (SAC). Several of my friends from home ran for different positions, and there seems to be a great Campbellton presence on the North Side of campus this year: Mayme and another girl, Gillian (not from Campbellton, though) are the new Co-Presidents of Campbell Hall, while Alex and another guy, Dan (again, not from Campbellton), will be the Co-Social Chairs of Campbell. And finally, Brent, a guy I grew up with at home, is the new President of Harper. Next year should be awesome with executive teams like those!
I have an interview for a job that I want more badly than I’ve wanted anything in a very long time. The job is a position as a Parliamentary Guide in Ottawa, Ontario, and the interview will be on February 28. I have to give a 3 minute presentation with no notes, and it can be about absolutely anything except Parliament. Normally I would love this kind of assignment; I’m a big fan of public speaking, and participated in contests all through middle school and high school, but I just can’t seem to pick a topic. Right now I’m debating between the concept of home, and the hit Quebec website, Tetes-a-Claques. Tetes-a-Claques would be absolutely hilarious, and a very fun presentation. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go to www.tetesaclaques.tv and check it out for yourself. You need to understand French, though, haha.)
So, let’s get to my lesson-learning section of the week.
1. Stuffed beavers are wonderful, cute, and can make you smile even when you’re having the worst day ever.
2. Going to the gym/getting exercise is important, and makes you feel great about yourself.
3. Don’t let yourself get down about marks that aren’t quite what you want. Learn from the experience by studying harder for the next test, and always know your true potential.
4. Valentine’s is more than a corporate holiday; it’s the perfect opportunity to tell those you love exactly how you feel about them.
Much love,
Sue
sjhumphrey@mta.ca
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