So long sweet summer...

Summer, my friends, is officially over. Some of you may be thinking that’s a bit sad – and it is. After the wonderful summer I had, livin’ the life in Ottawa, it’s definitely sad to see that come to an end and say goodbye to so many friends. But, at the same time, autumn is such an exciting time in my and many other students’ lives. Especially for those of us at Mount A... because Mount A, well, it’s kind of awesome. Coming back here in the fall was absolutely wonderful – moving back into Harper, meeting all the new frosh, lying in the sun by the Swan Pond, strolling through the Waterfowl Park, chatting over tea at Bridgestreet annnnd remembering how the Library makes me feel. It’s so weird how smells are, for me, the most powerful memory triggers. And with the library, as soon as you walk through the front doors and step inside, it smells like “Oh, no. I have so much work to get done.” That’s what the library smells like for me – how sad. And, what’s crazy, is that I used to only have to spend a lot of time at the library during exam period – but this year, I’m here almost every day (and if I’m not here, I feel like I should be and really, I should be). I’m stunned at the difference between the beginning of first year and the beginning of second year. In first year, I honestly felt like I was at a wicked awesome summer camp for the first... oh, I don’t know, 2 months. This year, I arrived, had Residence Assistant training, Frosh Week and bam! mother of a workload. The first week of class I actually had about 275 pages of reading. Say what? I probably read that much in a month last year! Maybe it has to do with the three third-year courses I’m taking this semester... Silly, silly me. One of those classes, a third year International Relations (IR) class, I actually feel like a grade 9 student sitting in on a grade 12 class. Some of the people in that class just have so much more experience and just plain knowledge than I do, which makes it pretty intimidating. We have to give a 10 minute presentation on a United Nations agency and I feel like some fourth year IR guru is going to ask a question during mine and I’ll have no choice but to answer, “Oh, sorry, I’ve actually never heard of that”, while watching my professor trace a nice, big, oval zero on the piece of paper in front of him. Gulp.

My friend Sam and I at The Joel Plaskett Emergency frosh concert!

Okay, so I’m sorry if that was utterly terrifying or depressing for any of you. But really, second year is proving to be a step up from first year, while first year really wasn’t that big of a leap from high school for me. At the same time though, it’s refreshing to be challenged in a big way, even though it can be really hard to think of it like that at times. Like now – I’m writing this blog and I actually have two books and three articles stacked next to me, waiting to be read. Thank goodness it’s interesting material or I’d really be out of luck then.

Me and Rowan, an exchange student from New Zealand, at the infamous SACKVEGAS!

So my transition back to Mount A has been both wonderful and eye opening in the way that it is so good to reconnect with the fantastic people here, get back into my old activities and get involved with some new ones, while at the same time, realizing that second year isn’t going to be as much of a cake walk as first year was. But you know what? That’s okay, I’m ready for it, bring it on. I don’t want to get to philosophical with you but I found a really great quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. the other day: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” You need to step out of your comfort zone to realized what you are capable of, and that’s where I’m at right now. I can’t wait to see what happens.

Much love,

Sue

sjhumphrey@mta.ca