The FIrst Day (Or: How I Spent 12+ Hours at School) (BEDS 412)

I'm oblivious to a lot of things. I forget small details, somehow manage to miss the glaringly obvious, and just in general tend to not notice a lot of what's going on around me. It's a fatal flaw; especially when I noticed--a mere week before school started--that my Tuesday class schedule contained four of my five classes, keeping me at school from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm...a miserable twelve hours.

And guess what the first day of school was? A Tuesday. 

So, for your enjoyment, I recorded my adventures on the first day of school. (This was actually supposed to go up last week, on the first day of school, but me being...well, me...that didn't happen.)

Hour 1: 8:30-9:30am

I have already been up for three hours. (I am not happy about this.) 

My first class is okay; the prof is really chill, being one of those call-me-by-my-first-name, everything-in-the-syllabus-is-a-suggestion-rather-than-a-rule kind of dude. (Aka, my favourite kind of dude.) 

There is no required textbook, becuase my prof feels guilty assigning a $100+ book. My wallet weeps in joy.

The class ends early; I weep in joy.

Hour 2: 9:30-10:30am

I somehow manage to beat the textbook rush and wait no more than ten minutes in line, which will probably never happen again.

I also only spend $60 on textbooks, which will also probably never happen again.

Hour 3: 10:30-11:30 am

I'm already eating lucnh, because I'm hungry and time is a social construct. I watch Grey's Anatomy on my iPad and relish the lack of guilt that comes with not yet having homework. (This will not last long.) (As I am now writing this in the future, I can assure you that it did not last long at all.)

Hour 4: 11:30am-12:30pm

I'm still watching Grey's. Don't judge me.

Hour 5: 12:30-1:30pm

Cue second class. I've had this prof before. She remembers my name, which is shocking. I recognize someone who has been in two of my classes in the past--but I don't know her name, so that's awkward.

Hour 6: 1:30-2:30 pm

My second class ends early, and I am in dire need of caffeine. I go to Starbucks with a birthday gift card. They still have s'mores frappuccinos, and I am pleasantly surprised.

I try to visit the info booth to fix my U-pass, but the line basically stretches from one end of the building to the other. I give up on that idea fairly quickly.

Hour 7: 2:30-3:30pm

I spend my time watching YouTube videos and doodling. Being at school for 12 hours with no homework to do is surprisingly boring. (Coming from the future, I already miss those days.)

Hour 8: 3:30-4:30pm

My third class starts. There aren't enough chairs in the classroom, which is super awkward, considering the class only has 15 students in it.

Participation is required, which sucks, because I don't talk much. (People who actually know me well won't believe me, but this remains a true fact.)

Hour 9: 4:30-5:30pm

I don't have time between my final two classes to grab food. I know this will bite me in the ass in future weeks.

I could really use a nap, but the lecture hall is too small to nap unnoticed. (Not that I would....maybe.)

Hour 10: 5:30-6:30pm

I've had this prof before, too. I think I know what to expect, until she says that we're going on a field trip, and that she doesn't use powerpoints. (

She says she will only spend 15 minutes on the syllabus, which somehow turns into an hour, during which I don't pay attention because I didn't think she would talk for so long. (Oops?)

Hour 11: 6:30-7:30pm

We leave the classroom and go for a walk around the neigbourhood. I shamelessly play Pokemon Go the entire time.

Hour 12: 7:30-8:30pm

Class ends a blissful thirty minutes early, so I can go home and s l e e p.

Tuesdays are very quickly going to become my least favourite days.

Until later,

- Justyne

Education vs. Career (BEDS 020)

My stance on university has always remained the same: take courses you're interested in, and find a job later. Education first, career second. I haven't failed to notice, though, the value society puts in the career you have after.

I'm not naive enough to believe that wanting a good job is not a motivating factor for attending university. In fact, if I'm being completely, 100% honest, it's a big reason I reapplied. It's a common reason, and an extremely valid one. If you want to be a lawyer because of the big, fat paycheck you'll get, I applaud you! (Mostly because I find law extremely dull and confusing, and I would never, ever, pursue it.)

But I hate--hate--when the topic turns to what I'm going to do after school. I hate that so many people view the lack of an intended career path as a downfall, a weakness, a liability. I resent all of the condescending thoughts that my degree is useless, or that the courses I'm taking will not benefit my future.

This year, I decided to take Japanese. It had no relation to any of my major requirements. The credit probably wasn't going to do me many favours on my transcript. But I took it in my first year, I liked it, I was good at it. I wanted to increase my conversational skills in the language, so I registered for the course.

Of course, I ended up dropping it after the first class, but that's another story entirely.

When I first started my degree, I hated it. The courses in my major were too broad, too general, too....bleh. I had no interest, so I dropped out. But the longer I'm here, the more narrowed the classes get, the more I like them. The more I'm interested. The more I actually care about what I'm learning, as opposed to the piece of paper I'm going to get afterwards.

I may have been prompted back into university with the possibility of a better job, but I stick around because I am invested.

The things we discuss in class are things that pique my interest. I'm taking a course in Canadian comics, with books on the syllabus that I'm genuinely excited to read. I'm taking a popular literature and film class, and on the very first day we screened Inside Out. (Even more impressively, I managed not to cry.) I'm taking a class about fairy tales--FAIRY TALES. If that's not the literal most perfect class for me, I don't know what is.

Even though school stresses me out, and I breathe a sigh of relief every time a break comes along, I am genuinely happy to be here. I am genuinely excited about what I'm studying, about (some of) the papers I'm assigned to write. And that's how it should be.

Sometimes you need a degree to do what you really want to do--but, as I've said before, I have never been one of those people. So right now, all I care about is being challenged, thinking critically, and being exposed to new perspectives that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

At least that way, I'll have some pride in the piece of paper I get at the end of it all, instead of disappointment from not getting the career I set my mind on.

Until later,

- Justyne