History 101: The real history behind Halloween

October 27 2009. Launch Magazine.

I have always liked the fall: the yummy food being harvested, the pretty colours of the leaves and warm comfy sweaters all make me happy. I also love Halloween, although more for its associations with fall and the macabre, since getting dressed up (in any way) irritates me.

But like most holidays we celebrate today, Halloween has a historical past that is much different than what we recognize today.

The Celts celebrated Samhain on Nov. 1, the day of their new year. It signified the end of nice weather, the harvest and the upcoming winter months.

It was believed that on the night before Samhain, the ghosts of the dead returned to earth because the boundary separating the worlds of the living and dead became thin. Those who passed that year would also visit their families, so people would hold feasts in their honour and light large bonfires in an effort to help their spirits find their way back home.

The Romans conquered most of the Celtic territory by 43 CE, which caused Samhain to merge with the Roman festivals Feralia and Pomona. Feralia commenced in late October and commemorated the passing of the dead. Named after the Roman goddess of the same name, Pomona honoured the goddess’s connection to fruit and trees. Her symbol is the apple, and the practice of bobbing for apples likely comes from this event.

During the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV created All Saints Day; a time to honour saints and martyrs of the church.

It is believed that the Pope was trying to replace the Celtic festival with one accepted by the church. October 31st was then deemed All Saints’ Eve.

In 1000CE, the Church designated Nov. 2, as All Souls’ Day; a day to honour the dead with bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes like angels, saints, or devils. The three consecutive days (All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’, and All Souls’ Day) was termed Hallowmas.

The mass-migration of people from Europe to North America fashioned Halloween into more like what we know today. Coming from earlier British traditions, people would go door-to-door asking for food and/or money; which we recognize today as trick-or-treating.

During the late 1800’s until the start of the 20th century, Halloween had a community focus, with people celebrating the foods of the season while wearing festive costumes. As time passed, the holiday became more and more removed from its earlier traditions to another Hallmark holiday.

It is also important to note that Samhain is an imperative occasion still celebrated today. It is the most significant of the eight sabbats celebrated in Wicca. It is a day when Wiccans celebrate death and those who have passed away, as well as paying respect to ancestors, friends, pets, and other loved ones. Although the Wiccan sabbat is influenced by the Celtic holiday, it is not considered to be equivalent, since the two faiths are different in many ways.

Other current observances at this time of the year include Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico, Spain, and Latin America (one I find particularly fascinating), as well as Guy Fawkes’ Night in the UK.

McMaster alumnus finds resolution of peace and conflict in her job

October 16 2009. TalentEgg Career Incubator

When we think of peace, many different conceptions of the concept may pop into our minds. Peace can mean settling a dispute with your loved one; a confrontation with a co-worker that still needs to be worked out; or the many of the global issues that plague our world today, such as the numerous conflicts in the Middle East or tensions with North Korea. Very rarely do we think of peace on the micro level. For the most part, we only think of peace in an outward sense and rarely within ourselves.

Danielle Boissoneau comments on peace and conflict and how the two can be resolved as part of her job, as well as in her blog, Sken:nen. Danielle’s academic background is from McMaster where she was a student of Indigenous Studies and Political Science. Danielle is an Annishnaabeq of the Old Turtle Clan, from the Garden River First Nation. She and I recently met up so I could get her perspectives on peace.

Q. Where are you employed right now?

A. I’m working for an NGO: the Canadian Centers for Teaching Peace. [I work at] The Hamilton Centre for Teaching Peace [which] is located in the Skydragon Centre, we call it the Peace Café. Specifically my program is called Indigenous Peace Education.

Q. So what is it exactly that you do?

A. It is a lot of workshops, dialogue sessions, and sharing information with people in different ways. I am putting on a conference on November 11^th called the Indigenous Peace Education Conference. It is in correlation with the National Peace Education Conference from November 12^th-15^th. The whole thing about the conference is that you learn about making peace with yourself and with your community and then take that to the global level. One of the sayings of the conference is about finding peace within yourself, something I think is important.

Q. How has your background influenced your job?

A. I think the current definition of the peace dogmatic, where peace only comes from non-violent resistance and peace outside the thing that is unreachable, is problematic.

We watch on the news that 100 people died today, and that thousands of others are killing people, but all of that is good because we get money from that. My work is part of the counter-sphere education. It’s kind of like Peace Studies: you might as well call it war studies because it is not bringing peace or changing the impact of what is going on.

The things I teach are kinda airy fairy but those are the kinds of things I know. Kind of like the movie What the #$*! Do We (K)now?: It’s about a paradigm shift; the documentary kind of examines that concept through quantum physics, but proves that changing the way you think can have dramatic effects. That’s what I try to share with the work that I do.

Q. How has your degree influenced your job choice?

A. I became very angry and bitter [during] my time at Mac, learning about power relations between state and citizen, the narrow definitions and seemingly twisted diabolic of contemporary society. Instead of feeding into the bitterness and anger, I became proactive; instead propagating the mainstream system, I decided to change the information that was being shared about Indigenous peoples and the narrow definition of peace. My experience through my education taught me that ideas and information are very important facets when discussing power relations.

Q. Do you feel that your background has influenced the way you see the world?

A. Definitely. Because I’m Native I was looking for reassurance for why things were the way they were. The political science degree explained to me who has the power and why they maintain it. All things – background, education, job – compiled together to make me who I am now. I’m kind of living resistance I guess, because instead of settling and being in this angry hole in the ground, I’m sharing info with people. It makes me happy [to do this], instead of dragging me down spirit and soul. I’m awesome.

The Turkey Dump Phenomenon

13 October 2009, Launch Magazine.

When I initially heard of The Turkey Dump, I imagined fowl, feathers and, well, poop. However, it’s actually a phenomenon that afflicts many couples who try to date long-distance during their first year away at college or university.

A Turkey Dump is when a student returns home from school during the Thanksgiving holiday to break up with their significant other. This is usually one of the first times a student goes home for the year and also one of the first times a relationship can be ended in person.

The Turkey Dump and Gen Y

Long distance relationships have been a part of Western culture for centuries. For example, sailors would often be gone for months at a time during the warmer months in order to procure wealth for their families. In 19th century British fiction, females would always be depicted as pining over their lovers. Lastly, whenever a man went to war, he would often leave his girlfriend/fiancé/wife behind, as was evident in both the First and Second World Wars.

On the other hand, The Turkey Dump has become a large part of Generation Y – more so than any other generation. It was not until the apathetic Gen Xers came along that going to college or university was common for all socioeconomic classes and, as a result, more young adults are subject to long-distance relationships than ever before.

But I can’t really say why for sure more of us now break up en masse at this time of year. Maybe it’s because marriage and relationships were a much bigger deal once upon a time. Or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the parents of Gen Y children always told us we could do and have anything we want to, and thus we never want to settle when things get a little bit tough.

Scott McCarter created a Turkey Dump website in 2006, when he noticed a lot of couples would break up during the Thanksgiving weekend. The site has user-submitted stories, e-cards, and a forum all about the Turkey Dump.

The Turkey Dump has recently become part of academia too. University of Guelph master’s student Duncan Stewart included the Turkey Dump in sociology thesis on Anticipatory Coping. Stewart looked into how people would prepare in advance for negative situations, such as being dumped unexpectedly; which is what often happens in a Turkey Dump.

Other studies, including those in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, state that up to 74% of first-year undergraduate long-distance relationships will fail by the end of first year.

My story

Long-distance relationships (be they with friends, family or romantic partners) can be incredibly difficult. I would know. Everything for me is long-distance. It is about a 20-minute drive for me to get to public transit, which happens to be the distance to Brampton, the next-largest city. Most of the friends I’ve met while studying at McMaster live an hour or more away, so if we ever want to get together, there is a lot of planning involved.

In addition, my partner (who I met at McMaster) is from another province (Alberta), and goes home in the summer to spend time with his family. This fall, he will be doing a post-graduate degree at UBC while I am still at Mac. Although we got through this holiday season, we still have a long way to go before we’ll end up even in the same province.

Why I'm Thankful I Know the Real History Behind Thanksgiving

13 October 2009, Launch Magazine

At McMaster every fall, there is a mass exodus of students who head home to spend time with their families and consume lots of turkey, or sometimes tofurkey. But I am never one of them.

For all of the years I’ve been in university, I only managed to make it home for Thanksgiving in my first year. When I mention this to people they think my parents want nothing to do with me and I must have starved over the weekend. That, or I’m really anti-social. I assure you none of this is true, but we are a bit non-traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving.

My parents are cool with this arrangement. I’m their only child and have left the nest. They have adjusted to life without me being around and I have done the same. It’s not that we don’t talk often (we do), but it seems we do things differently than most families.

My parents drove down to visit me last weekend, took me out for Thai food, and then spent Thanksgiving weekend at their cottage. I, on the other hand, spent the weekend frantically working on the three essays I have due between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Maybe this is our Thanksgiving tradition because it seems to happen every year.

Interesting fact: grocery stores still sell pumpkin pie to you even if you’re not with your family over the weekend.

As part of one of my lectures last week, I learned about the Haudenoshonee Thanksgiving Address, also known as Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen, or “words that come before all else.” This ceremony is important to the Haudenoshonee peoples and is a means of thanking the natural world for all of the things it provides. Traditionally, the address can go on for days at a time, and is recited in one of the six Haudenoshonee languages.

However, there are now short summations in English. Although I am not advocating for cultural co-option, I firmly believe we should all be giving thanks every day, instead of once a year. I really dislike that everyone feels obligated to give thanks because it’s a holiday. It seems to cheapen the meaning behind everything.

This time of year also makes me reflect on how much we actually know about the holidays. I’m sure you all know the real history of Thanksgiving, right? Sometime in the sixteenth century, the pilgrims and Native Americans came together and celebrated, as the Native people were preventing the British separatists from suffering from starvation. Everyone was happy, food was plentiful, and the world was full of rainbows, cuddly kitties, cute puppies and magical unicorns.

In case my sarcasm didn’t register with you, what we are taught about the first Thanksgiving is actually a huge myth. There was no Thanksgiving feast and relations were not good. Although the puritans were starving (they ate their dogs, boiled their clothes for the starch, and even cannibalized each other) and the Tsenacomoco did help them survive the first winter, there ends the truth behind the Thanksgiving narrative.

Once the colonists gained more supplies the following spring, they turned against the Tsenacomoco; a trend toward Indigenous people that has lasted for centuries.

Although there have been commonalities in the way Canadians and Americans treated and continue to treat our Indigenous populations, there are many differences between the two nations. The story of the foundation of Canada is based on both British and French colonists, creating a different narrative and thus a distinct culture down the road. The first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1859, it had a pro-British, white, Christian, Anglo-Saxon message, and was incredibly anti-American. However, by the 1870’s the American “traditions” as stated above took hold on Canada much against the chagrin of our religious leaders of the time.

Since then, the holiday’s meaning has changed yet again for Canadians. The holiday we celebrated in the Victorian era wanted us to express thanks for the things in our world and the people around us. It was in 1957 that Parliament passed a law that Thanksgiving would move to the second Monday in October, and that is how it has remained, along with the American story. This has lead to Thanksgiving becoming yet another Hallmark holiday.

For Indigenous people, Columbus Day and Thanksgiving represents a celebration of ethnocide, since their population has decreased as a result of colonialism and the xenophobia that accompanied it. Copies of the May 4, 1493, Papal Bull “Inter Caetera” – the document that allowed colonizers divine rule over North America – are burnt as a form of protest. The Papal Bull stated only Christians had rights to the land and since the continent was inhabited by heathens, their rights were revoked as possessors of the land. The myth of terra nuellis followed and also “allowed” Europeans their claim to North America.

I am thankful that I have my health, a roof over my head, a family that loves me, and fridge full of food. I am thankful that my parents instilled in me the desire to keep learning new things. I am even thankful for the ability to attend university, even though I am not all that impressed at the due dates my professors set out for me this year.

What I am most thankful for is that Hamilton does not have a wild turkey population. Those bastards are mean and will chase you.

The History of Thanksgiving Part II

October 8 2009: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=24316

Most people do not know the real history of Thanksgiving, and I don't begrudge you that completely. We are simply not taught what really happened during the course of our education. Last year, I wrote an article about the real History of Thanksgiving. I suggest you check it out.

As part of one of my classes this week, we learned more things about the real history of Thanksgiving that I didn't cover in the article last year. What I learned mostly pertained to the "original" US Thanksgiving, which is the one ours is modeled after. Nevertheless, I learned some things I hadn't learned before. We also watched a clip from The Addams Family Values. You can check it out below.

YouTube Video.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned was about the Haudenoshonee Thanksgiving Address, also known as Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen, or "words that come before all else". This ceremony is important to the Haudenoshonee peoples and is a means of thanking the natural world for all of the things it provides. Traditionally, the address can go on for days at a time, and is recited in one of the six Haudenoshonee languages. You can find out more information about Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen here and read a short summation of it in English here.

Thanksgiving and/or Columbus Day also happens to be a day of protest for Indigenous persons, which I mentioned briefly last year. This year will be the twelfth annual papal bulls burning, where copies of the May 4th 1493 Papal Bull "Inter Caetera"; the document that allowed colonizers divine rule over North America. The Papal Bull basically stated that only Christians had rights to the land, and since the continent was inhabited by heathens their rights were revoked as possessors of the land. The myth of terra nuellis followed and also "allowed" Europeans their claim to North America.

I firmly believe, and have for some time, that we should all be giving thanks every day, instead of once a year.

Turning an interest in environmental advocacy into a career

October 7 2009: http://talentegg.ca/incubator/2009/10/turning-an-interest-in-environmental-advocacy-into-a-career/

Gen Y is one of the “greenest” generations to date. We grew up learning how to recycle as small children and were taught conservation methods by David Suzuki on TV. As a result, many of us have philosophies toward our environment and its protection which are drastically different than that of older generations. We don’t like how quickly resources are being used and how much the planet has changed in terms of climate and ecology in our lifetimes. We sincerely believe that if the degeneration of Earth continues at this rate, future generations will be doomed.

Conferences and protests have been happening all over the world in recent years to try to create solutions for these issues. Only some of these events have targeted those of us who have the most to lose and the most to say: youth.

Thus, in 2007 the first Power Shift conference was held in Washington DC, and due to its success a second event occurred early this spring. Power Shift Australia was held this July, with the UK Power Shift following suit on October 9-12, and finally an event in Ottawa being held from October 23-26.

Power Shift Canada is two days of training, action and strategy, and one day of lobbying to hold our elected officials accountable to the people they serve: those who want a solution to the climate crisis and those who want to build a successful youth climate movement. The event has sprouted a large following due in part of social networking media such as a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter account, and a YouTube Channel.

One thousand youth from all of the provinces and territories will be converging on Parliament Hill to make a statement about the environmental procedures in this country as a part of Power Shift Canada. Will you be one of them? Katie Stiel will be there.

Katie is a recent McMaster graduate with a degree in philosophy and geography. In her last year at Mac, Katie was the director of MACgreen, the McMaster Student Union’s student-run service whose mission is to serve the greater McMaster community in creating a more sustainable campus. She currently works for Environment Hamilton and is also responsible for recruiting participants from the greater Hamilton area to come to Power Shift. You can check out an article she wrote about Power Shift for McMaster students here.

Katie and I chatted recently about how her extra-curricular involvement has helped her get involved in various environmental issues in Canada.

Q. How do you think your education helped you land the current opportunities you have?

A. To be honest, it hasn’t. I took some Geo[graphy] courses that piqued my interest. But it was mostly through extra-curriculars and students leadership activities I participated in that gave me the opportunity to explore. If philosophy taught me anything, it was I can’t be a philosopher and that I don’t want to be a philosopher.

Q. How did you get involved in environmental advocacy programs?

A. It started when I was a community advisor in Brandon Hall [a residence at McMaster]. There is a four-pillar programming plan you follow, and one of the areas is awareness. I did it on an environmental event … and wanted to take it to a larger scale. I kept on getting involved in different groups because I wanted to keep taking things to a larger scale.

Q. What sorts of organizations have you been involved with recently?

A. The Sierra Youth Coalition is something I got involved in during my fourth year. Greenpeace has really sparked my interest in the last couple of months. And the Polaris Institute is something I’ve been really interested about because they deal with water justice, which is a passion [of mine]. My interest in the Sierra Youth Coalition has sparked interest in others, like the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, which in turn sparked an interest in Power Shift.

Q. What have you learned from being involved in these groups?

A. On a more selfish level, geared to me personally, I’ve learned some things skill-wise like different organizational techniques. But these are things I had before but learned some more while working within a national network. I’ve done some things on a smaller scale, in Hamilton and in Ontario. Although the Sierra Youth Coalition is on a national scale, you don’t really get involved with people in other areas. For the Polaris Institute, with conference calls you learn different perspectives of the same things which is awesome.

Q. What do you hope to gain from the Power Shift experience?

A. Personally, I don’t think I’ll gain too much; I’m going more based on interest. I do appreciate taking on the leadership role on something I’m passionate about. But I want to see how this will impact Canada as a whole and how youth will be impacted. It’s a critical time of the year for us because of the [United Nations Climate Change] conference in December [also known as the Copenhagen 15, or COP15]. Hopefully it will make an impact like it did in Australia and the US.

Q. How do you recommend that other students and youth in general get involved in environmental organizations?

A. My personal suggestion is to find an issue you’re passionate about and search from there. To use the Polaris Institute as an example: water justice and water issues were something I was passionate about so I looked them up. Don’t try to get involved with everything because you’ll just get overwhelmed. Also, look to your schools because at this point all [post-secondary] schools should have some sort of organization on campus.

Confessions of a first generation student

http://talentegg.ca/incubator/2009/09/confessions-of-a-first-generation-student/ September 29 2009

I always knew I would go to university or college, but I was never sure what I was going to school for, since I had such a large variety of interests. I applied to an array of programs at a bunch of different schools, and was accepted into them all. (I made my choice based mostly on a campus visit that involved cotton candy and bubbles.)

I became the third person in my extended family to go to post-secondary education and the second to graduate; however, in my nuclear family I was the first for both. I am what is known as a first generation student (also called first gen or FGS): the first person in my immediate family to go on to post-secondary education.

With the number of students attending university and college on the rise in the last decade, the number of first gen students has increased as well. We fill an interesting demographic and face challenges that students whose parents have post-secondary education do not.

In general, first gen students often confront the following issues:

• Being confused by the application process
• No knowledge of academic expectations
• Use of confusing jargon by the institution
• Lack of information regarding support-systems on campus
• Coping with life as a post-secondary student
• Financial barriers
• Not having support of parents and family
• Guilt in regards to the post-secondary experience
• Higher dropout rates than traditional students

The hardest part for me was not having anyone to turn to. I knew nothing about choosing courses, how university experience worked, living in residence or what the university could offer me when I was applying.

I also did not know the benefits that some schools had over others, in terms of reputation, cost, location, transportation, programs offered, class sizes, supplementary fees and extra-curriculars. The only real form of guidance I had about Canadian universities was the annual publication from Maclean’s magazine.

My parents didn’t have any way to assist me in my choice; the only advice they could offer was from other parents to their children, which in many cases did not apply to me.

Once I made my choice, made it through Welcome Week and started my studies, I was once again inundated with unknowns. I sort of fumbled my way through, and more or less ended up OK (I’m still alive, aren’t I?).

But I faced another problem: the language I was comfortable using at university was completely foreign to my parents.

Things that became normative to me and my peers had to be explained to my parents, oftentimes more than once. They have become more familiar with terminology and practices as time has gone on, but there are still many things I do not think they understand.

I noticed my world progressively became more and more dissimilar to theirs. I can’t really say what will happen in the future in terms of my relationship with my parents, since I am not sure if I will pursue more post-graduate education.

But if I had gone straight into the workforce, I honestly believe our relationship would have been much different, as there would be more things I could relate to with them and vice versa.

Since I came to university, I have noticed that many colleges and universities now offer support programs to first gen students in terms of peer mentoring, financial assistance, orientation sessions and workshops during the academic year.

There has also been an influx of information about first gen students in academic literature, suggesting schools have recognized the impact felt by FGS in post-secondary education.

If you happen to be a first gen student, take advantage of the programs offered by your school. Such a program did not exist in my first year, but I wish it did. It likely would have helped me avoid some of those snags (and there were quite a few) in my first year.

A few years ago, I was a peer mentor for first year first gen students as part of the flagship year of the program. Not only did we face a lot of the same issues in our respective first years, but I was able to assist someone else in their transition into university life.

I know my mentee was grateful for the information I passed on to him, and he passed on his experiences to other first year students while being involved as a Community Advisor in the residence system.

MFNSA Welcoming Powwow September 25 2009

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=24069, September 22 2009

The McMaster First Nations Student Association (MFNSA) will be hosting a Welcoming Powwow on Friday September 25th 2009 from 11:30am to 3:30pm in front of JHE (John Hodgins Engineering) building.

This powwow will be MFNSA's first event of the year, and the first-ever powwow on the McMaster campus. The powwow is a celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the creation of MFNSA in 1989. The event allows MFNSA to inform students, staff and faculty about Indigenous cultures on campus, as well as promote the Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University.

There will be a number of different demonstrations at the event, including dancing, singing and drumming. Some of the participants will be giving presentations about the different styles of dances and about the dances themselves. There will be information tables from a few different groups, including MFNSA, the Indigenous Studies Program, and the Aboriginal Health Conference. Traditional cuisine samples which include strawberry drink, Three Sisters Soup, bannock, and wild rice will be available. Speakers from the Indigenous Studies Program will also be in attendance.

For more information, check out the Facebook event, or the event poster (attached). You may also email MFNSA at mac.first.nations@gmail.com

The Faculty and Program Series Part Nine: The Arts and Sciences Program

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=24027, September 20 2009

Introduction
The Arts and Sciences program at McMaster is relatively new, with the first cohort of students enrolling in 1981. As the first program of its kind in Canada, it was designed as a demanding program aimed at students who are capable of doing well in classes in the arts and sciences. This broad liberal arts education has the goals of providing substantial work in the disciplines of both arts and science; allowing students to further develop skills in writing, speaking, and critical reasoning; and fostering the art of scholarly inquiry into issues of public concern. Approximately sixty students are accepted into the program each year, making it the smallest faculty at McMaster.

Students take courses from within the Arts and Science program, as well as courses from the Humanities/Social Sciences and Science. Twenty percent of a student’s course load will be from Science, twenty percent will be from Humanities/Social Sciences, twenty-five to thirty percent will be interdisciplinary, and the remaining courses are electives. Students are usually registered in a combined Honours program in Arts and Sciences and another academic discipline within the Humanities, Sciences or Social Sciences. In their fourth year, students undertake a thesis project, which may be from any program at McMaster. A list of current thesis topics is available here.

Some Recent Awards:

• Patangi (Chari) Rangachari: winner of the 3M National Teaching Fellowships (2008)
• Miroslav Lovric:excellence in teaching from the Ontario government's Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (2007)
• Ken Blonde: OUA Men's Epee Individual Championship title for fencing (2007)
• Bob Henderson: Association for Experiential Education's (AEE) Michael Stratton Practitioner of the Year Award (2006)

Important Undergraduate Contacts:
Program Administrator: 905-525-9140 ext. 23153 asadmin@mcmaster.ca
Program Secretary: 905-525- 9140 ext. 24655 artsci@mcmaster.ca

Tips for Success:

• Participate in the Big Sibling mentoring program
• Talk to your professors and ask them for help when needed
• Check ELM often
• Use the SASS forums
• Keep up with your readings and assignments
• Utilize the Arts Sci GradNet

Undergraduate Social Events/Student Societies:
Society of Arts and Sciences Students (SASS) http://www.sassweb.ca/index.php is involved in Welcome Week activities, socials during the year, a “Big Sibling” mentoring program, Survival Series, and the Arts Sci publication, the Agora.

Notable Alumni Careers and Awards
Brenda Matthews: Researcher at University of California at Berkeley’s Astronomy department
Farah Mawani: Epidemilogist:National Coordinator for the New Canadian Children and Youth Study
Kat Kinch: UBC Law’s Best All-Around Graduate, one of Maclean’s "Best and the Brightest – Twenty-five faces for the Future" in 2004
Ying Ying Li: Yale Law graduate
Sacha Ghai: completed an M.B.A. at Harvard University

Career Options
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Arts Sci program, its students have the opportunity to pursue careers in a variety of fields. These include, but are not limited to:

• Graduate Studies
• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Law
• Journalism
• Naturopathy
• Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
• Photography
• Social Work
• HR/PR
• Teaching
• International Development
• Library Science
• Resource Management
• Urban Planning
• Epidemiology
• Chiropractor
• Speech Language Pathologist

Dr. Alexandre Sévigny Gives Students Letter of Advice

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=23981 September 17 2009

Dr. Alexandre Sévigny is an associate professor of Communication Studies & Multimedia and French at McMaster, and has an excellent rapport with both current students and alumni.

He recently wrote an open letter on Facebook to students, which was later re-posted on the TalentEgg Career Incubator in order to reach a larger student audience with the aim of being seen by both McMaster students as well as those at other post-secondary institutions.

The letter is available in full below. If you have any comments or a response to this don't forget to add it to the TalentEgg Career Incubator article so students everywhere know how awesome we think Dr. Sévigny is! You can do so here.

The three or four years you will spend at college or university should be some of the best years of your life. You have a rare privilege: a few years to devote most of your time to learning about yourself, your culture, your society and your areas of interest. Understand that your real purpose here is not only knowledge but also to develop a life guided by wisdom and reason.

You have moved out of your parents’ home. You are meeting new people and starting to make your own decisions, your own life. You are now pretty much your own boss. But you are also on your own and that can be unnerving, lonely and a little scary.

This is your opportunity to struggle with your new environment, to understand your challenges through reflection, insight and the help of others. Use the support systems at the university. You are never alone, and the very act of seeking help or advice, of opening up to others, may become a vital part of your education – of your experience of learning about yourself through others.

Speaking of dialogue, I recently met a woman at an alumni dinner, a graduate of my department. She had graduated with high B average and now works in a public affairs agency. I’ll call her Simone.

It was a beautiful night – a fancy dinner, elegant surroundings and quiet, meaningful conversations among alumni and professors who shared the bond of having been members of the McMaster community. I was seated beside Simone and we chatted for much of the evening, mostly sharing memories: people we knew in common from her grad year, observations that she and classmates had made about faculty quirks of dress or mannerism, little things. We laughed a lot and reminisced. At the end of the evening, as we got up to say goodnight, she looked at me fixedly and said:

“Alex, I want you to tell your students something from me. Do you know what I really gained from my years at Mac?”

I shook my head, surprised by her suddenly intense expression.

“I gained understanding. Understanding that the world is complicated and profound, even when it is trying to be simple and ridiculous. Understanding about how to learn and how to know. Above all, I understood that although the world is sometimes sad, it is never boring and that I should love it, and try to improve it, even though it sometimes seems to betray me.”

I was surprised by her comments. She had obviously thought about this very deeply.

“Alex, I didn’t understand until maybe the middle of third year. I finally understood that education is about storytelling – the stories of art and science, society and engineering, health and commerce and how they all weave together into the grand story of our lives together.”

Heed Simone’s advice. It is wise. Learn to catch the storyline of the courses and conversations and relationships and solitary epiphanies you will experience at college or university. It isn’t easy. It requires a lot of hard work. It requires a personal sense of purpose. It requires an open heart and a seeking mind. But the payoff is amazing: a life that is transformed from mere existence to living. From shades of gray to millions of colours.

A life in which every experience becomes a possibility for adventure, growth and love.

The first year of university from the perspective of a continuing education student

The first year of university from the perspective of a continuing education student

The majority of us go to post-secondary within a year or two of graduating high school. It’s just the way it’s done; how it’s explained to us in high school and what our parents expect of us.

However, for those who came before us, not everyone wanted to or thought they needed to get post-secondary education in order to get a good job. But now, more “adults” (i.e. those of earlier generations than our own) are opting to attend post-secondary education as continuing education students than ever before.

Like many of you, I came to university right out of high school so I never really know what it was like to experience working full-time for anything more than a summer.

But I recently became the acquaintance of Mark Reeves, a 31-year-old former Tier II Technical Support for Apple computers, and asked him about his experiences so far as a first-year social sciences student.

Q. Why did you decide to go to university after having been in the working world for long?

A. University was something I wanted to do from the get-go, but I didn’t have the grades before. I fell into a routine of getting up and going to work which I didn’t want to disrupt. Workplace politics finally pushed me over the edge and I decided to apply to school last year.

Q. What separates you from the average first year student?

A. Besides the obvious – age. I haven’t really met any first years yet so it’s hard for me to say for sure.

Maturity level would be the big difference. I’m at university for me, [while] many first years are expected to go by their school and/or their parents. I should be able to put more effort into what I’m doing of my own volition because I want to do it. Another thing that is also tied into maturity is committing to things. I will get up and do it because I signed up to do it. Waking up for an 8:30 class isn’t a chore for me now in the same way it was when I was younger (and for many students) because I am used to getting up early for work now.

Q. As a mature student, what are some challenges you have faced and/or can possibly foresee?

A. The biggest challenge is the social aspect of everything: I’m mixing with people 10 to 12 years younger than I am.

Re-adjusting to school life is going to be a challenge. It is different to get up and go to work every day when work doesn’t come home with you. Now I’m going to have to buckle down and do the readings and the research, etc.

Q. What do you think a university degree can give you?

A. Hopefully a better job in the end. Mostly I’m here to prove to myself and everyone else that I have potential. There were people who said I’m a failure and could never do it and others who believed in me and said I would be able to. I want to be able to say yes I can do it and go shove it up your ass to those who said I couldn’t do this.

Q. What sorts of things do you hope to learn (or re-learn) while you are completing your next degree, either over the next year or over the next four?

A. Time management skills are something I need to work on. My job didn’t really require these skills.

My financial responsibilities are much different than bringing in a steady, relatively large pay check every couple weeks. Now I’ve got to live off of OSAP and a part-time job.

I need to learn some social skills. I’m not known as a social person, and you have to be for group projects and whatnot.

Commitment – I’ve got to stick things out to the end and do what I want to do and not get fed up and do what I was previously doing.

Why I walked away from a job opportunity

Why I walked away from a job opportunity

This is the first year in a few that I do not have a job for the school year, and am not involved in any way in Welcome Week (McMaster’s orientation/frosh week). But I happen to have McMaster’s campus events co-ordinator on Facebook, and in my news feed it showed up that a company she knows of was hiring a promotion team for a few days during Welcome Week.

It also turns out that I somehow managed to get both Thursdays and Fridays off for first semester this year (long weekend every weekend woohoo!). In my head, I thought “Hey, this could be a good way to make some extra money before school, and maybe turn into something a bit more permanent during the year.” So I emailed the contact person asking what sort of information they wanted from me, hoping for a quick response.

Shortly afterwards, I got a reply. They told me to send the sort of things I was expecting:

• Resumé
• Contact info
• Time available for a phone interview
• Availability during the school year

But there was another item on the list that really threw me off. I was required to submit a head shot. But I didn’t feel comfortable applying for a job where part of the basis for me being hired was my physical appearance.

This position instantly reminded me of the scantily-clad girls at sporting events and concerts handing out swag, samples or coupons. That is something I could never see myself doing. I do not ever want to feel like I’m using my body to sell a product – it would make me feel I had abandoned my values.

I’m not necessarily insulting my physical appearance here, but I feel that my ability to work for an organization should have nothing to do with what I look like, but the skills I possess. I have developed lots of skills that would be useful for doing promotions because I’ve previously done some niche marketing work.

Now, I’m not saying that the people who do this kind of work are knowingly using their physical appearance to sell products. Money is money and sometimes jobs in your field of interest can be hard to get, especially without a degree to back it up. I’m just saying it’s not for me because I feel it compromises my values.

Part of me still wonders if I should have gone through the application process. Maybe I’m making everything seem worse off than it is. I don’t know how likely it would have been for me to be walking around campus in booty shorts and a halter top hawking a product – as well as part of myself – to passers-by.

What I do know, however, is that having a bit more extra spending money right now would be useful.