Danielle’s Grad School Update: Month 2

17 November 2010.  TalentEgg Incubator.

You know that old adage, “Time flies when you’re having fun”?

Well, it flies when you’re in grad school too!

In October, I noticed my academic work started to kick up a bit.

Homework in the average week consisted of 100-150 pages of reading for each of my seminars, 5-10 pages of French translation, up to 75 pages of reading for the students I TA for, and planning lessons for my students.

In total, this takes me between two and three days to complete.

I was also given my first large assignment, which was the proposal for one of my term papers.  It needed to be between six and eight pages, and consisted of my research objectives, a review of literature, an explanation of the theoretical framework, a description of the methodology and methods, and a provisional outline of the paper.

Almost the entire time I was worried that I wouldn’t do very well, but when I got the proposal back, I did fine.

Except for the part where I spelled methodology wrong.  Oops.

As part of my degree program, students have to pass a language translation test in French or an indigenous language.  Since my knowledge of Ojibwe and Mohawk is rudimentary, I decided to enrol in a translation class to try to remember the French I learned in Grades 4 through 10.

Unfortunately my program only offers the test twice a year.  I decided to take the test anyway, because the worst thing that could happen was me failing, and I would be able to write it again in the spring.

For the test, you are responsible for reading a French academic article and writing an abstract in English.  You are given two hours and can use a dictionary.

I chose (we were allowed to pick one article out of three based on the topic they were about) “Éléments de Pensée Politique Autochtone Contemporaine” by Dalie Giroux.  For some reason I didn’t think the article was going to be as long as it was, and I definitely was not used to reading a text that was anywhere near this complex (we were reading much simpler stuff in my French class).  But I wrote my abstract, and submitted it for marking.

A couple of days later I found out I passed!  I then promptly dropped the French class that helped me pass.  I plan on keeping up with reading in French, but I can’t seem to get a copy of La Stratégie Ender (but I to do try to read French news online!).

Not everything that happened this month has been academically-based, though.  I attended meetings for the council and caucus I sit on, and helped plan two separate Halloween parties.

I was also fortunate enough to see The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, one of the commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, speak about the impact of residential schools on Indigenous people in Canada.

My partner came for a visit, so we decided to act like tourists.  We took a tour of the Parliament Buildings, went to the Royal Canadian Mint and lifted a bar of gold (they’re really heavy!), looked at the National War Memorial, the Valiants Memorial as well as the Champlain Statue, and went to Gatineau to go to see the Canadian Museum of Civilization.   It was all a lot of fun.

What’s up next?  November means (even) more work and marking papers for the first time.  And, knowing me, probably an adventure or two of some sort.

Commuting conundrum: Work

TalentEgg Incubator. 12 August 2010

I live in a bustling metropolis of approximately 2,700 people, with about 58,000 in my township. Needless to say, work opportunities are few and far between.

I have been working at TalentEgg this summer as an egg-tern and, to do so, I commute. And I don’t mean a quick jaunt on the subway. I mean two transit systems and a considerable amount of time in a car.

An average workday goes something like the following:

• Wake up at 6 a.m. and get ready
• Leave the house at 6:45 a.m. and drive to theGO station
• Arrive at the GO station and depart on the 7:40 a.m. train
• Get to Union Station around 8:20 a.m. and hop on the subway
• Arrive at the office around 8:40 a.m.
• Work until 5 p.m., and then do everything in reverse
• I usually get home around 7:10 p.m.

And of course, that doesn’t include things like accidents, really bad weather, GO train or TTC delays. All of which I have experienced more than once this summer.

I’ve commuted to Toronto for two different positions now (the other my high school co-op position at The Hospital for Sick Children), and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone coming from a long distance, simply because of the amount of time it takes. And it’s not the GO train or subway rides that are the issue: I can do other things while riding, like read, catch up on phone calls or emails (provided I get a seat, of course).

It’s the 30 to 40 minute drive that gets me. Nearly every day, I have some kind of encounter with a dangerous driver or someone who doesn’t know the rules of the road. And usually a rather large string of obscenities and some wild gesticulation from me follows. I seem to get people going 40 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, and I’m not able to pass them. Do you honk, or will that make the situation worse? I never know what to do.

But enough about me and my hatred of commuting (and bad drivers).

Your daily commute to and from work should always be considered when you are looking for and applying to jobs. In addition, you should also consider how much your commute will cost in comparison to your living expenses.

Some things to ponder when you are looking for a job:

• How much is rent in that city?
• How much does transit cost in that city?
• How long will your commute be inside the city?
• What are your expenses for a car (insurance, gas, maintenance, etc.)?
• How much is rent outside of the city?
• How much would transportation be to get into that city?
• How long will your commute take outside of the city?
• If you live with family or friends how much will your rent and expenses cost compared to living on your own?
• Are you planning to buy a place in a certain amount of years, or do you want to keep renting?

The longer your commute takes, the more likely you are to buy convenience foods for meals (and get fat) and be tired from not getting enough sleep.

But if you’re living with family, commuting can be a great way for you to save money to put towards a larger purchase, like a car or a house.

For me, gas costs about $35 a week , my TTC pass is $121 a month and my GO pass is $159 a month, for a grand monthly total of around $420. Because I don’t have to pay for rent or most living expenses living at my parents’ house, commuting is a much more economic option for me while I complete this internship. Trying to find a place that was closer didn’t seem to be worthwhile for only four months.

If I got a full-time job in Toronto, would I do it again? I’m not sure.

It may be something I’d consider in a shorter time frame in order to help me save up some money. But in the end I would probably look for a place that was closer, since it would allow me to do more in my evenings than have dinner and watch a little bit of TV.

TalentEgg asks:

• How far have you commuted for a summer job?
• What was your experience like?
• What advice do you have for other people who commute for work?

Life is a circus: Q&A with a nouveau cirque performer

February 26 2010. TalentEgg Incubator.

While growing up, many of us threatened our parents with running away and joining the circus if we didn’t get our way.

For Tiffany Warden, a world religions and East Asian studies student at the University of Toronto, the circus doesn’t mean the big top with clowns, tigers and bike stunts. For her, the circus means contemporary circus(also known as le nouveau cirque), akin to Cirque de Soleil.

Tiffany trains and works out of Toronto School of Circus Arts, and tours with its production company Cirque Sublime.

I recently asked her some questions about what it is like juggling her studies and a career in the circus.

Q. Tell us about teaching at the Toronto School of Circus Arts.

A. I teach there two to three times a week, mostly doing what’s called “working the board” on the flying trapeze rig. I’m the one who fishes for the safety lines and hooks the next flyer up and gives the odd tip before they take off the board again.

I also work a lot of corporate groups, which is usually using circus arts to help build morale and team spirit within a business group, or to congratulate the team on a particular job well done.

Q. What is it like being a performer for Cirque Sublime? How often do you go on tour and what do you do?

A. Performing is the most fun aspect of being in the whole circus world, and I work as hard as I do at my various jobs in order to be able to continue to do it! Tours are generally one to three weeks long at a time (because while we’re away, classes at the school can’t run) and happen two or three times a year.

I perform a duo hoop act with my good friend Laura (two girls, one hoop) and I’m debuting an aerial rope act later this month as a solo piece.

Q. Why did you decide to complete your degree part-time while simultaneously working?

A.Not because it’s easy! Circus is like dance or something where you only have a small window of time in which your body can do the things demanded of it by the job. If I had waited to finish my degree, I would have missed some of the best learning years of my circus career. Once you hit late 20s-early 30s, it’s hard to gain things like flexibility; usually a person can only maintain what they have.

Q. Considering all of the things you do (Tiffany also designs costumes for cosplay and renaissance fairs, models, and works another part-time job)–for work or for fun–what would you eventually like to do career-wise?

A. Circus, for sure, is what I want to do, for as long as I can do it. When I start to break down (and everybody does eventually) I wouldn’t mind seeing if I could meld circus with some form of burlesque.

I would also love to combine cosplay and the anime convention scene with circus, creating a couple acts based around certain characters from certain animes, dressing up as them and performing to music from the show. I think fans would eat it up, and I could basically get to go to every convention for free and then some. I may actually try this at the upcoming Anime North here in Toronto.

Q. Anything else I left out you want to add?

A. Just that I was always the super awkward girl at the back of the dance class, so if I can make money doing this, there’s hope for everyone!

The benefits of learning new languages, Part 2: The business world

January 29 2010. TalentEgg Incubator.

In Part 1 of The benefits of learning new languages, I asked McMaster University professor Alexandré Sevigny about his opinions on the benefits of learning additional languages, and I provided some of my own justifications for learning or being in the process of learning five languages other than English.

I’ve heard there are many benefits of learning a second (or third) language because it can drastically improve your career options. For example, if you’re interested in working in government, knowing both French and English could offer you better opportunities.

I’ve also read that students considering working in business, especially in international business, should contemplate learning Mandarin since China has become such a powerhouse in the business world in recent years.

Here, Sevingy answers another question on the importance of learning additional languages, but this time his response focuses on future work and career possibilities.

Q. Do you think particular languages are advantageous to learn for certain career aspirations? Why or why not?

A. Well, French is certainly very useful for working in the public sector, or for one of the banks, or even in public relations. It is very difficult to be involved in any of Canada’s national industries without a working knowledge of French.

French is also a key international language as it permits access to the cultures of the Francophonie, an international collection of francophone and francophile states that represent almost every region of the world. French is spoken in North and South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Maghreb, Asia and Oceania.

French also still remains an international language of culture, prestige and diplomacy. Knowledge of it can raise your status and open doors in international not-for-profit and non-governmental organisations, such as the United Nations.

Spanish is, of course, very important for speaking with our neighbours in Latin America.

Brazilian Portuguese, having recently overtaken Continental Portuguese as the world standard, is an emerging language of business and culture. Brazil will be a very big player in geopolitics and world business in the next 50 years.

Mandarin Chinese permits access to the language and culture of the only serious challenger to the United States’ lone superpower status.

Russian is also a language of importance. It is still a key language of culture, prestige and business in the Slavic world, which represents a world population of approximately 300 million people.

Finally, the leading languages of India will emerge as important for trade and culture. One has only to look at the massive popularity of Bollywood films across the globe to see that India is rising. Some would say that the lingua franca of the sub-continent is English, but as the nation becomes wealthier, its most popular languages will grow in prominence.

Stephen R. Anderson states that there are 6,809 known languages to date worldwide. This number is certainly much greater than I would have initially expected, and I do not think many other people would think there to be so many. The tragedy in this is the number of languages are rapidly decreasing. For example, about 88 languages in Canada are in danger of becoming extinct.

Regardless of what language or languages you decide to learn, how you learn them, or for what purpose, having additional language skills will benefit you in countless ways. Although there are some more practical reasons for learning a language, such as to improve your employability skills, it may also help you personally, such as if you plan on doing a lot of travelling.

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.

How to make extra money by “moonlighting”

"How to make extra money by “moonlighting”", August 27 2009

As students, we’d all like to have a bit more money. Some of us work in the summer months and/or during the school year and this is still not always enough.

What do you do if you need a little more cash to get you through the month?

If you’ve already cut all your unnecessary expenses, it might be time to try moonlighting: taking a second (or third) job that is often paid “under the table” – meaning the employer pays you in cash and, more often than not, the income is not submitted at tax time.

Catering staff

Catering companies work primarily on evenings and weekends, which is optimal for most students. If you are involved in food prep, it’s a good way for you to get more familiar with cooking. If you’re serving, you’ll get some customer service experience. The pay is usually pretty good too.

Teaching or tutoring

High school students, as well as students in your school, may not be as proficient as you are in your studies. If you have an aptitude for certain subjects, why not tutor other students for a fee? This is a great way for you to gain some teaching experience if you are considering teacher’s college for the future. You can also edit people’s essays and papers for a fee, either a flat rate per piece or on a per word/per page basis.

Cleaning

Nobody likes to clean up after themselves and, in many cases, people will pay good money to have their homes cleaned for them. This often include cleaning houses or doing maintenance outdoors. All you need are some cleaning supplies and transportation, and you’re set.

Trials and experiments

I’m not necessarily advocating participating in drug trials, but there are several different ways you can participate in trials and earn some extra money. Many campuses pay students for participating in kinesiology and psychology studies. Marketing focus groups often pay good money for helping them get customer feedback on their products as well – sometimes $50 or $100 for a few minutes of eating chocolate bars or drinking beer. Watch out for advertisements on poster boards around campus to see what you can find.

Food Deliveries

Many restaurants will deliver to customers for a fee. As a driver, you will usually get paid an hourly wage as well as make money from tips. As long as you have a car, this is a way to make some easy cash.

Pets

Just like people don’t like cleaning up after themselves, they also don’t particularly enjoy cleaning up after their animals. Busy pet owners will pay for a “professional” pooper-scooper to come clean up after their dogs. You may want to offer your dog-walking services for people who can’t let their animals out during the middle of the day. You can also give pet sitting a try for people who go away on business for the weekend or on a vacation.

Paper delivery

This may have been a job you had when you were a kid, but there are always ads for these positions in the paper. This is a good way for you to get some exercise as you can complete your route through riding a bike or rollerblading. However, you need to be able to wake up pretty early in the morning if you are delivering a large daily paper!

Of course there are tons of other possibilities out there for you if you are looking to make a little bit of extra money on the side. Regardless of what skills you are advertising for hire, remember to use the resources around you to put yourself out there and to get hired. Even if you’re not making a huge amount of money, take what you learn from these jobs with you the next time you are looking for work. You never know what skills and connections this experience can give you!

Entry-level living: New grads need a new budget

"Entry-level living: New grads need a new budget", July 23 2009

Your first new grad job will be a completely new experience for you: new responsibilities, wardrobe, hours and expectations. You will also be getting your first (or one of your first) series of substantial pay cheques that will help you into the next stage in your life.

Many recent graduates don’t know how to set a proper budget when they start their first job and this can be a problem for a couple of reasons. First, it can contribute to frivolous spending habits later in life, and second, it can prevent you from getting a good jump on saving for the rest of your life. Since you have a fresh start, this is when you should be utilizing your pay to the best of your ability.

To create a budget, make a series of lists:

• list the money you owe from student loans and/or credit card debt
• list your expenses for one month (including rent, clothing, transportation, food, utilities, entertainment and gifts)
• list the income you expect in a month

From these three lists you are going to make your monthly budget.

Don’t forget that a portion of your pay cheque will be deducted for taxes and employment insurance (unemployment), but it’s possible there will also be deductions for health benefits, retirement plan contributions and union dues depending on your employer. Your budget should take those deductions into account and only include your net pay, not your gross pay.

For entry-level employees, a suggested spending guideline based as a percentage of your pay is as follows:

• 30% housing
• 10% utilities
• 10% food (both takeout and restaurant and well as groceries)
• 15% transportation (car loan, and/or public transit passes)
• 10% repaying debt (student loans and credit cards)
• 10% savings
• 5% clothing
• 5% entertainment
• 5% for car insurance and miscellaneous other expenses

These expenses can be variable, however. For example, if you’re living at home and paying nominal rent you don’t need to put all 30% toward housing – you can put more of that toward debt repayment or savings. At the same time, if you’ve recently bought an expensive car you may need to re-configure how much money is in your budget since a large portion will be paying for your new vehicle.

Ideally, you should have some of your budgeted money left over each month, and you should try to save as much of that as you can. This money can either be used for emergency purposes, to start a nest egg for retirement, or for a rainy day, which will put you in the habit for saving for your future.

The key to saving money (although this seems really obvious) is for you to spend less money than you earn, and in order to do so you really need to keep track of what you are spending, when and why.

Once you have consolidated a budget, make sure you are keeping track of it properly. This should be done either via computer program (there are many you can purchase), online budgeting software such as Mint.com, Wesabe or moneyStrands (formerly Expensr), a self-created spreadsheet or in a notebook.

Although you may think you have a mind like a steel trap, you are likely to forget and it also helps you find out exactly how much you are spending – sometimes you won’t realize how often you really buy convenience food unless you are tracking it.

Hopefully if you keep these tactics in mind you will be able to start saving for the more expensive things than come across in adult life – like a house, a car or your retirement fund.