The scoop on school

I now have a fairly clear idea of how my Fall is shaping up. The final word from the Grad Studies office was that my average is just too low to allow admission without a term of qualifying courses. But the good news is, 3 of those half credits will come from a senior essay which will basically be reading volumes of research related to my thesis, and putting the readings together into a paper at the end. I'll also take two other upper year undergrad ES courses, one on professional and scholarly practice in Human Geography, which again deals with research methods and ends with a proposal. And the last course is very exciting...Resource Management taught by Dr. Brent Doberstein. He has done research related to deforestation in Haiti and resultant flash floods at the Haitian/DR border. When I met with him this morning, he was keen to have me in his class, and he mentioned having employed two people as research assistants who are currently working in Haiti for MCC, Mary Lynn Steckley and her husband.
The really interesting thing is that Mary Lynn has a Masters in Geography, and a lot of experience doing field research under difficult conditions (previously in Indonesia), while her husband has a Masters in Poli Sci. Brent said that her husband often works as her research assistant when they go abroad, since she's the one with a background in the field.

One more plus is that I'll be paid as a full-time Grad RA!

So if I can maintain a term GPA of 80%, I'll be admitted officially and begin a TA in the Winter. In the meantime, I'll have ample time for research and preparing my thesis, and the added benefit of getting to broaden my academic background into sustainable development. Prof. Doberstein and his "international case study" approach to teaching resource management is something I'm really looking forward to.

Hope and Imagination

A lonely person's tools for survival

It's not often that I go into a card shop and leave with the feeling of actually having a new and valuable insight into what it means to be a man in love.
As I browsed through the card rack at Earthwinds yesterday, looking for a distinctive one to add flair to a gift I'd chosen (rather uncreatively) from Tim and Nat's registry, my eyes happened over this: (bold formatting added by me)

"My Husband is a man of character who understands commitment and does more than his share to make his family comfortable, safe, and secure.

I adore him.

My Partner is a man who is patient, optimistic, caring and wise.

His sense of humor and support hold me up when I can't do it myself.

I'm grateful for him.

My Best Friend is the only man with whom I can share my deepest secrets and know they will be safe."

The stack of cards with this message was sitting there alongside the rest of the Hallmark-esk pastels and creams. But, I liked it, and some part of me said, "I want to be like this," and "I want a partner who will say these things about me."

Something I realized last night, late last night, is that throughout my life, the most important and powerful motivator has been a hope to one day discover that true love which allows people to really develop their full humanity. I know that sounds a bit heavy, but that's OK because I think it's important. I never understood this, but without that underlying hope, the promise of a love worth living for, very little else holds meaning, at least for me at age 25.

1 Corinthians 13

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor, and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Sometimes I find it hard to muster the imagination to look beyond what might have been, and see what could be. I don't have a true love in my life right now, but I still have faith that I will find that love. So I better get out of bed; it's time for church...

Things we take for granted

These five aspects of a functioning democracy stood out for me in the book I was reading tonight.

autonomous media
an active Parliament
powerful state governments
elected local councils
an independent election commission

...give power to the people over the people who rule over them. cool huh?