5 posts tagged “school”
i've been in school since i was three, but in three days i will be done school. (for i don't know how long).
there's a lot of things i will miss about university, a lot of things learned.
i'm making a running list of these things, random memories, comments, whatever.
- georgia is my favourite font to write essays in.
- "apa owl" is probably the phrase i have googled the most in the past four years.
- the library is a great place to spend any night of the weekend. friday & saturday nights can often be reserved for group work, essay writing, and for finding great new songs on hypemachine in the library
- i can be fabulous friends with people i have very little in common with and very much in common with (and everything in between).
- eating pizza, talking to a friend on the phone & heading to the library at 8:30pm after church can feel like an epiphany, and can be very spiritual.
- all-nighters are instantly associated with cold hands
- being notorious for sleeping in for class, group meetings, placement, the list goes on
- the things associated with school most meaningful are often not classes itself. i'm referencing my involvement with ryerson inter-varsity christian fellowship... totally changed my life every week, every new friend, every new epiphany jesus showed me.
- it is very possible to get A's without A effort.
-social work professors are the most compassionate and most challenging.
-some school friends last for 4 days, some for 4 years. all are valuable and important.
- my favourite essay ever written was not for my major. it was for an english class, called "the art of writing life". it was
i'm graduating. this is what i want to do with my life.
Critical Social Work, for me, is about the journey of resistance and struggling against oppression and for equality in creative ways. In the area of homelessness and housing, I hope it takes the form of subverting policies through protest, creatively working with service users for their benefit and providing real options for housing. i still have many unanswered questions about practicing within oppressive systems (under-resourced housing, flaws of the mental health system, etc) and under seemingly impenetrable policies that work against homeless people. my journey will continue, as each new day presents something: a statement, an image or a practice that is politically loaded, challenging and open for critique.
despite my 'knowledge', i often feel inadequate & that I still know nothing about homelessness. but this is a good thing; a ‘not-knowing stance’ is helpful to critical housing work--- I don’t have any lived experience about homelessness. my service users will be the experts in this field. I don't know where I will be in five years. I am not sure what kind of job I really want, but do see myself working with homelessness in an anti-oppressive way. at this point, I find it very difficult to see myself working on a clinical level or under the biomedical model, even in resistance through working within and against the system. I am open to the future but see myself working on a community level, perhaps also on a policy development level or in an advocacy role. I am very excited to practice critical social work in creative, subversive and new ways in diverse contexts (political & otherwise). I look forward to subverting oppressive policies; through finding holes that can benefit service users in an increasingly neoliberal, economic rationalist environment.
Apparently looking for apartments in Wicker Park in Chicago is a fantastic procrastination technique.
I know I came to the library for a reason...
Being barefoot in the library all Friday night is so, so cool.
i am taking some pretty neat courses this fall.
homelessness in canadian society[downside, it's a 6:30-9:45 class.]
adjustment, stress and coping[downside, it's not death,dying & bereavement, my first psych class choice.]
annndd, my fourth year social work practice seminar.
and wednesday, thursday & friday 8:30-4:30 of being a "jr. social worker" in housing & homelessness.
today was great!
dad was in town for IJM stuff this weekend, so this morning he came by at around 10:30am & threw a snowball at me while i was shovelling the front lawn to announce his presence. then we went to johnny g's (best brunch in town) for breakfast, i had yummy eggs & cheese, homefries, and jam and toast (hellooo carbs!). dad had a western sandwich which he said was delicious. any mention of westerns tend to bring up my less than fortunate experience with westerns two weeks ago.
then we wandered around cabbagetown, stopping in different bakeries & the organic food store, where we picked up treats. then we smuggled some chocolate drizzled butter tarts into jet fuel (my favourite favourite coffee joint of all time) where i became extremely envious of his americano, but had a really great hot chocolate regardless. jet fuel really does have the best espresso in toronto. starbucks is so sub par in comparison.
good catch-up talks with daddio sometimes leads to me crying in public places as shown today. i am just put in awe of how insightful and wise my father is with his ability to speak into my life (along with his general wisdom about much of life.)
then when i got home i journalled for a while then watched too much of the office (bbc) on dvd. then napped. then ate easter chocolates. now it is midnight and i need to start a paper due tomorrow at three pm. i've really been struggling with being able to do homework lately. i just can't bring myself to do it, it's such a bummer.
i am going to try now...
