Daunting?

In some ways, yes. It is not the prospect of an intense college workload that I find daunting, but the actual process of registering, choosing courses and making sure that I have my application finalised! Yesterday evening, I attended my orientation session, which was an introduction to how the nursing course functions at Dawson College; we learned a lot more about expected costs, the course content, and also had a bewildering array of options for the complementary courses thrown our way. It is the selection of these which is bringing to light a problem which has always bothered me, both within the religious sect and after leaving: that of making serious choices. I think that I’ll best make these choices if I’m well informed, so I’m canvassing other students to find out what the content is like for various subjects.

Nursing is by itself a full time course, so with my complementary courses including humanities, English, French and Physical Training, I’ll have a lot on my plate. That in itself doesn’t concern me, my biggest fear is that of selecting a demanding course, or ending up with a terrible schedule. In the days and weeks to come, I will be doing some serious planning, so as to be able to start with confidence on this major change in my life. I’ll have to get up to speed on my physical condition, as I’ll be in competitive sports with students almost half my age, fresh out of high school! My French will also need a fair bit of practise, although my placement test will determine at what level I may begin the courses.

Thankfully, student financing is in place so that I can buy my books and other materials, including stethoscope and uniform, but I’ll have to manage the money well in order to not drain our budget. With a summer of work ahead, this may be quite easy, and if possible I don’t want to touch the student loan- but with many things and expenses which we have deferred, I doubt I’ll reach the Christmas/ birthday period with much in hand. That depends, I’m very pleased with the ease with which I have been able to get into construction for Sylvie’s cousin, and the kitchen we have commenced with is nearing completion. Yesterday we fitted much of the trim and cleared away the tools, and it seems hard to believe that this trim, new room was the ripped out shell of a few days ago!

I don’t want to leave my readers hanging , but I have to head out to work very soon, and with limited time to prepare lunch etc, this is a must! I will try to keep updating more often as interesting things happen, but whether I manage this is open to conjecture!

Back with a vengeance!

This blog is very much in the same vein as my journals of earlier years; frequent spaces between long, sometimes dull entries. A lack of a definite schedule contributes to this sporadic posting, and although it may cost me my readers, I have no problem with this type of entry. I prefer to think that my regular blog readers who have any interest, will take the time to read more than the average “one screen, five minute” sound bite at the head of the blog.

One “epoch” has come to an end during this last month; with my final exam in chemistry, I have finally completed my prerequisites for the nursing program. That is, if I have passed. I have more than a feeling of pessimism about my final exam, which had several questions that I am certain I had no knowledge of. That won’t be confirmed until the first week in June, according to the professor who wrote and who will mark our exams. Thankfully my grades in the mid term assessments and the lab reports were sufficient that I should at least have a pass mark in this subject, and I hope the college won’t retract my acceptance.

With the finishing of my prerequisites, which has taken almost a year of “back to school”, things are gearing up for full time study. We have opened a student loan, my vaccination program is due to begin (on our wedding anniversary!) and I have to attend orientation and language competence sessions in the next two weeks. I have many questions about the course, some practical and others merely curious, as well as some concerns. I am still convinced the nursing program is the one for me, it is the other subjects that I must choose to make it a well-rounded college diploma, that are causing me curiosity. While I am not one who reacts easily to exciting developments, it is certainly exciting to finally be a nose length from starting on a real career, and one in which I feel I can do well! The change of career and also recent developments, have had me musing on my “experiences” with work.

I recall with some amusement one of my postings for a job with a local firm; the boss who interviewed me was politely sceptical at the long list of things which I had experienced in the workplace, though every one of them was attestable and not merely something I had “tried out”. I don’t think it’s possible to be a jack of all trades and master of none, if one takes the time to do each task in its proper order; if that were true, then we should have no general contractors, who do everything from plumbing to roofing. It does seem strange to see on the same CV that I spent several weeks selling cosmetics to Avon representatives, while only one year previously, I was sandblasting and repainting ploughs and washing tractors in preparation for sale. Even less plausible is the fact I have worked for family companies turning over a few thousand, then moved on to one of the 500 biggest companies worldwide, which turns over billions annually. I think that, as with all experiences, it is how one uses the experience of interacting with people and communicating, which is far more important than just technical competence. Broadly, most humans are capable of the same things, with the right training and basic physical health- hence the ability to “turn one’s hand to almost anything”.

If I can find how to post a document into my blog for separate reading, I want to list all of the things I have ever done for money (nothing illegal, perhaps rather boringly!) but I won’t bore my readers with that list in the main blog post!

To bring up to date on other things, the financial situation is somewhat eased, as I have begun working for my wife’s cousin. He recently graduated and obtained his contractor’s licence for general building and restoration, and his first official project is a kitchen which we have been rebuilding. I work almost every day, for hours which vary according to the needs of the job, and as well as providing much-needed cash, the job is providing a wealth of experience and knowledge of construction here. Despite occasional impatience, my boss is a great teacher of technique and a good problem solver, so our project is successful. Growing familiarity with the tools and materials available in Canada, and the construction techniques used here, has also motivated me to begin restoring the apartment which is in a state of decoration bordering on squalor. It has not helped that we have had a change of landlord, and are not sure that the promise of paying some of the cost of paint and material may not hold good with the new owners. Whichever, as we seem to be intending to stay on some time here, we have plenty of work to do in order not to feel like we’re living in the centre of Birmingham!