Wow, what a week! I had two presentations, two papers, a proposal, and my client file. Six projects in five days. And you probably don't understand the magnitude of how huge the client file and proposal were. At the beginning of the week I realized I couldn't do it. I gave myself four hours sleep which I thought was more than I could afford, but I didn't sleep a wink. I just lay on my back doing deep breathing exercises while my heart hammered trying to convince myself that, worst come to worst, even if I failed out of SSW, I could still get two diplomas before I turned thirty, so whatever might happen, just don't die!
The next day I ran into a friend from the program on the bus and he looked rattled. I asked him how he was feeling and he said "I can't do it".
We wound up screaming at each other
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO US?!"
"WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE STRONGEST!"
"I CAN'T FAIL AT A TIME LIKE THIS!"
I showed up at placement and I was obviously rattled. One of the staff asked me how I was and I said "Not good" Told them I couldn't make this week. I told my partner placement student that I wasn't going to drag her down with me and that my last act as a college student would be to finish the proposal with her (which was a joint project). My supervisor scratched off whatever was on her schedule that morning and just wrote "Gryphon".
She pulled me aside, spent the whole morning going over my work with me and getting me sorted out, then she sent me home to get some rest and told me to take the next morning off to get work done.
My partner told me she'd finish the proposal from where we'd left off, and I should just focus on my own stuff.
The rest of the week was pure adrenaline. I was getting one or two hours sleep a day, and that was only when I passed out. Otherwise, I'd try to sleep, but my adrenaline would be going at it too hard and I'd just want to keep working. There was a point where I would literally write a sentence, collapse, pull myself up, write a sentence, collapse again.
I would say that that was a week I would never forget, but I think that in my memory, it will just be a painful, delirious haze.
Near the end, I found out that the teacher was giving extensions to anyone who asked for them. I was like "WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING I'VE GONE THROUGH?! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL THE SUPPORT I GOT?!" So I didn't take an extension and finished everything on time.
I got 100% on a paper I handed in a couple weeks back. My teacher had to question me to make sure that I didn't have anyone help me on it.
I also aced a simulation exercise. An actor came in and played the role of an eighteen year old with psychosis who was admitted to an institution, and we were social workers trying to get him to open up. Sessions were done in groups of six. Two people would co-counsel, then rotate out after ten minutes, another pair would rotate in from when the first pair left off, and then another pair would come in and take off from there.
Before going in, we saw the group from before us exiting, and they were none too happy. None of us had met the actor before, and he was brutal. He threw in a psychotic breakdown for each pair to give a little physical intimidation, and he was not shy to out anyone on their weaknesses. Me and my partner were the last pair to go up. We were the only pair not to have had a chance to practice with each other ahead of time, and neither of us really knew what direction to take things, since no one had made progress to that point.
Turns out me and my partner had a wonderful chemistry. Neither of us talked over the other one. We established a great relationship with the client. We managed to set goals. It was beautiful.
I've been told by my teachers that my success, both on the paper and in simulation have been going around the SSW office. I've been shouted out by the teachers.
I got one of my papers back from my week of delirium, and guess what? 100%. Apparently I just reached a new level.
But I bombed an exam a while back. Worse than I've ever done before. I hope that our group proposal brings my grade back up. Otherwise, one final assignment to bring me up.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Fire Alarms
Last week, the Respect Campaign hosted the Blood Donor Clinic and Remembrance Day. I showed up to donate blood for the clinic. I wasn't on duty so I didn't wear my vest, and I didn't drop my title once. At reception, I wanted to say "You know these people running your event? Yeeah, I'm their leader" but I didn't.
When waiting to give blood, I wound up sitting next to my Communications teacher whose class I got exempted from. I didn't recognize her though, because I was sitting in profile to her. I wound up having a conversation with a volunteer from my organization on the other side of her and she joined in. I had a whole conversation with her and only realized who she was after-the-fact.
Blood donations are really exclusive. You can't give blood if you're male and you've had sex with another man even once in your life. Someone pointed out that if it's anal sex that's the issue, then women have that too sometimes, and that sex with another male doesn't necessarily mean anal. You can't give blood if your mother or grandmother is from Central America. You can't give blood if you've ever had sex with someone born in Africa. You can't give blood if you've ever had Malaria. The list goes on...
...And I'm not allowed to give blood.
The fire alarm went off when people were giving blood. I told the people around me "If I were an arsonist and wanted to hurt people, I would wait until a large number of people were in a room together, with people hooked up to machines so they couldn't evacuate immediately. I say there's a good chance this thing is legit." Then somebody ran up yelling "THIS IS NOT A DRILL. GET OUT OF THE BUILDING!"
Whatever it was, it was solved fast. The people who were giving blood weren't allowed to give it after their needle was removed, since you're not allowed to get needled twice in one day.
Later on, my house had the fire alarm go off while I was in the shower. Talk about having fire alarms go off at really inopportune times twice in one week.Turns out one of my roommates burnt some popcorn, and since our smoke alarm is connected directly to the fire station, we had firefighters in our house quickly.
When waiting to give blood, I wound up sitting next to my Communications teacher whose class I got exempted from. I didn't recognize her though, because I was sitting in profile to her. I wound up having a conversation with a volunteer from my organization on the other side of her and she joined in. I had a whole conversation with her and only realized who she was after-the-fact.
Blood donations are really exclusive. You can't give blood if you're male and you've had sex with another man even once in your life. Someone pointed out that if it's anal sex that's the issue, then women have that too sometimes, and that sex with another male doesn't necessarily mean anal. You can't give blood if your mother or grandmother is from Central America. You can't give blood if you've ever had sex with someone born in Africa. You can't give blood if you've ever had Malaria. The list goes on...
...And I'm not allowed to give blood.
The fire alarm went off when people were giving blood. I told the people around me "If I were an arsonist and wanted to hurt people, I would wait until a large number of people were in a room together, with people hooked up to machines so they couldn't evacuate immediately. I say there's a good chance this thing is legit." Then somebody ran up yelling "THIS IS NOT A DRILL. GET OUT OF THE BUILDING!"
Whatever it was, it was solved fast. The people who were giving blood weren't allowed to give it after their needle was removed, since you're not allowed to get needled twice in one day.
Later on, my house had the fire alarm go off while I was in the shower. Talk about having fire alarms go off at really inopportune times twice in one week.Turns out one of my roommates burnt some popcorn, and since our smoke alarm is connected directly to the fire station, we had firefighters in our house quickly.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Random Act of Kindness Day
Last Friday the Respect Campaign hosted Random Act of Kindness Day. Our volunteers facilitated a number of activities such as a plinko game that challenged passerbys to accept a randomly selected task, such as high-fiving a stranger, and continued to ask them to fill out a list of five acts of kindness starting with the plinko one, which could be submitted for the chance to win in a raffle.
We had people hold up messages on a whiteboard describing acts of kindness they had given or received, and had their photos taken for a slideshow.
We had a station teach people how to make paper flowers with notes with compliments, to be given to someone special. A flower was delivered to my desk in the student life office, with the message "Your Grizzly Adams beard is sexy".
We had RAK (Random Act of Kindness) on the Street, where people from our movement went around carrying signs with positive messages.
We had a Candy and Hot Chocolate Giveaway, and our partners gave popcorn and cotton candy.
I thought I would only be able to manage prep for the event, but my class was canceled, so I got to be around for five hours! Made up a bit for missing a week of work due to being in Block Placement and WALES. I manned the Respect Booth, explaining to anyone curious what the Respect Campaign is.
I am proud of how we did, we were bigger than last year!
The week before this, I facilitated a Respect Meet. There was one on Monday and one on Wednesday, but I could only do the one on Monday since I had an exam for the first hour of the Wednesday one. I had to organize to leave a staff meeting at WALES to make the one on Monday, too.
During the Monday meeting, we had a discussion on Global Citizenship and what it means to us to help us prepare for Cultural Diversity Week. We went over the last meeting's Biweekly Respect Challenge, which was to do a Random Act of Kindness outside of the Respect Campaign. Mine was baking homemade bread for my coworkers. We then had a teambuilding activity where everyone chose an animal that represented them based on a list of animals and descriptions of their characteristics.
It led to some quite intimate discussion. I chose elephant, for my namesake in Mali. In Chisasibi, I was a fox. Objectively, looking at the list, I might be raven.
Elephant - Strong, powerful, and wise
Fox - Cunning, agile, quick-witted, diplomatic, wild; feminine in its magic of camouflage, shape-shifting and invisibility
Raven - Introspective, courageous, self-knowing, healing, protective, tricky, and magical
You can make elephant and fox fit, and I feel most like an elephant, but raven's description resonates with me most.
We also chose an animal to represent the Respect Campaign. During the meeting that I co-facilitated, we chose an animal with this descriptive:
"Cleansing, transformative, sensitive, medicinal, undiscernibly beautiful and powerful"
It's good, right? Try to guess the animal based on the description.
...
...
...
...Give up? It's the frog. How does that describe a frog? It's beyond me.
Our second group chose the dog, " Noble, faithful, loyal, trainable, protective, and guiding" A little easier to attach with what is traditionally associated with the animal.
After my exam on Wednesday, I dropped by the Respect Meet to see what the dynamic is like when I'm not facilitating. Did about an hour as a volunteer, which felt nostalgic. Watched my fellow Student Life Interns present my Engagement Plan. It was fun.
We had people hold up messages on a whiteboard describing acts of kindness they had given or received, and had their photos taken for a slideshow.
We had a station teach people how to make paper flowers with notes with compliments, to be given to someone special. A flower was delivered to my desk in the student life office, with the message "Your Grizzly Adams beard is sexy".
We had RAK (Random Act of Kindness) on the Street, where people from our movement went around carrying signs with positive messages.
We had a Candy and Hot Chocolate Giveaway, and our partners gave popcorn and cotton candy.
I thought I would only be able to manage prep for the event, but my class was canceled, so I got to be around for five hours! Made up a bit for missing a week of work due to being in Block Placement and WALES. I manned the Respect Booth, explaining to anyone curious what the Respect Campaign is.
I am proud of how we did, we were bigger than last year!
The week before this, I facilitated a Respect Meet. There was one on Monday and one on Wednesday, but I could only do the one on Monday since I had an exam for the first hour of the Wednesday one. I had to organize to leave a staff meeting at WALES to make the one on Monday, too.
During the Monday meeting, we had a discussion on Global Citizenship and what it means to us to help us prepare for Cultural Diversity Week. We went over the last meeting's Biweekly Respect Challenge, which was to do a Random Act of Kindness outside of the Respect Campaign. Mine was baking homemade bread for my coworkers. We then had a teambuilding activity where everyone chose an animal that represented them based on a list of animals and descriptions of their characteristics.
It led to some quite intimate discussion. I chose elephant, for my namesake in Mali. In Chisasibi, I was a fox. Objectively, looking at the list, I might be raven.
Elephant - Strong, powerful, and wise
Fox - Cunning, agile, quick-witted, diplomatic, wild; feminine in its magic of camouflage, shape-shifting and invisibility
Raven - Introspective, courageous, self-knowing, healing, protective, tricky, and magical
You can make elephant and fox fit, and I feel most like an elephant, but raven's description resonates with me most.
We also chose an animal to represent the Respect Campaign. During the meeting that I co-facilitated, we chose an animal with this descriptive:
"Cleansing, transformative, sensitive, medicinal, undiscernibly beautiful and powerful"
It's good, right? Try to guess the animal based on the description.
...
...
...
...Give up? It's the frog. How does that describe a frog? It's beyond me.
Our second group chose the dog, " Noble, faithful, loyal, trainable, protective, and guiding" A little easier to attach with what is traditionally associated with the animal.
After my exam on Wednesday, I dropped by the Respect Meet to see what the dynamic is like when I'm not facilitating. Did about an hour as a volunteer, which felt nostalgic. Watched my fellow Student Life Interns present my Engagement Plan. It was fun.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
End of Naruto
If you remember my old LiveJournal blog, Lair of the Rat Sage, you might remember a number of posts regarding my opinions on a Japanese comic (manga) series called Naruto. My first girlfriend introduced me to it, and I took to it somewhat excessively for a time. As I grew older, I felt it was beneath my age and stopped speaking on it, although I never stopped reading. Only a couple of my friends know I read the series, when I accidentally left a discussion page open on my laptop. It became my only real "guilty pleasure".
The series ended when it became exactly fifteen years old. It ended seventeen years since it's pilot chapter, and exactly when the main character became seventeen in the manga. It was going to end on the aggravating number of 699, but the author was good enough to offer us a double-issue finale, so we got an extra chapter and get to end cleanly on the 700th. Chapter 699 wrapped up what was currently happening, and chapter 700 was an epilogue about 15 years in the future.
Over half my life it's been running, and I've followed it since I was sixteen... Nine years.
And through it all, I've followed Naruto. And now it's ended, probably the most consistent factor in my life.
This is the END OF AN ERA!
You probably don't care, but here's a summary of how it ended. Warning SPOILERS:
Naruto and Hinata got married. Sasuke and Sakura got married. Shikamaru and Temari got married. Ino and Sai got married. Chouji and the black girl that beat up Naruto in an alley got married.
Naruto and Hinata had two children, a son and a daughter, and they're both ugly. Sasuke and Sakura had a daughter. InoShikaChou and their respective partners created a new InoShikaChou. Chouji and Karui had a daughter, so they get the token female member of the team. Shikamaru and Temari's kid, and Naruto and Hinata's son, look and act almost exactly like Naruto and Shikamaru when they were 12. No one else is in a confirmed relationship or had children.
After Naruto and Sasuke blasted each other's arms off, Tsunade created a prosthetic for Naruto out of a White Zetsu. Sasuke declined the offer of a prosthetic for no confirmed reason.
For some reason, all the Kage except Gaara stepped down after the war. Kakashi took over after Tsunade, ruled for about 15 years and stepped down voluntarily so Naruto could become Hokage.
Shino got a Star Trek Geordi La Forge visor and became a teacher at the academy, which he apparently got when Shikamaru quit to become the Hokage's advisor. Akamaru got old. For some reason I thought he'd age in human years, but he aged in dog years. Tenten owns a weapon shop but can't sell anything because the world is too peaceful. Rock Lee has a student and replicated his and Gai's relationship.
Gai was permanently disabled and is in a wheelchair. Kishi really should have let him die in a blaze of glory.
The new Kage lineup is:
Hokage: Naruto
Kazekage: Gaara
Raikage: Darui
Tsuchikage: Kurotsuchi
Mizukage: Choujurou
Konohamaru is Naruto and Hinata's son (Bolt's) sensei.
Unanswered questions:
How could Naruto and Sasuke deactivate Infinite Tsukuyomi when they needed the sun and moon seals to do so, and they'd just exploded those seals off each other?
Why did Spiral Zetsu die when Infinite Tsukuyomi was deactivated and what was Spiral Zetsu in the first place?
How could Darui unseal Samui and Atsui from the Sage's tools?
Why did Kaguya need an army of White Zetsus?
How did Gyuuki grow back his missing tooth?
All in all, the series has been a journey, with ups and downs but a charm that captivated audiences to invest themselves emotionally and dedicate their time. I don't know how I'll manage without my weekly Naruto fix.
The series ended when it became exactly fifteen years old. It ended seventeen years since it's pilot chapter, and exactly when the main character became seventeen in the manga. It was going to end on the aggravating number of 699, but the author was good enough to offer us a double-issue finale, so we got an extra chapter and get to end cleanly on the 700th. Chapter 699 wrapped up what was currently happening, and chapter 700 was an epilogue about 15 years in the future.
Over half my life it's been running, and I've followed it since I was sixteen... Nine years.
Since I started following it, I met my first girlfriend, graduated
high school, broke up with my first girlfriend, met my father who I was
estranged from and connected with his biological family who neither of
us knew. Joined the Katimavik program and worked with the intellectually
disabled in Summerside, PEI, then for the Regional Food Distribution
Association in Thunder Bay, Ontario, then worked in Chisasibi, Cree
Nation in North Quebec. Came back and worked in three factories,
becoming a Machine Operator. My mother was diagnosed with Hepatitus C,
then recovered from it. Joined Canada World Youth and worked in La
Pocatiere, Quebec, as a horticulturalist, then went to Mali, West Africa
and worked there. Met and broke up with my second girlfriend, had a
falling out with my father. My Great Grandmother turned 100 and my Great Aunt passed away. Earned certificates in SafeTALK, 1st Aid and CPR
Level C, Non Violent Crisis Intervention, Safe Management, WHMIS, Safe Food Handling and Smart Serve. Volunteered two years with the Respect Campaign and became a Respect Leader. Completed the Human Services Foundation Program and a year of Social Services.
And through it all, I've followed Naruto. And now it's ended, probably the most consistent factor in my life.
This is the END OF AN ERA!
You probably don't care, but here's a summary of how it ended. Warning SPOILERS:
Naruto and Hinata got married. Sasuke and Sakura got married. Shikamaru and Temari got married. Ino and Sai got married. Chouji and the black girl that beat up Naruto in an alley got married.
Naruto and Hinata had two children, a son and a daughter, and they're both ugly. Sasuke and Sakura had a daughter. InoShikaChou and their respective partners created a new InoShikaChou. Chouji and Karui had a daughter, so they get the token female member of the team. Shikamaru and Temari's kid, and Naruto and Hinata's son, look and act almost exactly like Naruto and Shikamaru when they were 12. No one else is in a confirmed relationship or had children.
After Naruto and Sasuke blasted each other's arms off, Tsunade created a prosthetic for Naruto out of a White Zetsu. Sasuke declined the offer of a prosthetic for no confirmed reason.
For some reason, all the Kage except Gaara stepped down after the war. Kakashi took over after Tsunade, ruled for about 15 years and stepped down voluntarily so Naruto could become Hokage.
Shino got a Star Trek Geordi La Forge visor and became a teacher at the academy, which he apparently got when Shikamaru quit to become the Hokage's advisor. Akamaru got old. For some reason I thought he'd age in human years, but he aged in dog years. Tenten owns a weapon shop but can't sell anything because the world is too peaceful. Rock Lee has a student and replicated his and Gai's relationship.
Gai was permanently disabled and is in a wheelchair. Kishi really should have let him die in a blaze of glory.
The new Kage lineup is:
Hokage: Naruto
Kazekage: Gaara
Raikage: Darui
Tsuchikage: Kurotsuchi
Mizukage: Choujurou
Konohamaru is Naruto and Hinata's son (Bolt's) sensei.
Unanswered questions:
How could Naruto and Sasuke deactivate Infinite Tsukuyomi when they needed the sun and moon seals to do so, and they'd just exploded those seals off each other?
Why did Spiral Zetsu die when Infinite Tsukuyomi was deactivated and what was Spiral Zetsu in the first place?
How could Darui unseal Samui and Atsui from the Sage's tools?
Why did Kaguya need an army of White Zetsus?
How did Gyuuki grow back his missing tooth?
All in all, the series has been a journey, with ups and downs but a charm that captivated audiences to invest themselves emotionally and dedicate their time. I don't know how I'll manage without my weekly Naruto fix.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)