Class of 2014

Grad weekend was incredible! Emotional and draining, but just fabulous!

 

 

My two best friends!

 

Grad banquet

 

I'm back to 'normal' life now. This week is heavy on the neuroscience and filled with projects. I went for sushi with my roommates and Sergio tonight. 

More exciting news! Sergio has launched his coffee business, Aroma Maya Coffee! A portion of the profits will be going to local food banks in  Nova Scotia and another portion to micro loans for entrepreneurs in Guatemala.

Promise to get house pictures soon!

A Prepared Heart

The girls and I are settling in nicely to our little townhouse (pictures soon, I promise!). We cooked supper together tonight, each of us wearing a cute apron! It has been a really long weekend however, and it was hard to get settled into a routine this morning.

School started today for me! I slept in and continued unpacking until we went to Walmart to pick up a couple things our house was missing. Then I came back and decorated with the girls until it was time to make supper. I also made banana bread! First baked treat in the new house! THEN I sat down to start my schoolwork for the day.

The question I had to answer today was pretty simple considering what's coming up in the syllabus: Why do you want to be a counsellor? Good question, Dr. Bryden...

I read through the responses of some of my classmates and was immediately intimidated. I'm by far the youngest participant in the introductory class, and my classmates were talking about their experiences working in mental health facilities or as child and youth workers and how their professional lives led them to a career in counselling. How do I make my desire to be a counsellor line up those of with people who have a clear sense of what they want. I haven't even received my degree yet for pity's sake!

Internal reflection is not foreign to me. Sociology calls for it all the time. But how would I articulate this new desire in a forum post to complete strangers when I couldn't even explain it myself?

So, I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer and wrote.

Being completely honest, I never considered being a counsellor until this past year when my family was hit time and time again with struggles: anxiety, depression, ADHD, accidents that turned our world upside down. Our cupboard became filled with medications and our calendar with therapist appointments. At the same time, Acadia was taking huge initiatives to mental health awareness, and I found myself very interested in what they were doing. I guess God kind of threw counselling in my face. And yes, I'm still intimidated by my lack of experience, but I know that God has been pulling me towards this. He has prepared my heart for this, and He isn't going to leave me alone in this.

New Chapter, New Blog

Endings are funny things. Sometimes it's a sad ending or sometimes it's a really happy ending.

This ending is bittersweet. I packed my bags into my trunk and drove away from Acadia, as I have a hundred times before. The difference being that was the last time. 

Of course I'm sad. These last few weeks have been filled with goodbyes and 'lasts'. Acadia has been an amazing four years, and I'm leaving with a handful of people that I will cherish forever. I went in as a girl completely unsure of herself and have come out as a woman excited for what's ahead! 

And here's where I'm happy about leaving! Obviously finishing up my last exams was exhilarating and submitting that final paper was a rush, but the best part about ending a chapter is that you get to start a new one! 

In the midst of exams, I received my offer of admission into Yorkville University's Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology program starting on April 28th! I applied for the program months ago and was anxious about getting in, so I was thrilled to receive that news! The program is completely online, so I've been getting myself oriented with the online campus and stalking through the student forums gaining insight into which professors are good and which courses have heavy workloads and all that fun stuff. I'm really excited to start, but also a little overwhelmed. My first courses are Biopsychosocial Approches to Counselling and Theories of Personality. My sociology degree has prepared me for abstract and critical thinking, but I am concerned with how "scientific" these courses will be. Science is not my strong suit. I'm prepared to work my butt off though. This isn't undergraduate school anymore... 

More exciting news in the prologue to my next chapter - my future roommates and I are signing a lease for a house in Halifax next week! I'm ecstatic to be moving into a real house with some of my closest friends. It should be a really fun year with lots of crazy adventures! Four girls in one house... all the same shoe size... 

Triple Dating 

 

I'll always be grateful to Acadia for bringing this guy into my life!