Wheeeeee!

After a very up and down week (pros: got a great job for the summer and potentially all next year, got a meeting with a potential supervisor for my research project, did "alright" on my archives paper, did well on my preservation paper.  cons: did terribly on my management paper for something that I couldn't have possibly caught, roommate problems, general busyness) I felt the need to finally update my blog!

Life Lessons!

11.  Things generally don't turn out how you think they will - but that's okay.  In this last semester, I've had an up and down, twisty-turning thinking about what I want to do with my life (aaagain).  I've decided to try and put together a research proposal for next year that is turning into a nightmare. I've decided to take special topics classes next year. I've decided to take a research methods course through the sociology dept. next year.  Worst of all: I've decided to apply to Ph.D. programs next year.  By programs, I mean only one program and that is the Ph.D. LIS program at University of Toronto.  They have a great archives speciality and faculty that specializes in user interactions in archival contexts.  No other school in North America can offer me that (and trust me, I've tried to look at other schools to apply to and the only other I could apply to in Canada would be UBC, which is wrong for me).  I've also decided to apply for my M.A. in Public History at UWO.  That way, I would gain experience in building digital archival interfaces and exhibits while getting historical experience.  It would also open up more Ph.D. options for the future.

12. Just because you're doing poorly in certain classes doesn't make you dumb. In some ways, it makes you smarter.  I'm in a program that would rather give marks to format than to content, a fact I find really upsetting.  You could write the best paper in the world, but if it's not in APA (and completely correct in APA), you will lose mondo marks.  If your title page is not set up "correctly" or your abstract doesn't have it's own page, watch those marks disappear.  They say they're teaching us for the real world, but I really don't think anyone in the real world gives a shit about formatting unless you decide to continue in academia (even then, those types of things are caught by editors).

Until next time!