Skip to main content

Back to School: Round 2, Week 10

Well, this was a hell week. Tests, assignments and labs in just about every class, which translates to 1 or more assessments each day. That alone was enough to keep my brain busy. Unfortunately, I had some personal stuff to cope with as well, and that only served to take up some much needed mental capacity.

I was determined to start this week off right. I knew it was going to be crazy, so I was trying to have the right attitude to serve me through all of the tests to come. That didn't last long. I had a test in my second class on Monday that I somehow was not aware of (which is not like me to not be on top of those things.) This misstep seemed to set the tone for the rest of my week. I passed the test, but it wasn't with what I would normally be okay with. I had to let that go, so I could carry on. I still had another test that afternoon.  

Wednesday was most certainly the hump day. Sometimes you don't realize how much you are holding yourself together until you fall apart. Right in the middle of an electronics lab test. Now, this one I had studied for, so I was feeling fairly confident going in. I didn't need to rush, so I took my time building the circuit and checked and rechecked to make sure I wasn't going to have a puff of smoke when I applied power. Except I couldn't get power. Or at least, I couldn't get the meter to work to tell me how much power I had. I spent 10 minutes trying another meter, checking the settings, but nothing. And that was it. Coupled with the background conversations in my brain playing out from my personal conundrums, I couldn't hold it in anymore. 

I kept my head down, the last thing I wanted anyone to see was me crying. Especially because school on its own was no where near enough to bring me to this state. I won't lie: I knew I had already passed the class in marks, so a couple times I seriously contemplated handing in a blank sheet just to get the hell out of there. However, my stubbornness won out, and with help from the teacher to at least get the meter working. I pushed through the lab, answered the questions and filled out the charts. I still got a 75% which for me in electronics is alright. At that point I was just desperate to leave. 

The last couple days were easier. One test on Thursday, and two tests and a shop project on Friday rounded off the week. By Friday afternoon, there was a feeling of relief that seemed to wash over the group, along with the realization that we're going to miss seeing each other every day. We had gotten used to it without even realizing it, the last ten weeks bonding us together. Plans were made to hang out and grab a drink after the last test. Out of the 60 people in our program, I'd swear I saw almost half of them come and go from the bar down the street. 

It was nice to hang out, it gave some closure. Phone numbers were exchanged and Facebook friends added. I got the sense that no one wanted to leave, to say goodbye. It was bittersweet, yes school was over, and people would be back to work, making money again. And yes, these new friends would be missed. 

For me, I have my add-on course in solar panel systems and installation. I know of one person from my group that is taking it as well, but the rest will be new faces. As the class runs only for 1 week, it will be no where near the journey that the last ten weeks has been. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Back to School: Round 3, Week 8

Well this is it! The last week of learning before the next weeks exams. At this point, the focus on learning the last few things, and getting that last bit of practice before we get tested. Just when collectively we seem to be mingling more as a group, it's so soon going to come to an end. The Dean of the school came into one of our classes to gather feedback about the school environment and the curriculum. The electrical curriculum hasn't officially been updated since 2003. The technology has changed so much since then. The teachers have been great with staying up to date. However, with fairly strict guidelines as to what they have to teach, there isn't much time to deviate for new material. There was also an interesting discussion that came up about the school environment, specifically as a trades school. Generally, non-trades people won't notice or pay much mind to things like plumbing issues (toilets not working for long stretch of time), communication wires ...

Back to School: Round 3, Week 5

This week is the halfway point. After this, only 4 more weeks to go. On Monday, Graham and I swapped vehicles. After driving the truck, getting in the Civic was like watching a dog drag its butt across the floor, except I was the dog. It seemed like I should have been in Fast & the Furious, driving under tractor trailers. I digress... There were two test this week: PLC programming (I got an 87.06%) and Prints test (I got an 92.68%). I I had someone commend me this week for dealing with all the accident related stuff but still getting 80's and 90's for my grades. (Also got 100% on an Instrumentation assignment!) This has been Hump week: we are now at 4 more weeks to go before school is over. So it's really 3 more weeks of learning and a week of tests. WIth how busy I've been, I've had to drop any tutoring I wanted to do. I've had a minimum of 3 appointments a week, mostly after, sometimes during school. With missed classes I had enough of my own catch...

The "Social Impacts" of a Female Working with "Mostly Male Construction Workers"

The first time I'd heard anything about comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on Newstalk 1010' s The Night Side with Barb DiGiulio .  For reference, here is a section of the comments from Mr. Trudeau at the recent G20 summit as posted in an article from the National Post : " Even big infrastructure projects, you know, might now say, well, what does a gender lens have to do with building this new highway or this new pipeline or something? Well, you know, there are gender impacts when you bring construction workers into a rural area. There are social impacts because they’re mostly male construction workers. How are you adjusting and adapting to those?"    A lot of people are focusing specifically on the "social impacts... ...of mostly male construction workers" part in a negative light. I'd agree, it certainly doesn't sound good, does it? The resulting public interpretation of what that comment meant spinned the narrative to that of t...