Spring Update

Just an update to those who read this blog, I have relocated back to Ottawa in a vain attempt to find employment and to start over after my waste of two years.

I have been in Ottawa for a month and a half and I have yet to secure employment so my needs are being made by welfare (the dole) and all I can do is wait and see. My quest for NEw Zealand has taken a very back seat and I fear that I will never achieve the goal I had of relocation.

The plan now is to find a crappy job to generate some income so I can take French language classes, and get my real estate certification. I do hope that this will allow me to generate some decent income so I can at least visit NZ again sometime int he next five years.

Transition

So, I guess one may say I'm in transition.

Needless to say that since my last instalment, I didn't get the appeal I requested and I was left with a failed grade. Thanks to this failed grade, I could not longer take 3/4 of my classes this semester.

So what did I do you ask?

Well I dropped out. Dropping out was the only logical choice I could find. Considering I was paying full tuition and only taking two classes a week, I though it prudent to withdrawal from classes and save my money. I hated this college anyways.

What am I doing now you ask? Well at this moment I am still seeking employment in this crappy little town. I applied to a different college in Ottawa and I am looking forward to moving back to the city I love so much. The past two years in this forsaken land has me charged for a new adventure. Jobs are few in this area and I have begun a search for employment in Ottawa. I am now ready to head up to the big city at a drop of a hat. I have taken the last few weeks to plan an implementation strategy for a fast/quick move.

So, yes. I have been unemployed for three weeks and my funds are getting very low. I am looking forward to going back to work, yet from the four interviews I have had in three weeks, not one provided employment.

So I look east, across the misty mountains to the land of riches.
I will keep you all informed as...I...attempt...to rebuild my finances...and my quest...for New Zealand.

So the fun now begins

As posted on Yahoo Answers

University Grades Appeal: Do I have merit and can I win?

I'm a male nursing student. I just finished my first semester of studies and I was alarmed when I received my final grades for the semester.

Anatomy 74, Nursing Practise 73, Professional Growth 75, Self and Others 54.

Imagine my alarm that I learned I had failed a class (all grades must be 60 or higher to pass)

The class in which I failed was based on three essays. My scores on such essays were 98, 36, 45.
I do admit my second essay was not amazing due to the fact I followed the actual structure of a structured reflection and I failed to follow all the specific questions asked as part of the marking scheme (syllabus). I still felt that I should of received at least a B on this essay, yet I decided to pay it no mind and took it all in stride.

My third essay I reverted back to the original plan of answering the specific questions as part of the syllabus and put a little more effort into this essay than all the others because I wanted an A. (our professor notified the class that if we answered all the questions that the syllabus asked that we would always do the essays correctly and I continured to recieve 80's on my essays by doing this)

When I received my final paper back, I was a little shocked and tongue tied so I took a few days to reflect upon the score and to review my essay with the marking scheme to see where I had gone wrong. To my surprise, I could not find any problems with my essay.

I then reprinted another copy of the essay and used a legend system and circled specific passages in the essay and connected these passages with the specific questions of the marking syllabus. In my observation, I should of received an A on this paper (as I expected to do in the first place).

I then took this paper to some of my fellow students and had them review my work. They agreed that the marking was "strange".

I booked an appointment with my professor in regards to my grade on this essay and I showed my professor a copy of my essay and my second copy with the legend format. My professor refused to even look at my essay. She stated that she remembered my essay (even though she had marked over 100 of them during the break) told me that I didn't provide information about...(insert topic here).... I then read a passage from my essay that answered that very topic. My professor then said that I did not provide (blank) information and I again read a passage from my essay that addressed that very info. After this back and forth for five minutes, my professor asked me what I was expecting from this meeting.

I was honest with her and I said that I originally wanted an A on this paper but now all I want is six marks on this paper so I can achieve my 60, so I could continue on with the rest of my studies (a reasonable request because I'm not a person who wanted to milk B's for A's. I was willing to compromise even though I really wanted an A on this paper).

My professor stayed silent for a minute and stared at the cover of my essay and it looked like she would give in, but then she said she was unwilling to do that. I asked her to at least look over the essay again and to take special note to my rebuttals. She said she was unwilling to do that as well and she said if I wanted to appeal, I would have to go to the dean.

Now people, I am no slouch in my essay writing. My essay scores for this past semester are as follows.......87, 83, 84, 89, 85, 98, 37, 45 (in no particular order)

So, I am appealing my grade. Do I have a case and isn't it a little strange that she would refuse to review my paper at all even though I showed her I had merit?

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks

New Semester

Well now,

Winter is in full swing and I find myself on the first day of a brand new semester. With the new semester comes all the turmoil and dramatic flavor that university brings. I will admit that I am not looking forward to the drone of sarcastic professors and the infinite backfire I receive from being in a program dominated by woman, but in the end, I must picture the brass ring.

So, I will soldier along like a grunt in the jungle, always keeping my final goal in the back of my head. As long as my grades and the money holds out, I can endure the scrapes and lacerations that are sure to ensue.

So my readers, I will continue along the road I have selected and my dreams of the distant shores of New Zealand will still keep my warm during these harsh Canadian winter.

Fin.

And On It Goes

So I have considered that since I am going through this entire process for the greater good of my NZ adventure, I might as well keep you folks informed of my activities.

I just finished my midterms with mixed results. Overall, I am just overly thankful to be finished. I have nine hours of classes today and another three tomorrow then I am off for an entire week for my first reading week. To put it lightly, I plan to sleep the entire week considering I have not got enough sleep for the past month.
To give everyone an Idea of my weekly routine, I will supply the following.

Monday: Three hours of Anatomy Laboratory and three hours of Personal Growth

Tuesday: Off, generally a homework day used to work on assignments and such. I figure there is about 15-20 hours of homework per week.

Wednesday: Clinical Placement

Thursday: Three hours of Self & family health, three hours of Self & Others and
three hours of Self & family health clinical practice

Friday: Three hours of Anatomy

21 hours of classes, 20 hours of homework. Pretty much a full time job.

I also serve on our college’s student’s council, the student nurses association, and chair one school club as well as take part in another club. I am also a peer tutor and have a part-time job.

After you add all it up, it comes to about 55-60 hours a week. Doesn’t leave loads of time for fun or “me time”.

A new year, a new update

Well a new school yeah anyhow.

Just an update to inform the masses that I completed my Pre-Health course. I passed with honors. I have finally entered into my first year of BSCN (Nursing) and I have four years of schooling before I am free.

So I figure, five more years and I will see New Zealand again.

Political Talk and Exam Hysteria

Wow, I really have no idea where I find the time to actually update two to three times a month. I mean, really. Between classes and sleeping, there just isn’t enough time in the day.
Well for those readers that didn’t detect that hint of sarcasm, I was actually kicking myself for not writing more. My weeks are pretty much open and I haven’t been taking the chance to express my creative aspirations. This week however, is another story.

The term is slowly coming to a close and there are only three weeks left before the dreaded weeks of exams come to devour ones sleep and ultimately, self esteem. I am confident that I will do well since I have actually been staying on top of my studies and it is much easier to study throughout the term than to cram for one or two nights. It is amazing what you can learn from your educational past.

This is just a short update, nothing overly interesting. I was weighing the idea to venture forth to Ottawa to look up my friends that I miss so much but I doubt I will find the time to do so. I am more interested in prepping for exams and that means sitting down and reading. Ack, I read a book a week but can never find time to read my actual text books. I guess I have no option since I read my last new book last week and I have nothing to keep my imagination flowing.
I read my weekly updates on Immigration Policy from MovetoNZ.com and I have been keeping my eye on the NZ news.

I am unsure about the selection of a new government body in NZ. The last was yes, stale and boring, but got the job done and can you really blame a country like New Zealand for the collapse of the global economy? No you can’t blame NZ; the United States can fuck up the world all on its own and doesn't need help from anyone else. So, I would like to take this time to applaud Helen Clark and thank her for her time and effort. Cure you Kiwi’s who chose a new government because you were bored. Just wait for the bite of the right-wingers and you will be back on the bandwagon next election.

And with that my friends, I am done.

Cheers mate.