Free Food, Farewells and Finals

Good evening everyone! Tonight’s post comes to you from my temporary room in Mackinnon, which I am now proud to say has a personalized nametag on the door! I felt since I’ve been working here for 3 months, it was time to stake out my claim, even though there is only 1 month left. Can you believe it’s already April? I for one cannot. Have you ever heard the saying “Be like a duck – Swim gracefully on the top but paddle like hell underneath?” Well, that is definitely how I am feeling these days, though I do not know how well I am doing on the calm, cool and collected appearance side of things. Regardless, I am doing my absolute best and am hoping that I will get everything done on time.

Ok, just had the scariest moment of my student life – my computer shut off and it took me three times to restart it. I just took a temporary break to transfer all the files I need over the next few days on to my USB. I’m back now.

Last Monday was a sad, sad day in the life of Miss Erica. I had my last day of practicum and it was heartbreaking heading to school that morning knowing I probably wouldn’t be back. I had one final lesson planned for my grade 3/4s and it was based off of the robin hunt my principal had introduced to my students the week before. I used the same lesson format as I did when I did the endangered animals research brochure activity in February. We started the class with a sharing circle and then I asked the students if they remembered the robin hunt. This led us into a discussion about robins and the arrival of spring. I introduced the activity for the day, which was making a WANTED poster for either the robin or the Canada goose, as both are migratory birds and when they arrive in Quebec in the New Year, there is hope that spring is on its way. The students were really excited and they worked really hard for the entire class. I let them work in partners and use the MacBooks, which helped to keep them engaged. My associate teacher asked if I was planning to leave the posters with the students, and I said of course. I had hoped that they could finish them during the week and hang them up in their classroom, which my associate teacher said they would definitely do. When there was about 20 minutes left in class, my associate teacher called all the students to the carpet and pulled out a cake that she had made for the students and me. As she handed pieces of cake out, she had the students each say something they liked about me. Some of their answers were so, so sweet. It was a good thing I had worn the waterproof mascara that day, as I was on the verge of tears through the entire circle. A few said I was the best student teacher they had ever had and one even said that whoever has me as a teacher in the future will be very lucky. As you can imagine, I started to cry. But, I had to pull myself together as the ethics teacher asked me to teach a lesson to the grade 6 class on gender stereotypes after recess, for which I had 15 minutes to prepare. It wasn’t my best teaching performance to date, but I am happy that I had one last chance to teach my older students. We unfortunately ran out of time for the closure circle with them, so my associate teacher gave me the second cake she had made as a treat to take home. 

I am so, so thankful for every moment I got to spend at Princess Elizabeth Elementary. I learned so much from my students and I hope that they learned something from me. I hope that they will remember all of the fun things we did together (and forget the not-so-fun things), as I will never forget any of them or any of the things we did. Also, I am forever grateful to my associate teacher, Ms. Doheny for all of the guidance, support and teaching resources she gave me over this year.  She has had a huge impact on my development as a teacher, and I am truly lucky to have been her student teacher.

Ok, so enough with my sappy last day of school story. After this really touching morning, I had to carry my cake around campus for the rest of the day. It wasn’t so bad, as I had a snack on hand at all times. I had a presentation in my afternoon class and then had to run around campus finalizing an award application. I had then planned to go to the gym but it was such a beautiful day that I could not pass up the opportunity to go for a run. The snow is melting here finally, so the roads have a bit more pedestrian room; however, there are lots of potholes filled with puddles, so every time a car passes me, I get a nice, muddy shower. After my run, I met Jocelyn at the grocery store and came home for dinner and homework.

Tuesday marked the first day of  Sodexo’s first-ever Servathon. This was a fundraiser on campus for which you could exchange canned goods for food on campus.iter Grill and 4 cans got you breakfast or lunch at Dewies. All of the cans were donated to the local food bank. I had a group meeting on Tuesday morning for my Vision School project and had suggested we go to Dewies; this was unfortunately rejected so we met at the library instead. I then went for a swim and to my afternoon classes. After class, I spent an hour and a half filling out scholarship application for some Golden Key awards and then met Elizabeth and Gaby at the free dinner for tacos. Following dinner, I had my night class, during which we had the final two presentations on Charlotte’s Web and Peter Pan. Both groups fed us Easter chocolate for participating in their games, which was a “sweet” treat. The Peter Pan group did a Who Wants to be a Millionaire style game show, which was really fun and the Charlotte’s Web group had us all help out Wilbur and Charlotte by coming up with words to write in our webs to save Wilbur. My group’s word was “Wonder-pig” (Credits to WonderBread and Wonder Pets, the hit children’s show). After class, I went to the library until midnight to finish my scholarship applications.  Within those two days, I applied for $10 000 worth of scholarship money, so keep your fingers crossed that something good comes of it for me!

On Wednesday, I made my first contribution to the Servathon and went to Dewies for lunch following my morning gym visit. Goodness, I miss the convenience and options of Dewies. I had way too much food, i.e. soup, salad, rice and two desserts, but I definitely got my 4 cans worth of food. I then had my two afternoon classes. In my final class with Sunny, I presented my research paper on iPads in the classroom. I went way over my 5-minute time limit, but I had a lot to say, so thank you to my classmates for listening to me. My classmates had researched some really interesting topics, including combatting homophobia in the classroom and building good parent-teacher relationships. Following class, I came home to make dinner, which I took a bit of a risk with. I had found a recipe on Pinterest to make chicken pot pie cupcakes, but the recipe called for Pillsbury biscuits and Prov only had crescent rolls, so I took a chance and…..THEY WERE DELICIOUS! I highly recommend them. 

(Recipe: http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/chicken-pot-pie-cupcakes/88c3fb89-0b08-466d-bb26-27c50aac24fd ).

And then disaster struck. Before dinner, I had pulled my laptop out of my bag and when I opened it, the screen was black and it was beeping. After dinner, I called Apple and the support guy said it was a problem with my RAM drive and I would have to go to an Apple store to get it fixed. As I had nothing major on my computer to work on that night, I wasn’t panicking too much. Thursday, I got up bright and early and took an hour bus trip into Sherbrooke to the Mircroboutique Apple Store. Classic technology – I opened my laptop in the store and it turned on justtt fine. The man in the store said that my RAM drive must have come loose and then shaken back into place while I was carrying it into the store. Fantastic. Glad to know I could have just taken Macky for a walk around the block. Anyway, I was glad that at least Macky was ok. On the way home, my bus transferred at the mall an d I was able to run in, sample two different kinds of David's Tea and purchase a sock bun donut so that I could return Elizabeth's. The sock bun has recently become my go to hairstyle, so I felt it was time I purchased my own donut. I got back to campus in time to go to the gym and then to Dewies for falalfel lunch, my all time favourite meal. I had my two afternoon classes and then went to an SRC forum in Cleghorn, at which the current SRC executives gave a recap on all the things they had done this year and gave some recommendations to next year’s president and vice-presidents. I have some feedback as well that I need to email in. After that, I was on duty in Mack with Vicki. It was a quiet night, but Jocelyn and Hannah did come and visit me after Happy Hour and they brought Bananagrams, so overall it was a nice night. (It was also my last long night shift, which was kind of bittersweet).

Friday, I got up and went to see one of my profs and then went for a swim, where I ran into Sarah (my housemate), also swimming. We went to the library together, and by together, I mean we walked there and then went to individual study carols to work. I spent the afternoon in the library and came up with my essay thesis – great progress Erica. I walked home with another friend Sara and her boyfriend Jim who was visiting for the weekend. After about an hour at home, during which I gave Hannah some great ideas to use at her frosh leader interview, I turned around and walked back to Mackinnon for another shift. Side note: the Frosh week theme is Survivor, so I suggested that Hannah and one of her male partners should go dressed as Amazing Race participants, as a tribute to Rob and Amber. She didn't go for that. Anyway, it was a quiet night in Mack and I spent majority of my time watching reality TV with fellow RA Rob, who is an avid Family Feud addict, like me. Best answer of the night: Name a candy bar with nuts. Answer: Corn nuts. While I appreciate the effort, unfortunately that was not one of the survey answers.

Saturday was pretty boring. I accidentally slept in until 11, which was much needed but put me a bit behind schedule. I then stayed in my pyjamas all day until I went for a run into Sherbrooke. Elizabeth fed us tortiere for dinner and then Jocelyn and I went to the BU Choir Show. It was Bob Dylan themed and our friends Vicki, Daphne and Kirsten were singing. It was so, so good! I didn’t get to go last year and was on the fence about going this year, but it was a great show, so I am glad I went! Before the show, the art gallery was open, so Jocelyn and I stopped in for some more edible art (i.e. the cake exhibit) and then we stayed for the wine and cheese reception afterwards. We then came home and hung out with our housemates and two visiting friends and all 6 of us made an appearance at the large house party happening in the 10-man student house across the street. We had never been in our neighbours’ house before and we were able to meet 2 of the 10 boys who live there and one who is moving in next year. The cops then showed up, so we quickly scurried back across the road to the comfort of our own home. Hannah and Elizabeth went to the Gait and Jocelyn and I curled up to continue our Hilary Duff marathon and watched Beauty and the Briefcase.

Finally, today was filled with lots and lots of homework, a short run and then a literal run to work to help set up for the Mackinnon formal supper. I helped Rob, Sam and Vicki decorate the common room before all the residents came down for “cocktail hour.” We hung out in the common room, took pictures, ate snacks and mingled and then headed to Dewies for a catered supper. Dewies 3 times in one week – I am living the foodie dream here. We had half of Dewies closed off for just Mackinnon, and we had a delicious 3 course meal (cheesecake for dessert, my fave) and Sam and Rob gave out awards to each of the residents. I helped Vicki make a slideshow of pictures that was shown at the end of the dinner. Vicki was unable to attend because of the choir show, which was too bad. The dinner was so much fun and I hope all of the residents had fun as well! I want to thank each and every one of the residents for letting me be a part of their Mackinnon family this semester. Also, Vicki, Rob and Sam deserve all the congratulations in the world for putting on not just a great event, but for providing their residents with a great year. After attending their dinner, I can see that they truly care about each one of their residents and their residents definitely appreciate all that their fantastic RAs do.

So, now here I am, in the Mack common room, watching Dragon’s Den and preparing to work on my essay. We have the day off of school tomorrow, as it is the provincial election, so I will hopefully be able to finish up my essay and start studying for my exam on Saturday. With only two days of classes left, the semester is quickly coming to an end and yet, I still have so much to do. I was talking to my friend Anna who goes to the university of Exeter the other day and she is currently on a four week Easter break before her exams start. Right about now, I wish I could have a little break to finish everything up, but c’est la vie! Coming up this week, I have a knitting club potluck tomorrow, my first exam Saturday and applications to the school I am applying to in France open on Wednesday! April is off to a busy, but beautiful start – now, to quote from the Bob Dylan inspired concert last night, I just need to keep pressing on and finish the semester off strong!

PS Congratulations to my sister and her school project team FBI – Fierce Business Innovators who presented their business proposal for the Hamilton Art Gallery at the DeGroote Business School on the weekend. I haven’t heard how the proposal went, but knowing my sister, I am sure it was fantastic!

PPS Next time you hear from me, I will have a teenage brother! I do not know if I am ready for that yet. More importantly, I hope my parents are ready to have 3 teenagers for the next 8 months! Good luck Heather and Alan (#playa)!