Phone and email phobia

I hate the phone and I hate emails. They both really bother me. Usually people who hate them argue that they intrude on your life and make you tied to the phone. That's not the case for me. I hate them because I'm afraid that I'll pick up and someone on the other end will yell at me. It doesn't make sense. But that's why I don't pick up the phone or read emails. Once, I was so afraid, I asked Michael to read them and paraphrase my emails for me. That actually helped, cause I told him that if there was anything bad in them, then he should just not tell me. The weird thing is, I'm not afraid of talking to a person face to face, and I'm not afraid of reading letters in the mail (even if they include bills!) but phone and email? No thanks.

My essay is going to be published!

I submitted an essay to a publisher, and they will be publishing it in a book! I am so thrilled. I wrote an essay that said that personal finance should become a compulsory course for high school students. My essay was "among the top 3% of over 5000 essays submitted." What a happy day.

Preparing to fail

I feel like plastic wrap. I feel like I am stretching myself thinly over a wide area. How on earth am I supposed to know ALL about global environmental governance? International environmental laws and treaties? What on earth did I get myself in to?

I have an exam in almost exactly 10 hours. I don't know how I'm going to get through it. It's my last exam of the term, and then I am free to do exactly the same thing I have been doing the last two weeks instead of studying--i.e., shopping, sleeping, eating, watching tv, etc.

Sigh. Well, what can I do but go back to studying? And, well, preparing to fail (or, more likely, do horribly).

Grad studies?

I'm a year away from finishing my undergrad degree and I'm thinking about grad studies. I really like school and I really like research. I looked into the financial aspect of it too, and realized that I can most likely afford it.

I also read this post by another blogger on getting a MA. I do agree with all those points (I see it a little bit now in undergrad, and I think I'll see it more in grad studies).

So what do I want to study? Ideally, the program would be 60% management (specifically policy studies) and 40% analysis of hazards (including biohazards), specifically from a community and spatial analysis point of view.

Where on earth do I find something to fulfill that? Well... I'm considering a Masters of Arts in Emergency Management at York University. The program is new (only starting in 2007) which I don't like so much. Also, I'm not a big fan of York University. If I'm going to splash money out for a masters degree, I want it from an outstanding university. I wasn't willing to do my undergrad at York, so why should I do my masters at York? Because they are one of the only schools in Canada to offer a masters in emergency management. The others are the University of Manitoba and Royal Roads University--obviously both mediocre compared to York. The best part about doing this at York is the faculty. David Etkins is there and he's a very active participant in the field.

I'm also interested in Masters of Health Science in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. What I like about it is that I don't need an undergrad degree in health sciences for this program. Also, they specifically say that the program prepares you for a career in public health policy--which is one of the areas I'm thinking about (policy studies of biohazards). The fact that it's the University of Toronto, one of the world's best universities, doesn't hurt.

I really, really like the Masters of Health Science in Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Ottawa. The problem is that:

Candidates are required to have an honours degree in a discipline relevant to epidemiology (life science or behavioural science such as psychology) or a four-year degree in a health profession (medicine, nursing, rehabilitation therapy etc.), with at least upper second class (B+) standing.

I don't have an undergrad degree in epidemiology or related discipline. Boo.

Still, I won't be applying until next year (or even later) so I have time to think about it.

A conversation between me and my professor

My prof: "I'm so excited because I won't have any work to do over the weekend. I'm going to have dinner with my friends. I'll be able to just relax!"

Me: "That's so cute."

My prof: "Haha, what, do you think us old people don't have lives?"

Me: "No. It's cute because *I* don't have a life."

First post

Yes, I'm starting up a blog again. I miss it. I've got so much school stuff that I can't get my own blog to start. It uses wordpress, but I don't know how to customize it yet, so I figure I'll just use blogger for now.