University

Walking from Glendon campus to the bus stop one evening near the end of last semester, a realization hit me. I'm really happy with my program, and with my choice to be at Glendon. I felt a sense of purpose and direction that evening as the sun set, casting its beams of light through the bare trees.

I've been really impressed, as of yet, with the undergrad psychology program offered at Glendon. While toughing it through my introductory stats and experimental psychology courses last semseter (the two manditory courses often dreaded by second year psychology undergrads), I recognized just how useful the information I was learning would be to my future path in the psychological field. I mean, everything has to do with stats and experiments in psych! And they weren't as bad as I expected them to be. In fact, my profs were great, the TA was amazing, and although I got frustrated with boring lectures and a pile of work, I felt that the psych department really knows what they were doing when they made us take these courses

Retrospectively, it's been an interesting journey so far. When I applied to Glendon I envisioned doing a double major in Psychology and Études Françaises. My goal was to get my undergrad psych degree and to follow that up with a masters degree in counseling. I had absolutely no interest in doing a 4th year thesis, and was against the idea of ever getting a doctorate. Over the span of a year and a half, my french major has turned into a minor, and finally gotten written off my degree completely as I changed my degree to a specialized honours in psychology (which doesn't allow me to do a minor on the side).

I really began to consider psychology and the possibility of pursuing it further than just a MA after a young psychologist (with a PhD to boot) came into my Intro to Psychology course and explained the ups and downs of her academic journey. She's now working at a hospital, specializing in eating disorders. And suddenly I realized that maybe I was selling myself short. Maybe, I was also capable of going all the way. Why limit myself to a BA undergrad, and a masters in counseling?

Even though I'm no longer doing a minor in Études Françaises, I'm still taking french courses. I would say that my passion for the language has continued to grow. There's something invigorating about continuing to pursue french even when it won't show up on my University Degree. And Glendon really does provide me with some great opportunities to pursue this passion. I handed in my International Exchange Application this past week and will hopefully be in France next January. The french profs can be a little bit... eccentric at times. But I've learned that It's really not about them. It's about what I put into learning French. I get only as much as I put in. So I take their idiosyncrasies with a grain of salt and a sense of humor and keep plugging away.

I don't know what my academic future holds for me as of yet. I don't know if I'll end up getting my PhD. I don't know how French will figure itself into the grand scheme of things. All I know is that there's a sense of God-given purpose in what I'm doing right now.

I'm glad I chose Glendon. I like its small high-school like buildings, where I can get to know my profs, and recognize the people I see in the hall. The campus continues to sparkle with beauty, and I still find myself gaping at the intricacies of the old Manoir at the back of the property. I love sitting myself at a desk in the library, enjoying quiet of the afternoon. I look out the window onto the rose garden (now covered with snow) and take in the smell of the ancient books that line the shelves around me. I like being able to be a part of events, classes, and clubs at Keele when I want to be. (It's not so bad in moderation). - And I'm as busy as ever. Sometimes it gets to be too much. But at least there's a sense of purpose. And that puts a skip in my stride, even after the hardest days.

K