Nine Years

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind - giving my notice at work, selling my house and moving to a neighbouring city, into the 23rd floor of a gorgeous condo (the views are awesome). What I look forward to most is sitting on my balcony on a summer's night, watching the sunset, glass of wine in hand.

Of course that is just part of this story.  Almost immediately after I finish up at my job I will be headed to school, to finish up a communications degree I started NINE years ago. Going through all of my stuff lately as I pack for the move, I came across that very first university course I took at the University of Toronto. It was an Academic Bridging Course for people who had not continued their education beyond high school. There we all were in that classroom a couple of nights a week, learning how to write essays (which will forever be etched in my mind) and studying the myraid of topics that made up that course on contemporary Canada. My favourites topics were Canada's role in World War 1, Leonard Cohen (I now totally understand his appeal to women), and Quebec's unique perspective on being Canadian. It was such a positive experience that laid the foundation for the next several years of study. I remember at the time being a little discouraged at the long road ahead, but then realized that the nine years would pass anyway, so why not spend the time working towards a goal?

Unfortunately I was unable to continue my studies with the University of Toronto.  I had a young child at the time and I needed to option of studying online.  I found a general degree program at Wildrid Laurier University in Waterloo that could be completed entirely online.  My hope was that by the time I got far enough into the program, I would be able to complete a degree in communications completely online. That didn't happen but I have been able to complete many of the courses online as I pursue the communications degree. I have been able to attend a couple of in-class classes over the past couple of years and in May I will continue that trend as I finish up the degree. 

With two weeks left at my job, the excitement within me is definitely growing.  I can hardly believe that in two weeks I will be unemployed and I can't wait! I'm looking forward to diving into the rest of my courses and feeling my way towards the brand new chapter that will follow.