School Update

So we’re officially twelve days into the new school year. I have four classes again this semester.

French 230 – I get flashbacks to Quebec all the time, which makes sense. That’s where I learned a lot. My prof is kind of annoying. She’s new to this school and still finding her way. Her voice is odd too. Kind of grating and quiet. It’s hard to want to emulate her when you want her to go away. The great thing about that class is my friend Tyanah is in it. She was in French 102 with me and we got along so well. We did a lot of group work together and had a blast. She makes it worth it. I’ve only had one tutorial (a fourth hour of class that focuses more on conversation than teaching grammar). I was late for that class so I don’t actually know the TA’s name but she seems really nice. She’s on exchange from France and very gentle and patient.

North American Studies 201: Transborder Regions – Again I have a prof who is new to the school. She’s a PhD candidate from McGill. The first few days she annoyed me but I’m loving the course material even more than I thought I would so she’s growing on me. This is a required course for my major in North American Studies but it’s really, really interesting. Proof that the double major thing is a good idea. In this class I sit with a girl who was roommates in first year with a girl who was in my Latin class. Mercedes and I bonded over the fact that we were both from BC. Unfortunately after one year she decided to go back to BC. When I walked into 201 Lisa was sitting there and greeted me by name (even though it took me a little while to place who she was). She lived in BC till she was 9 and then moved to Ontario so we have a fair bit in common too. Lisa is also with me in…

North American Studies 211: Canadian Identities and Cultures – (she’s doing the double major in History and North American Studies as well). This class is only once a week, on Wednesday mornings. We’ve only met twice so far but it’s already one of my favourites. It’s taught by the head of the NA department and he’s really fun.

History 205: History of Imperial Russia – I don’t actually have any friends in this class, yet but I’m really enjoying it. Even though I’m doing Canadian History there are breadth requirements and this course qualifies as “pre-modern” (or something like that). It’s very different for me because, while I’m not totally ignorant when it comes to Russia, there is a lot to learn. The prof for this course is fantastic. Knowledgeable and funny. We were all scrambling on the first few days to write down everything on the slides and he quipped “the important stuff (on the slides) is posted online, everything else I just make up”. The research essay for this class scares me but I just need to keep narrowing down my field and getting more sources. I’m sure I’ll be fine.
So that’s the start of this year. I’ll check back in, in December to let you know how it all went :)