Graduation

Shortly after mustache march were my final set of exams, the last of which fell on April 13th. This was a particularly cold April so there was little studying done outside on the lawn or on picnic tables as in past years. We did manage to throw together a successful baseball game in one corner of the campus and I was reminded of how social a game it is. It made for a great afternoon with some friends I wouldn't see for a long while. I finished up my last exams and it all seemed too easy, assuming I passed my classes... The main reason for that is my fall semester had been the most trying one yet but I had only 4 courses in my final semester and marks from just 4 courses would not affect my academic standing, unless I failed. Although it was hard to stay focused I did get real excited about an ethics course I took, which was primarily philosophy and taught me a whole new way of approaching things.

With university behind me I started to look forward and sold off my furniture (a small dresser, desk, and foam mattress) to a friend. I wrote a song with the pole-vaulters for James, my coach of 5 years who had introduced many of us to the sport. I spent some time with roommates in our house and drove home to Ottawa in a rented car a few days after exams.

Back in Ottawa for just under 2 months I searched for a company that would take me on temporarily. I found a job on Kijiji(online classifieds) and dismantled cubicles with a screwdriver for a couple days. In the meantime I acted on Rosilyn's brilliant idea and applied at the two pool companies nearby where May is their busiest month. Luckily I was hired on and I've been learning about pools, meeting interesting coworkers and getting some exercise biking to work since. On top of the job I have been volunteering twice a week at Ottawa Neighbourhood Services, taking over sales auditing, bank depositing and payroll duties for their long time accountant who resigned on short notice. It has been a fun experience working with the eccentric people there, organizing and figuring things out. In between work, volunteering and seeing old friends I've seen a lot of Ottawa I hadn't seen before and explored some of the countless bike paths that wind through parks and along the two rivers and canal, it's really a beautiful city.

As for the future, it's confirmed that I'll be a counselor at camp Bow-isle off the coast of Vancouver with my brother Ben for 5 weeks starting June 14th. After that I will take the ferry to Victoria for the first time to visit a friend from Calgary before flying to Paris the next day. That's when the Europe part of my life will happen for 3 to 5 months depending on if I find a job and how quickly I run out of money.

One step at a time though, today I work, tomorrow I'll continue to work on my "Ladybug" song and Sunday I go rafting on the Ottawa river with some friends. I'm very grateful for everything I've had the opportunity to experience so far and I look forward to everything I run into hereafter, it's going to be interesting.

Oh right, I received the letter in the mail the other day and I've officially graduated.