reachystik

also, there are just some things you have to do on your own, independent of your friends. you got into grad school all on your own. some friends (like it was mentioned above) don't get the entire process of applying, waiting, and learning whether you were successful or not. this is all an experience that is "yours", and you owned the process- kept it secret until you knew the outcome. there's nothing wrong with that at all. i do hope that your friends are supportive of all this!

i'd just say you applied on a whim, you didn't want to say anything because you didn't want to make a big deal about it/didnt think you would get in. those are the reasons you said yourself- so it is total honesty. if i found out one of my close friends got accepted into grad school, even if they didn't tell me they had applied, i would still be ridiculously, over-the-moon proud of them. i'd seriously be too busy celebrating the great news to even consider and think of reasons why they hadn't said anything.

i don't time my meals. i eat breakfast (usually cheerios, i love those darn cheerios) around noonish (i'm up and ready to start my day 8:30am-9am). lunch is late afternoon... usually a bagel, cheese & crackers & pickles & tomatoes, or soup dinner is around 7 or 8pm....usually a meat/veggie dish. love casseroles and how easy they are...and yes, slow cookers are amazing. i make a lot of shepherd's pie. and those chicken/rice and campbell's soup dishes. or pasta. i love pasta. my boyfriend makes a lot of ukranian food, so i've been trying new things, finding favourites and not so-favourites. we are both suckers for take-out.... there's a great little hole in the wall spot that makes THE best greek salad ever. There's also a greek orthodox church up the street near campus that host take out nights... bring your own bucket and for 12 bucks you can get a large dinner for 2 (rice, salad, souvlaki, pita, tzatziki)... along with other goodies you can add i usually have a cup of tea, & a cup of a coffee on the go....by the end of the day all the cups are lined up on the counter. i often forget i have started one before moving on to create another cup of wonderful. we live in an apartment, and now that it is the start of summer, ALL i can smell is BBQ through the windows. i love BBQ, but don't have a balcony on the apt to get a mini one...

dog house

good night

role reversal

burning question

I'm not pregnant, but just recently worked with two individuals on a group project for one our classes. Both were pregnant (one was 17weeks, and the other was 37weeks). Often our group meetings to discuss and work on our project quickly veered off topic to pregnant things (not that I cared, our project topic was boring). I had classes with the woman who was 37weeks before in the previous term. I had NO idea she was pregnant then! This woman was always very active in class, and always kept the discussion going. When we started our project I was looking forward to working with her because she's had some very unique and interesting experience in the field we were looking at for our project. However, she was quite on edge due to her final weeks of pregnancy, especially it being a high risk one (she was 42 and had a number of pre-existing health issues). I felt that the stress of school and the fears of her baby's safety really got to her and it was reflected in her work, focus, and motivation. I feel she should have taken the time off toward the end of her pregnancy, for her own health and safety. I hate group work as it is and I know myself and the other woman (the one who was 17wks) went above and beyond to pick up her slack so we could put that extra effort in to get a good mark. So that entire experience was stressful and frustrating. We were all worried the entire time for this poor woman who was stressed to the limit and scared to do anything that may risk her safety/baby's safety. I would say, make sure you have family/pre-natal/maternal care set up. This woman was saying that at the beginning of her pregnancy she fought tooth and nail to get proper health care, and was terrified when the process was taking forever. Definitely look at what is available in that kind of care so you have that peace of mind throughout your entire pregnancy. Also check with your school's policy on part-time studies (assuming you're in full-time studies... I completely forget the first post already..haha, ohhh short term memory, how you fail me). Look at all of your options/possibilities. See if there is a Parent & Grad student social/support group at your university! Right now I am providing care to both of my parents via longdistance/flying back and forth. Not really similar to being pregnant/caring for a baby, but still is a type of care.... a stress... something to balance with studies...

I'm completing my MPH at the same university where I got my HBA. I met a few friends during my HBA who are still around now (either in graduate school themselves, or in another undergraduate degree). It was really hard for me to meet friends... and still is. I am thinking the reasons are: 1. living off campus (moved in with my boyfriend. I'm definitely not the attached at the hip type. I need my space, he needs his). 2. mature student (started my undergrad when I was 23) 3. the few awkward social interactions I did have, I come across as maternal and uptight (the age gap in having most of the peers in your class as 17-18, and you're 23...and refusing to buy them alcohol....haha. and for the record, I don't have kids...just a cat, fish and 4 rats) 4. I never went out on weekend/pub nights/etc. I don't drink (unless on holidays..new years, xmas, etc..), and have better things to spend my limited $$$ on... I've always been socially awkward, but.. whatever. I also found that it was a challenge in going to school as a mature student... after all of my hometown friends had already graduated with their degrees. I sort of felt alone in catching up with them because they were all into their careers and there I was doing everything backwards. I would say to take advantage of those invites to social events. I used to just delete the emails but now I've actually gone out and attended. I know if I'm not having a good time I can always just leave. It's good to get out of the study grind and just remember for those few hours that all of these other zombies are people just like you. Joining clubs/groups of hobbies you enjoy are great too, I found a small group of people who like to spin poi and other circus arts, so I look forward to the social fun times with them. I also became a social ambassador/orientation officer or whatever they call them. I'm not crazy and outgoing but it gave me that outlet of being "too maternal" through assisting and supporting freshman (and their nervous parents) during orientation week. I also keep in touch with those I met through the job I had during my undergrad. I worked at a retirement home, (my undergrad was in psychology & gerontology), and I enjoy going back there to visit... it's like they became my other family. And it's nice and refreshing to talk to people outside of anything school related- and volunteering is just so darn heart-warming!

Nosebleed section

I searched the forums for a topic just like this to see if there are other grad students out there going through similar experiences. In November 2011 (2.5 months into my first term of grad school) I found out that both of my parents were diagnosed with scary diseases... My dad has stage 3b lung cancer, and my mom was diagnosed with multiple aneurysms in her brain, kidneys and carotid artery. My mom's condition worsened (heart attack, brain swelling, double/blurry vision, respiratory distress, hallucinations, enlarged liver, ...) and in the past 2 months she's been airlifted to a major research hospital in the city. No one has been able to figure out what she has, they keep calling her bizarre. All they have said is that she definitely has an autoimmune disease, and that it MAY be more than 1 acting at the same time (vascular lupus & wegener's keep being brought up and discussed in her charts). My dad went through chemo and had his first radiation consultation cancelled due to his lung collapsing again. They bumped up his chemo to a more aggresive kind, and I just found out today (the eve before his radiation consultation) that the oncology chemo nurse called him to ask him how he was breathing because his recent CT scan shows that the tumor is progressing in size. I have a younger sister (high school drop out, she suffers from bipolar), and she has been very reliable in this all. Since November I have travelled home four times (possible through a compassionate care bursary from the grad studies department). I'm the long distance caregiver, and the at home caregiver. I hate being away from home because my parents need me (my sister doesn't do what she says she will do... when I go home I see that I was the last person to clean the house/get groceries/clean the fridge, etc). But I also hate being there... I'm physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. I have no idea how I made it through my first term (with finding all that out before finals). I have been open and honest with my professers. I have dealt with the stress and anger of one of them going behind my back to petition to the department on my behalf (??yes I know, ridiculous) to force me to take a leave of absence or quit because it will be impossible to pass his class, and probably my other classes). Funny as when he did this we were only 2 weeks into class... I'm trying my best to keep up with my studies, as well as my job (graduate assistantship). I feel I am losing my friends, I am distancing myself from them because I just don't have the time or emotions left to be there for anyone else (sounds so terrible and cruel. I hate this!). My family has always struggled financially, and my dad made it clear that he does not want to see me walk away from this degree (both parents obtained grade 12- their highest education). I am finished this program in April 2013. I just have to keep it together for 1 more year. It's just so frustrating because the only reason why I decided on going to grad school was to get a better education to set me apart (as in this town the B.A./H.B.A is rather useless), because all I want to do is retire my dad. I'm upset that he was forced to quit work because of cancer (he worked, my mom didn't), and that he won't be returning back to work. I feel like I am not getting anything accomplished other than adding to my stress. Last summer I was diagnosed with ADHD (after years of just thinking I was a weird, impulsive, procrastinator, with a terrible memory). All of this is distracting me. I have fought with boyfriend a lot during this all (more times than not it's me just losing my shit because I'm on the verge of stressed out tears/mental breakdown). I hate that there's no time for "me" (this hate is exacerbated whenever my sister complains how tired she is and then proceeds to list all of the spa treatments she has booked herself to recooperate from...??). I'm fighting off some kind of bug now too.. i noticed all my lymphnodes in my neck/jawline/hairline/armpits/collarbone are rock solid and painful. A friend scared me into thinking it was mono. Getting sick would be the absolute WORST thing right now (I'd crash out for a week or two... and then wouldn't be able to visit home.. can't bring a bug into a home with a chemo patient!). These last few weeks of this term are going to be tough. I am behind in my coursework... because instead of focusing on my own work I am flying back and forth to help my parents, or working. I have a 50%, a 40%, & a 10% paper due, as well as a final exam, 40%. As well as marking all of the exams/papers for the 3 classes I T.A for. I'm glad I found this forum... I needed to write that all out. Feel free to PM me.

Shoe Horn

Yay! Mine has been updated with good news too! Now.... more waiting.

I'm curious- what does everyone's "current status"..... I know this thread's following the question as to whether our applications have made it out of our schools and into the full competition... Mine says: Current Status: Date: Oct 14, 2011 Description: App Submitted I have not received any information from my school if my application had been forwarded on, or not. My friend's Current Status says the same thing (date & description). Not sure if my school is lazy, or if it's an OGS thing?

I went off track there, and didn't address your other question about interaction! The professor for the Pub Health Foundations class (who never lectured the class) was rather lazy.. it was a long wait to get feedback. ALL of the classes are on webCT and have forums for everyone to post questions on. The research methods professor would collect posted questions/emailed questions and compile them and write answers in a weekly email to everyone (as well as answer them as they came in). The Epi prof also was good at keeping up with questions. I found that the majority of "help" and interaction came from the discussion posts on webCT from my classmates. The professors (especially Epi) monitored these to ensure that the help from our peers was good and that we were not going off track. In Epi, I found my peers to be a great help. Before assignments and exams we would make up practice questions for each other and then answer them, and if there were problems, we would help each other. I also found Skype to be helpful, especially in the case of research methods that didn't have a set time. I found a friend and we would watch the lecture together, and discuss it on skype.

Hello, I am currently in the MPH at Lakehead. I just finished up my first term, and so far so good. I had completed a couple classes through distance learning in my undergrad so settling into that routine was rather seamless. The MPH at LU has different streams (course or thesis), and you can specialize in different areas (I can't remember them all?). As well, you can do full-time (finish in 2 years), or flex-time which I believe you pay the full tuition to the schedule of a full-time student, but you have 6 years to finish the program. In the Fall term I had Epidemiology, Public Health Foundations, and Research Methods/design/analysis. All lectures are recorded and archived (great for reviewing during study sessions for exams). Must have a laptop/a good headset. Some people enabled their webcam for the class to see them. Kind of weird... Epi was a very interesting course. 2 assignments, 2 exams. They are spaced out so you don't go crazy. Pub Health Foundations was a joke. The professor did not lecture at all. There are MANY guest lecturers, with the rest of the time used for group presentations. These were interesting, Luckily, I had a good, organized group. I already hate group work enough, so I was so worried to learn that we would be doing this ONLINE and then presenting ONLINE. But I heard everyone did really well. 3 discussion postings (webCT), take home final exam, paper, group presentation. Research methods was also a joke. It was supposed to be during a class time but the professor decided to just sit in front of his webcam and record his lectures before class started. That kind of set up was great .... many late night lecture viewings/all nighters. There are 3 assignments. The first two YOU NEED ACCESS TO SPSS. The professor gives you the info to purchase it for a student price (6 month subscription), or if you live near a library/school, you may LUCK out in paying to use their computers to complete those parts of the assignment. You can complete your practicum anywhere. The office asks that you come to them 6-8 months BEFORE you expect to graduate. They take your suggestions, and they arrange it for you. If you take a specialization in something like kinesiology, then your practicum must reflect that. At the end of the practicum you have to complete an assignment based on your research/experience in your practicum placement. I heard that this assignment was 30 pages long, now it is 2 pages. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. LU does have another health program starting in Sept 2012. A thesis-based MSc in Health Sciences. I have not heard much about it though... All in all, I would say I am on a scale of 1-10, about a 6... with rating my satisfaction with the program and experience at LU so far. LU definitely has a complex I feel, and in my experience they seem to put lots of effort in finding ways in how to be better than schools in southern Ontario and the rest of Canada. And with that, it makes me feel like my degree will be seen as less than a similar degree from another school because LU can't move away from trying to prove themselves. Hope that helps. best of luck

I'm currently in the middle... (okay, that's not true... 13 exams in, 105 more to go...) of marking final exams for a 2nd year Society & Sport class. It is SOO frustrating trying to mark this stuff.... I'm sitting here, shaking my head and worrying about humanity.. some answers i have seen are: (these are exact copies of what I have reading so far... and this is only from 13 exams...) q. what is the charter of rights and freedoms and how can you apply it to sports? "the charter of rights and freedoms was created to allow for reverse racism so that people who are not white can join in on sports" q. describe women's bodies in the 15th century and what they represented. "women's bodies in the 15th century were very very fat, and today they are not and they were fat in the olden days because they did not exercise or have eating disorders" q. in class we discussed "gendered sport", what does this mean? "sport is a man's activity and women should not be allowed to play in organized sports with men because it dumbs it down" q. what is the theory of catharsis with regards to playing sports? "the theory of catharsis is about how catholics should be allowed to play in sports and on sports teams" q. define and provide an example of doping as discussed in class. "doping in sports is when you take some blood out at night and get it put back into your body in the morning so that it has more oxygen, thus giving your body more oxygenized blood" q. compare and contrast "under" and "over" conformity in sports today. "overcomformity happens when there are people in sports who follows all the rules without questioning them, much like hitler, osama, and the rugby team that shaves their heads like mohawks" q. what is difference between race theory and ethnicity theory regarding sports? "race is when you are black or white and ethnicity is when you are asian or non-black or non-white" q. (short essay on the history of sport in canada) "canadians invented hockey and natives in canada do not understand hockey, so they invented lacrosse so they could have their own sport" q. define masculine homogeneity as it regards to sport. "masculine homogeneity is the appreciation for a men's body parts" (this was written by a chick, i can only imagine what she has on her mind..) q. define marginalization theory and describe how it views participation on sports "marginalization is when the coach yells at people to get off the sidelines and into the game so that they can participate" q. (short essay on comparing differences between female and male athletes) "female athletes are targeted by the media, an example of this is how they always like to take pictures of serena williams when she is scratching her bum" I worry because most of this class is working toward an education degree in hopes of being teachers some day...