Catherine Rawn

This summer has flown by! Guess that’s what happens when you update an entire textbook, read another one to prep for a new course, revise multiple syllabi, attend two conferences, write a program evaluation report… and a few bits of R&R every now and again including a lovely, wine-filled weekend in Osoyoos, BC. So that’s what I’ve been up to this summer. How about you?

To students and faculty: Welcome (back!) to UBC! If you’re in my intro psych class (Psyc 100 Section 002, MWF 1-2 in CIRS 1250), you may be interested in checking out the syllabus. You’ll get a hard copy when we meet on Wednesday, but you can get the sneek peek here: Intro Syllabus. I had a ton of fun in this course last year and I’m looking forward to it again!

If you’re in either of my research methods classes (Psyc 217 Sections 1 or 2), you can find the syllabus here: Research Methods Syllabus.  I’m looking forward to this course — yes it’s a lot of work for all of us but it can be extremely rewarding and will prepare you well for all  your future studies (and for generally being an informed citizen). We start at 9am (Section 1) or 10am (Section 2) — and you *must* come to the section for which you are officially registered. Yes, it’s early, but let’s have fun anyway! I’m looking for a DJ for the first 5-10 mins before class starts to get us all energized… if you’re up for it let me know!

Looking forward to a fabulous year ahead, full of challenges, learning, new people, new experiences, and fun times  See you next Wednesday if not before — I’ll be co-facilitating Psychology TA Development Day on Friday, anda couple of Student Success Workshops on Imagine Day on Tuesday — come say hi if you see me around!

Yesterday the Communications Assistant for the Faculty of Arts emailed me about featuring my blog on Artswire. She asked me why I blog. It was a great question that got me thinking about my initial motivations and how they’ve changed over the past couple of years. Here was my reply:

I blog for two reasons. First (and this was my initial motivation), I blog for professional  development. It gives me a space to record my thought processes around teaching and learning, as well as document some artifacts of my teaching activities (e.g., syllabi, evaluations). Second, I blog to give my students a glimpse into my thinking and to expose me as–gasp!–a real human person. This came second only because I didn’t expect students to actually read it! After they started responding I realized I could harness this tool for this purpose.

I tweet (@cdrawn) for the same two reasons, but their order is switched. I started tweeting to share snippets of my thoughts and activities with interested students, and have ended up with some great professional networking in the teaching & learning community both @ubc and broadly.

As of last night, I have completed draft 1 of Cozby and Rawn (2013), Methods in Behavioural Research, First Canadian Edition! My stomach did a somersault when I hit “save” on that last chapter. Excited and relieved to be done; nervous of what other instructors and students will think of it. I did my best work on every chapter, but of course it’s never going to be perfect (where’s the fun in that?).

I never expected to be writing a textbook at this stage in my career (i.e., early!).  Then I got the opportunity to take an existing textbook that I had been using for a few years and update/adapt it for a Canadian audience. It took a long time for me to decide to do it–it’s so much work!–but I immediately knew that I would ultimately agree. See, here’s the thing about me: I have built my life by jumping on opportunities that have passed my way, and then carving my own opportunities to grow, which has led to more and more opportunities. I had to. I was raised by a very large, very loving extended family, and for them I am grateful. But I don’t come from money or big connections or a tradition of higher education (let alone post-grad). I was once a kid with modest dreams and a mountain of people who cared for me.  My earliest teachers offered enrichment and suggested extra-curricular activities. I jumped on every chance I had to do more, learn more, grow more. As I did, my circle grew too. Fifteen years ago I could never have imagined I would be here, writing a textbook and teaching psychology at a world-class university in a world-class city 4000km away from what I used to call home.

But opportunity means risk. Taking a leap into uncharted waters is not for the faint of heart. Heading off to undergrad a mere half hour from home felt devastating at the time, but I knew I had to do it. It was the next opportunity. Then four years later, with a well-developed independence in tow, I moved across the country. In many ways it wasn’t as difficult that time. I didn’t end up with the same set of opportunities here that I initially expected, but I worked hard, seized the opportunities I found, and created more.

So if you’re about to start your time at UBC — or start a new year here or anywhere — I encourage you to figure out what opportunities you want, and go find them. Don’t be afraid to jump on them when you do. Or if you are afraid, but you know it’s probably best for you in the long run, take a deep breath and do it anyway.