{"id":587,"date":"2011-08-09T10:07:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T17:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/?p=587"},"modified":"2011-08-09T10:07:35","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T17:07:35","slug":"opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/2011\/08\/09\/opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of last night, I have completed draft 1 of Cozby and Rawn (2013), Methods in Behavioural Research<\/em>, 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?).<\/p>\n

I never expected to be writing a textbook at this stage in my career (i.e., early!). \u00a0Then 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:\u00a0I 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.\u00a0I was raised by a very large, very loving extended family, and for them I am grateful.\u00a0But 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. \u00a0My 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/em> afraid, but you know it’s probably best for you in the long run, take a deep breath and do it anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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; Continue reading Opportunities<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4280,4281],"tags":[4827,6175,4279,5927,1230],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections-from-life-experiences","category-reflections-from-professional-development-activities","tag-courage","tag-gratitude","tag-personal-experiences","tag-textbook","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/catherinerawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}