As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been having a little trouble lately in the inspiration department. Ever since finals ended, I have been doing things that have been bringing it back. And it is soo nice. It feels great to be free to spend my time doing things I love. The trick, of course, is to find inspiration on those rainy, dark Vancouver days when you have 4 papers due, a class at 7 am, and it’ll be at least three months til it’s warm enough for anything edible to sprout.

One place I can always count on for a little boost is the Perennial Plate. The Perennial Plate: Adventures in Sustainable Eating is a website run by Chef/Activist Daniel Klein, and his lovely now fiancee Mirra Fine, who happens to be a kick-ass film maker. Together, they started a little cooking show, and the season 1 webisodes are all focused on local eating in Minnesota. Lately, the little movies they make and post on their website have taken off, and so have Mirra and Daniel…all the latest webisodes are international adventures. Definitely check them out. Their videos are beautiful, hilarious, and make me want to cook, hunt, travel, grow veggies, and share meals.

Home

Spring has sprung. And with it came indecision. This time, it is about whether or not I should take a long, lovely year off to travel the world and surf, or stay put and keep plugging away at this degree.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the program. GRS has been wonderful to me. Still, I can’t help feeling a little uninspired. It is academics, I think, that leaves me cold. We sit in lecture halls, and listen to people talk about their research. We read text books. We write exams. Once this year, I got my hands dirty and planted some greens. But other then that, I felt pretty far removed from what it is I want to spend my time doing.

It is a tricky position to be in. We are often told what our degrees are supposed to mean to us, without actually considering it on our own. I should finish with a Bachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems. Sounds important. Maybe. But what will that really mean? Does it make me more likely to get a job? A job doing what? Do I want the kind of jobs where people look at a piece of paper to see what letters you have before/after your name? Am I being a giant hipster snob?

The truth is, this year was tough. Academically, somewhat, but mostly just those out-of-your-control things that drive you to distraction. I have spent a lot of this year questioning why I spend SO MUCH MONEY taking classes that I do not want to take for a degree that promises…what? We deal with professors who are incompetent, fellow students who make our lives…ahem..difficult, and administrators and staff that, when you come forward with a serious problem, dismiss you completely. We have very little control. I have spent more of this year frustrated then any other year of my life. In the scope of things, of course, I am really, really, really lucky.. but I’m feeling a touch ungrateful. And as a result, perhaps, very uninspired.

And that is what brings me to today..sitting here, wondering if I just need to get away from it all for a while. I’m not in a hurry. I don’t have a 5 year plan. I don’t have a dog that needs my love and attention. I could go to California, and live on the beach. I could go to Switzerland, see my sister. I’ve always wanted to go learn to cook in Vietnam. I could go to India, and volunteer and work on seed saving projects. I could go to Detroit, and work on the amazing urban farm programs that are springing up in the somewhat dead inner city. I’m feeling inspired already.

Or I could stay in the city. I could come back after working for the summer, find a new apartment somewhere, and write papers, finish lab reports, go to class.

I haven’t figured out what a degree would mean to me yet. I’m working on it. I do know that despite all the incredibly stupid things that happen at school (and considering there are supposed to be plenty of intelligent people here, it’s a freaking boatload), there have been a few experiences that have completely made all the utter ridiculousness worthwhile. And that’s why I’m still here today, anyway. I haven’t made up my mind about next year, but I will be keeping in mind all the things I am so grateful for while I make my decision. Here is the beginning of the list. Maybe it’ll help other students who feel similarly.

1. Jeffrey Steeves. I know, technically he is at the U of S, but the man is a hero. For every cent I have spent on my post-secondary education, and for every second I’ve spent wondering why I’m not in Nepal, the experience I had in my first ever political studies class makes it all worth while. Good professors make all the difference in the world. There have been good profs at UBC as well, and they really do make up for all the..erm..other ones.

2. The GRSers. All my fellow students are awesome. They create amazing projects, they go on fantastic trips and exchanges, and they make the worst classes manageable. I’ve never met a more awesome group of students. Definitely a source of inspiration! Even if we spend most of our time talking about how we can get credit for not going to classes (lots of ways, it turns out…another reason GRS is awesome).

3. Roxana and Brent. They run the program, and the GRS class itself. They are constantly helping us out, and always seem to do it with a smile. Gentle words of encouragement go a long way, and Roxana and Brent are the best source. We’d be so lost without them.