Multiple Choice Test - Social Work Style

I miss multiple choice tests. Where you take your number 2 pencil and fill in the circle. Staying completely within the lines of the circle. Where there is always a right answer, no explanation needed. If grad school social work assignments were a multiple choice test it would look like this:

Apples are:

A. Good

B. Tasty

C. Good and Tasty

D. Neither good nor tasty

**Please list your answer below, citing your sources using APA style. Your answer should be 12-15 pages. You should demonstrate your deep understanding of the topic and should incorporate your views, your family's views (going back 12 generations), as well as theories and concepts discussed in class. Use PowerPoints, class notes, small group discussions, textbooks, and 32 outside sources to summarize your learning and insights.

ANSWER:

'C' is the correct choice because of the following eight reasons which I have thoroughly researched. My views on 'c' are as follows: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and blah. I believe that I feel strongly about 'c' because my mother felt strongly about 'c' and her mother felt strongly about 'c'. There are definitely multi-generational patterns as to our views on apples. I’m not sure what Bowen would say about this, but I’m sure he would be impressed I was able to find the damn (oops, I mean darn) pattern. It is important for me to understand, however, that other families may not see ‘c’ as the correct answer. As a social worker, I am okay with that as each family is the expert of their own experiences, and may view apples in a completely different way than I do. That doesn't make either of us right or wrong. It just means we get to have lots of frank discussions about apples. I am so grateful for the opportunity to answer this question because it helped me not only gain insight into myself and my family, but will also inform my social worker practice and make me a more competent practitioner.

Graduation!

On Sunday I graduated from Saint Catherine University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work.

My journey from high school to college graduate was a long one. Thirteen years long to be exact. Sometimes it seems disappointing that it took me so long, but as I look at everything I have done over the past 13 years I realize I wouldn't change those experiences for the world. I have grown so much as a person and those experiences will be invaluable in my future career. I have come to realize that going back to college 2 1/2 years ago was something that happened at exactly the right time.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past couple of years as I worked my way through school, working full time, internships, and more.

First and foremost, to my dear Kristin who listened to me complain incessantly about the homework and the time it was sucking out of my life. Who listened to me cry at midnight because I had a huge paper due the next day and had yet to start it. Who listened to jokes or funny stories from class that didn't sound nearly as funny outside of class. Who understood when I was too tired to clean or too busy to cook. Who read papers and gave suggestions even when she didn't have a clue what the assignment was all about.

To my classmates who also listened to me complain and complained right along with me. Who were there to offer support when life got crazy. Who made group work bearable. Who each in her own way taught me invaluable lessons about life, friendship, perseverance, integrity, hard work, and survival.

To the professors. Who all cared about us as students and human beings. Who were passionate about social work and instilled that passion in each of us.

To my sister, Cassi, who always answered her phone (even if I had already called her 10 times that day) to answer questions or just lend a listening ear.

To my parents who were always willing to read a paper one more time.

To my various coworkers, managers, and friends at Dow Jones who were always supportive and flexible - allowing me to leave early or come in late to accommodate my school and internship schedule.

To friends who have been understanding when I've had to cancel plans at the last minute or who have sat here and listened to me complain (I seem to have complained a lot over the past 2 1/2 years, haven't I?!?) without complaining back. Who called at 6 a.m. to make sure I was up cramming for a Spanish test. Who always had answers when I asked questions.

And finally to the person who once said "if she can go all the way to China to follow her dreams you can certainly go a few miles down the road to St. Kate's to follow yours." Who always told me I could do it even when I insisted I couldn't. Who never gave up hope and assured me over and over that I am not now, nor have I ever been, crazy. :)

I couldn't have made it through the past 2 1/2 years without the help and support of all of you. So thank you.

And now...a few pictures from graduation...

A large portion of the group of amazing women I had the privilege of spending every other weekend with for the past two + years!

Kristin and I after graduation.

Elizabeth, me, and Becky

Kristin and me!

An official St. Kate's aluma!

Social Work Graduation Celebration

Last night was the Social Work Graduation Celebration. I wasn't planning on going for a variety of reasons but decided to about a week ago - and I'm so glad I did! It was nice to be able to be there with friends and professors who I have grown so close to over the past 2 1/2 years. I'll write more about the whole "idea" of graduation later...still trying to work out what i want to say.

This was a portion of the graduates who were there...not sure where the rest of them went - probably said "RUN" when they heard "group photo." :)

Me and my pal, Leela. I told Kristin that we look very "coupley" in this photo. She said she was fine with that. Ha!

And as we were trying to find where the program was being held we totally got lost...It's not like I've been going to that school for 2 1/2 years or anything. ;)

School Update

Well, I finished the second trimester of the year about a month ago.  Yay!  That trimester seemed a little rough compared to others - part of it was the classes themselves and part of it was just me being completely unmotivated.

I am all done with my fieldwork classes for this year, although I am still doing the fieldwork.  The internship at CPA continues to go well, but I find myeslf wishing I could just be done with my 200 hour commitment.  I have about 165 hours, so I'm well on my way to finishing, but still have another month or so before I'll be done.  

My Communication and Interviewing class was a good one, but I didn't feel like I got a whole lot out of it.  Mostly it just felt like a lot of writing without much learning.  I'm not sure if this was my fault or if it really just wasn't helpful.

This semester I'm taking a Working with Groups class as well as a Social Policy for Social Change class.  Initially I was certain I would love the groups class and hate the policy one.  Now that I've gone to three sessions of each I've decided I hate the groups class and love the policy class - go figure.  

I can't believe a year from now I'll be done!  Granted I'll most likely be starting grad school soon after, but after 13 years and 7 colleges I will finally have my BSW!  Yippee!

School Update!

The trimester is over half-way done.  For some reason the amount of work is crazy this week and then it seems like it will kind of die off a little again after that.  I have a presentation and journals on Friday and a presentation and booklet due on Saturday.  That doesn’t sound like a lot, but trust me, it is.

I am still really enjoying Philosophy.  I don’t get some of the stuff we read, but I love the teacher and the discussions.  My fieldwork class is also going well.  It’s a little frustrating because it’s only 2 hours long and I feel like all we do is spend 1.75 hours “checking in” and then the last 15 minutes saying goodbye.  I wish we would spend more time discussing our placements and assignments and less time just talking…but it is what it is, I suppose.  I’m liking my Human Behavior class a lot more than I was before, but it’s still relatively boring and repetitive.  I think I’ll like it a whole lot more once this presentation on Saturday is done. 

Overall it’s been a good trimester.  I’ve definitely enjoyed not having Spanish and am looking forward to next trimester when I will only have classes every other weekend instead of having one ever week (I currently have Philosophy every week). 

Speaking of next trimester,  I register for classes tomorrow – will be in another fieldwork class, a research class (this will be my area for complaint next trimester!), and an interviewing/communications class (beginning therapy class, basically).  I will have class on Friday nights and then all day on Saturdays which will kind of suck, but I’ll survive :).  I’m definitely looking forward to a little break over Christmas!

Class Update

Okay, so school's been in session for almost a month. I figured it was time for a little update.

Philosophy - I think the jury is still out on whether I like this class or not.  I usually don't understand the readings which make it a little tough to enjoy doing, but once I get to class I find the discussions fascinating.  I find myself questioning things I never thought to question and actually had the teacher suggest "supplemental reading" for me because of the questions I was asking.  Obviously I need to shut up.  :)

Field - For those of you who don't know yet, I got my placement!  I will be doing my internship on Thursdays at Community of Peace Academy in Saint Paul.  I was really excited to finally get word that it would work out because it's exactly where I wanted to go.  I'm eager to get started (don't start until the middle of October) but also nervous about the whole idea which is normal, I guess.  Unfortunately, I still have to go to two interviews at the school and pretend that I'm interested in getting internships at other places.  The interviews are on Tuesday.  I'm not really looking forward to going, but what do you do?...  The class itself is fine - minimal homework, great teacher, only 2 hours every other week.  

Human Behavior - I think I was most excited about this class and, unfortunately, it's turned out to be the most boring of the three.  It's also the most labor intensive.  I did just finish an 8-page (single spaced!) paper about my hometown which was boring to write, but it was a large chunk of the grade, so I'm happy to have it done with.  Now I just need to worry about a presentation on the elderly I need to prepare and about another 10ish page paper on adolescents.  Should be great.  The teacher is nice - and definitely has some great stories to share with us - I just wish we could spend the class listening and discussing his case studies and not reading and presenting stuff on this boring book we have.   Oh well.

So overall the semester is going really well!  I can't believe how fast the semester is going, which is a nice change from the two semesters I attended last year (I think Spanish had a lot to do with how slow-moving they were!).  I am already looking forward to registering for next semester even if one of those classes will be a research class (can you say boring with a ton of work?!?).  Oh well.  I like school much more now that I'm actually taking classes that focus on social work and am excited to continue the journey.

The other two...

Okay, so I dedicated a whole entry to philosophy – I figured I better at least mention my other two classes!

On Friday nights I have Field which is basically a 2-hour group therapy session. No, the point of the class is to get us started in our internships and then provide a place for us to go talk about our experiences and get support from other people who are going through the same thing. There is very little reading and not much work – just a presentation on the place where we’re doing our internship and a paper about our experiences – both of which I can handle.

As for the internship – AHHHHH! Everyone said the next 6 weeks would be hell and they were right! It’s so stressful not really knowing what’s going on or where I’ll be as an intern for the rest of the year. The school offers a list that we can choose from and interview at, but I really want to be at a school, so I’m hoping that I can get in at Kristin’s school. There are lots of things to figure out and hoops to jump through, but I’m optimistic it will work out and that if it doesn’t I wasn’t meant to intern there. It’s just all the unknowns that drive me crazy. Here’s hoping that I get through mid-October alive!

The other class I have is Human Behavior and the Social Environment. I had high hopes for this class. It sounded so interesting. But the first book we have to read is BORING. Hopefully the second one, which I will start reading next week, is more interesting. The teacher is nice and does his best with the book (which is basically a ton of definitions), but I look forward to when people will start doing their group presentations because it just HAS to be more entertaining than a bunch of definitions.

Overall my classes seem pretty good this time. I wouldn’t say they’re easy, but definitely manageable! Now if I could just get my internship stuff figured out…!

Philosophy, Day 1

Yesterday was my first philosophy class. As I've said before it's one of the last gen ed classes I have (thank goodness!). I considered taking a philosophy class that actually sounded interesting but worried that since I hadn't taken it before it would be hard and confusing so I decided to just go with the good ol' intro course.


When I went to buy my book I noticed that all of the other intro classes had to buy a huge book plus a ton of little ones. Mine only required the huge book. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, but I bought it happy with the fact that at least it only cost $40.

So I went into class last night - I was about 10 minutes early - and there were about 10 other people there already. They all looked the same - cute, skinny, and YOUNG. OMG. I never thought that I'd feel so old, but there I was. The oldest by 10 years. The class ended up having about 25 people in it and thank goodness a few people my age and one older woman arrived.

So it was shortly after 6 when this guy came walking in (short, plump, and curly hair. He looked like he stepped right out of a cartoon. Hilarious.) and said "is this philosophy?" A few people murmured that it was indeed. He walked up to the board and wrote "what is truth?" Then he asked "so what is it?" Silence. He finally started talking and then asked what makes us believe something. Silence. OMG. Seriously, people? Talk. So finally I said something about science and proof. He was thrilled.

After about 45 minutes he finally said "Hi, I'm Mr. X and I'm the instructor." No kidding. I thought you were just a lunatic who came in off the streets. Anyway, so he said we were in Philosophy 1000. Which was interesting. Interesting that he waited for 45 minutes to say that since Classical Greek Philosophy was also held last night and people kept coming in thinking that's what it was. You would have thought he would have cleared that up right away, but no.

Anyway, so then we spent the next while going around the classroom answering questions about ourselves (I HATE that part). I couldn't believe how many brand new freshman were taking philosophy. We had to say why were taking the course, and he had said it was fine to say "because it's a requirement" so that's basically what everyone said. He said he would try to make it as painless as possible on us. He also said he had us in mind when he only ordered one book for the class - cheap. So that was nice.

He finally handed out the syllabus. Seems easy enough. Read a ton of stuff, write little about each, write 2 long (even though he called them short) papers, take 2 tests...I can totally do that. He seems really easy going, and knowing from my Theology experience that the teacher can make all the difference, I appreciated my stroke of luck in getting him.

As for philosophy itself? I can't decide if I like it or not. Most people have told me that I'll either love it or hate it. I just kept thinking last night, as we talked about Descartes, that philosophers are insane. Seriously. Lock them up. Get them help. Something.

We read a few pages of Descartes' Meditation where he's basically saying who knows what is real and what's not - what's a dream and what's not...he questioned everything because he said he didn't want to be wrong again. That seems a little egotistical to me. And it seems like it would be a depressing journey to question every single thing about the world around you. So by the end of the night I found that I wasn't fascinated by the questions or by the process but by Descartes himself. Perhaps that's why I'm going into social work and not philosophy? :)

Anyway, the class should be okay - after my Spanish experience I figure anything taught in my native tongue has got to be fine. :)

September Begins...

It's September 1. The preverbial end of summer. We've had a good summer. I was able to take several days off here and there to just relax, we went to Duluth for our anniversary and discovered a new getaway spot, we were able to go to South Dakota to visit Kristin's family twice, Robyn and Dejan came for a visit, and we spent a very relaxing weekend at Wilderness Way (which we plan to repeat in October). While this summer was a little less activity-ridden than last year (think wedding), it was a good one and I'm sad to see it end so fast.

School starts this week for Kristin as well as for me. That means a lot of changes in our schedules as well as nerves and excitement for what is to come.

I'm taking three classes this trimester (vs. the two I have taken in the past) as well as doing an internship. I thought that I would feel more settled and more excited once I started my actual social work classes. I am excited, but I'm finding that I wish I could just fast forward and have it done.

I have three gen ed classes left - Philosophy, Phys Ed, and Global Search for Justice (a course required for everyone graduating from St. Kate's). This semester I'll be getting philosophy out of the way on Wednesday nights. Friday nights are reserved for my field class. Saturday afternoons will be Human Behavior and the Social Environment. Fascinating.

I'm not really looking forward to philosophy. It seems like a snoozer class. Hopefully it won't be too intense. The Field class should be okay - not too much work. It will basically be talking about the internship I am doing which won't be decided until the end of September or beginning of October. I'm a little nervous about that - hoping that I get something interesting that will teach me whatever it is I need to know. The Human Behavior class doesn't seem too crazy, either...but sometimes the syllabii are misleading, so we'll see.

It's definitely going to be crazy for me over the coming months. Here's to hoping that I survive without alienating everyone around me (in other words I'll try not to be too cranky)!

As I said earlier, Kristin also starts school this week. She gets a whole new group of 3rd graders. I went to her classroom with her on Friday. Once again she's done an awesome job of fitting a million things into one room and making it look cute and inviting for the kids! It sounds like she'll have another interesting group of kids this year which makes for good dinner conversation. She will also be starting at Concordia next week working towards her Masters in Differentiated Instruction. She will have class on Thursday nights, so we may not see much of each other this fall...but it will all be worth it in the end...right?

I've been busy this holiday weekend with homework (the joy of attending weekend classes - there are always assignments due the first day of class) and being sick. Kristin and I have both been sick with some sort of stomach flu. I told her it wouldn't be the beginning of the schoolyear without us catching some sort of illness. Hopefully we're both on our way to recovery.

So. Goodbye summer, thanks for the memories. Welcome fall - let's do it up right.

Nothing new...

Nothing much new to report, but I've been receiving pokes from Kristin and harassing anonymous phone calls urging me to post something. Anything. So here I am.

I've been staying busy even with school out for the summer. I had all sorts of plans with all of the extra time I would discover once I didn't need to study and go to class. Unfortunately, the extra time has seemed to just disappear. I'm not sure where it has gone, though.

I started taking a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course at University of Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. It's based on Jon Kabat-Zin's research about the benefits of meditation. I had read his book, Full Catastrophe Living, a couple of times and finally decided to just go ahead and take the class. So far I haven't loved it, but I'm going to give it the full 8 weeks before I make a judgement. I can see the benefits, I think it's just random issues of my own that are making it difficult to enjoy the class itself. Anyway, I'll post more about what the class is like and what I think about it after week 4 and again after week 8.


Kristin and Jehn had a yard sale this past weekend. I don't really get yard sales. I'm a huge throw it away person. If I don't need it I toss it or donate it. Spending the time to sort it, price it, and then sit in the hot sun and wait for people to come sift through it and try to bargain down from 25 cents just isn't my gig. They both seemed to love it, though, and that's all that matters, right? (Proof is in the smiling picture of Jehn below)


Part of my plan for my extra time this summer was to do more "fun" reading. I looked forward to whittling my Goodreads list down. I have been busily reading...and what kinds of books have I been reading? Pretty much nothing that was on my list. For some reason I'm addicted to therapy, social work type books. Books like The Mummy at the Dining Room Table: Eminent Therapists Reveal Their Most Unusual Cases; Schopenhauer's Porcupines: Intimecy and Its Dilemma; Shrink Dreams: The Secret Longings, Fantasies, and Prejudices of Therapists and How They Affect Their Patients; The Boy Who Was Raised a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrists Notebook; and Crazy all the time: On the Psych Ward of Bellevue Hospital...just to name a few. Crazy, I know. But I'm learning a lot and I'm getting excited to get back to school in September.

So, that's my 'nothing new' update. Hopefully I'll have something new, fun, and exciting to share soon :)

What I Know

I know I am sleep deprived, and I know that I am overly stressed with school.

I present you with two examples to prove my point. In the process of sharing these examples, I humiliate myself. So enjoy.

1. I was out on our deck this morning and started to freak out because I saw someone in our apartment...only to realize I was seeing my reflection in the window.

2. Yesterday, I pointed to a tree outside of our window and asked Kristin"are those red things growing on that tree acorns?" Her response? "Well, they could be, but that's a pine tree."

Tales From the Spanish Classroom

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, have never read this blog before, or don’t ever talk to me you probably know that I’m taking Spanish. For the past 15 years I have avoided foreign languages like the plague. It wasn’t a requirement in high school, and once I got to college I put it off. Then I stopped going to college. Then I started. I put it off. Then I stopped going to college. Then I started. I put it off.

Anyway, so I decided this time, since I plan on actually graduating from St. Kate’s and not just using it as a little diversion from real life as I have done with previous schools, I would get the foreign language out of the way right away. I have actually started Spanish a couple of times. Both times I dropped it after the first class. There’s just something about someone standing in front of the room on the first day of class and talking in nonstop español that annoys the crap out of me.

I know they say that totally immersing yourself in a language helps you learn it faster – and maybe that’s true for the vast majority of people. But not for me. I find that it just stresses me out and makes my mind start spinning, and eventually I start hyperventilating and feeling nauseous. It’s not a pretty sight. I knew I was going to have to push past that at St. Kate’s and survive the first class in good enough shape to show up for the second.

So it’s the first day. I go into the classroom. Classmates are all just sitting there. Teacher walks in. She seems nice enough…and then she starts talking. Good Lord. Here we go again.

“Hola.”

Room is spinning.

“Soy Profesora Smithberg. Bienvenida al comienzo español”

Holy crap…I wonder where the nearest bathroom is…

“Otras palabras que no recuerdo porque estaba hablando en español.”

Can I make it to the bathroom before my morning bowl of Life spews all over the girl in front of me?...

Just then a woman walks in, stops after a few feet, turns and starts to walk out. The teacher stops her, and the woman explains that she was supposed to be in Spanish I…beginning Spanish…obviously she has somehow warped to another time and found herself in some sort of advanced Spanish class. The entire class erupts into laughter, and I realize I’m not the only one who was thinking that maybe a college education wasn’t all that important anyway if it meant enduring two trimesters of this.

Because I’m in weekend college each class is 3 ½ hours long. Just to let you know, 3 ½ hours is a LOOONG time to spend sitting in a classroom getting conjugation and sentence structure shoved down your throat no matter what language you’re learning it in. While most weekend classes are held every other weekend, language classes are every weekend. It’s quite an annoyance, and I’m finding that Spanish is taking over my life. In the car, on the train, in my sleep, in meetings, in the store…random words or verb charts will cross my mind. Half the time I don’t know what the word I’m thinking about means. I just know that at some point over the last 10 weeks I crammed it into some empty corner in my head and for some reason it has decided to take a stroll around my brain for hours at a time. You know how annoying it is when you get a song in your head and can’t get it out? Try getting a word or verb conjugation chart stuck. Not fun.

In my endeavor to better understand this loco language I’ve enlisted the help of Luis. He’s from Mexico, immigrated here several years ago, and now tutors in the evenings. He’s fabulous. Honestly. Twenty dollars an hour to get a huge shot of confidence? Totally worth it. I meet with him once a week, and right now we’re working on my speaking skills which definitely need all the help they can get.

I’ve done well in the class so far (currently getting an “A”), the teacher is great (and no, she doesn’t just speak in Spanish the whole time), and I have gained a deeper appreciation for those crazy people out there who learn two or three or more languages.

So now I just have to finish. There are 26 classes total (13 per semester) and I’m done with ten… if I can just get through the last 16 without puking all over the girl in front of me I’ll consider the experience a success!

School Update

School. It sucks. Just kidding. It’s not that bad. I am having a hard time staying motivated and I think next semester will be worse. I met with my advisor a couple of weeks ago, and we mapped everything out. If I take 3 classes each semester I’ll be done with classes in April 2010 and graduate the end of May 2010. Yay! But before I get to that point I have to pull a C out of Spanish.

So far I’ve done really well in Spanish. Better than I thought I would. The teacher has been very kind – very lenient. I’m getting an A so far, so I’m hoping I can keep that up. I’m not feeling very confident, and I don’t feel like I’m understanding anything, so I have hired a tutor. I meet with him for the first time on Saturday. I don’t know exactly what I need help with, but I’m hoping he can help clarify that for me.

My other class, The Reflective Woman, is going fairly well. I actually like the discussion that the class produces and LOVE the book we have to read (Also call The Reflective Woman). I just finished an interview paper (interviewed my brother-in-law - see previous post), and I am now working on a “Structured Controversy” paper. My group (well, one person in my group) decided to do it on violence on television (BORING). The other two group members snatched up the position that it causes violence in teens/kids which left me with having to prove that it doesn’t cause violence in teens/kids for my paper. It didn’t seem too difficult until I started looking for resources. Ugh. It seems every reputable organization out there has something to say about how horrible violence on television is. Should make for an interesting paper.
Anyway, overall I’m loving school. I love, love, love St. Kate’s. I never really thought about how going to an all-female school would affect me…didn’t think it would…and actually thought I would hate it because I’m not that big on being bff’s with a bunch of girly girls. But it really has been a great experience so far, and I find that I am way more comfortable and able to express my opinions in all-female classes (no offense to all of you men out there). So thank you to those of you who urged me to go back to school…and a special thank you to those who urged me to try out St. Kate’s…

Interview Paper

I recently wrote a paper about my brother-in-law and thought I would post portions (not all of it for various reasons) of it here...not my best work, definitely didn't do him justice, but here goes:

D. T. was born June 8, 19XX in Sarajevo, Bosnia to two doting parents, M. and M. T. D. had what he considers to be a “normal” childhood and adolescence. His family spent several months of every year vacationing on the beautiful shores of the Adriatic Sea. He spent hours eating delicious Domacica cookies as he hungrily poured through any book he could get his hands on. He enjoyed learning, attending school, and tinkering with computers. He loved to spend time with his beloved grandparents and other, often quirky, extended relatives, and D. loved his country.

D. voice booms with pride as he recounts all of the great things that made Sarajevo such a wonderful place to grow up: tree-lined streets, beautiful architecture, untouched nature trails, and several ski resorts minutes away, just to name a few. “I’ve been many places,” D. says with some intensity, “but I am yet to find a place like this one used to be.”

At the age of 20, however, the peaceful, happy world that he knew changed. Religious and political issues broke his country apart and war erupted. The area where D. and his family were living had a large mix of various religions, “Just on our floor alone we had Muslims, Croats, Serbs, and Jews. The only way to separate them was genocide.”

Like every other adult male, D. spent his share of time on the front lines defending his city. Much of that time was spent sleeping in the trenches and pretending that he and his fellow soldiers could actually defend themselves. D. tells of how under-prepared their meager army was: “For the first few months, I had as little as three bullets in my Kalashnikov (army-distributed weapon). If they (Serbian Army) ever attacked, they would have killed us all in the first three minutes. Luckily,” he says with a smile, “they never tried.” \

D. laughs as he remembers the fun he had with his fellow soldiers. He recounts one rule he implemented: “I warned others in my unit to never approach my trench during my shift as I would be sleeping. He didn’t, after all, want to waste one of his three bullet on them. His comrades were instructed to call him on one of the military phones to wake him up if they wanted to come up before his shift was over.

During the war, Sarajevo was a “sad place full of sad people.” The city was surrounded by Serbian forces for the duration of the war, so food and electricity were scarce. During the most intensive fighting (which lasted for three years) the electricity was only on for a total of 30 hours – “usually in one hour blocks separated by weeks or months of no electricity.” There were “bone-skinny people walking like ghosts collecting twigs and garbage to burn for heat and cooking or picking dandelions for food.” Getting water meant spending hours in lines with occasional sniper bullets whizzing past. On an average day 20 to 40 people would be killed “which meant 20 to 40 quick, flowerless burials on the soccer fields or in the city parks.”

Through all of the turmoil, D. persevered and found the good in all situations he was placed in. He laughs as he talks about his neighbor who was sitting on his toilet when an anti-aircraft cannon shell punctured three walls, went through his toilet, and went through two more walls before exiting the building. The neighbor came out of it with only a scratch.

When he wasn’t serving in the army, D. was working at a local publishing business. “Even the publishing business was sad,” he recounts. “One of the jobs we had to do every day was to scan bloody drivers’ licenses and other documents for the people that got killed that day so they could be printed in the obituaries.” Not lingering on the bad, D. quickly moves on to tell about one of the positives of working in the publishing business, “We had a satellite TV and generator in the store, so I tried to catch some English by watching David Letterman every night.”

His two younger brothers, N. and B., had fled to Serbia in 1991 and were living there as refugees. His parents fled two years later. In 1995, as the war was finally starting to abate, D. and his family had an opportunity to leave the area and settle in a new country. To leave would mean safety and some sort of normalcy once again. It would mean having hope that his children might grow up in a place where war and killing weren’t prevalent. But to leave would also mean leaving their homeland, their extended family, and their friends. They would be giving up their property, money, and the ability to understand the language and customs around them. D. explains why the decision wasn’t as hard as it might have been for others: “I asked myself ‘what is the worst that can happen?’ I knew that I would probably never see my grandparents again, and that would be the worst thing, but even if I were to survive the war, I knew there would be decades of sadness and rebuilding and that my children would probably have to live through the hell of war yet again.”

And so, it was with the thoughts of his future children and the safety of his aging parents that D. and his family moved to Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1996. Settling into life in a new country was not always easy for D. and his family, but his positive outlook and sense of humor helped.

D. is now a successful businessman and living what he considers to be the good life. He lives with his wife, R., whom he met shortly after immigrating to Canada. His parents and brothers live nearby. He no longer worries about living conditions, crime, or the constant fear of war, and he hopes that his dream of raising children in a safe, happy environment will soon be realized. Looking back on his life so far, he says he has no regrets. “It would have been nice not to have to live through the war, but I don’t think I would change anything. I am very comfortable in my own skin. I feel I am right where I am supposed to be. If I am lucky, I will have my three kids – that is the only goal I have not yet achieved, and then my life really will be complete in every way.”

First Project: Complete

Okay, I promise a nice long blog or two about our holiday travels will be coming soon. I've been consumed with returning to work and getting ready for school to start. Because I'm going to weekend college I had some assignments due the first day of class. Tomorrow night begins "The Reflective Woman" and I had to do some reading and make a huge collage...which I hated doing...but with Kristin's help it turned out alright, I think...



I'm so happy to be done! I still have a bunch of stuff to do for my Sunday class (Spanish), but I'll tackle that on Saturday.

Oh, and a quick yay and congratulations to Senator Obama (look for pictures of my reaction to the news later!).


Night all!

Anyone have a lunch pail?

In just 2 ½ short weeks I will be hitting the books and returning to school…AGAIN. You know when you applied for college and it asked you to list all of the schools you had ever attended and then said to attach more pages if necessary? Yeah, that note was meant for me. When I had to send out requests for colleges to send in my transcripts I nearly choked at the number of schools I had credits from – 7. YES, SEVEN. Granted I had credits from three of those before I graduated high school, but the thought of me having credits from seven institutes of higher learning and no piece of paper to show for it was depressing. But that’s why I was requesting the transcripts, right? Right.

As of January 4 I will be starting at The College of Saint Catherine (or St. Kate’s as the locals like to call it). It’s an all women’s (for the most part) Catholic (but very liberal) college a short 10-minute drive from our new apartment. I will be switching my major to social work this time and should graduate in like 25 years. Just kidding. I’m hoping to finish up in about 2 years, although it could stretch a little longer. I’ve been really impressed with all of the people I’ve met so far. Everyone has been extremely helpful and kind which are rare qualities to find at colleges these days (and trust me, after going to 7 other schools, I know what I’m talking about!).

I went to orientation on Saturday. After sitting through a BORING couple of hours of email, safety, and other “important” training I was able to take a tour of the school, buy my books, obtain my parking permit, and get my student id all in under 30 minutes. Not bad at all (even if the books for my first two classes cost almost $300!).

I’m sure I’ll be writing a lot more about school as it gets started and I start getting inundated with work…something for all of you to look forward to, I guess :)