The One Where I Have Awesome Professors

My final midterm has been and gone and I feel a twinge of sadness over it. It just reminds me how strong I'm hurtling into my final weeks here in Ottawa, and it's a devastating thought.

Classic moments from History of Religion in Canada:

1) We've been looking at nineteenth century Protestantism in Canada this week including looking at such subjects as the notion of the rapture. The prof told us a story about a guy she met who grew up being taught by his parents what to do should he come home and and found his parents had been raptured. Christina then raised the valid question that the parents obviously didn't expect their son to get raptured and that that was pretty unfair. Our prof agreed and then said that I would get raptured and that Christina wouldn't. Now, this unwittingly played into mine and Christina's nearly-daily argument over which one of us is better. So the prof brought out her telling-her-children-off-in-the-car routine and Christina and I were more than happy to play along.

2) Her next classic moment came when she tried to address how rubbish she is with technology and said, and I quote exactly, "I'm in awe of students who know how to sext." Later she tried to explain Darwin's theory of evolution and chose the words, "the birds with badass beaks." What a legend!

Classic moments from Creative Writing:

1) Simone: Jesse is such a white trash name.

    Adrienne: My brother's called Jesse!

2) Various assorments of "It could be a play" or "Maybe it's allegorical."

3) My prof is just generally awesome and is an asset to uOttawa and has, without doubt, really made my year academically to be phenomenal. University isn't a business institution, or at least, it certainly shouldn't be. It should be about learning. Unfortunately, the world doesn't see the value in the individual's broadened mind. My prof is passionate about education - about small class sizes where professors and students can create deep and meaningful relationships and the learning experience can go to epic heights.

In me experience there are three types of student-prof relationships: the I-don't-care student; the needy student who over-compensates in their need to be liked by professors and takes it personally when they're not the pet; and the genuinely special union of a wise mind and an eager mind. And sometimes, I fall in to the last category.

One of the most special parts of my year abroad has been the academic side to the year. It has been my privilege to learn about Indian Reservations from First Nations profs; to have my readings taken from not-yet published books by profs who are the leading figures in their field. Most of all, I have fallen in academic love with Jewish Canadian literature and it is all due to the passion and enthusiasm of one professor and his investment in me as a student. I feel valued and appreciated and so grateful for the opportunity to explore a whole new world I had no idea existed. I've learnt a bit about his family's history, I get weekly "bedtime" stories, I get marriage advice and vocation advice, and I learnt this week that he got expelled from school twice for the most badass reasons ever. (Protesting outside the American Consul and escaping arrest by hiding in the British Naval Office).

My convoluted point is: this year has shown me many things and one of the biggest ones has been that I love learning and that a great teacher has a value beyond rubies and pearls.

4) Josh enjoyed his first ever university lecture: