Well Versed Episode 18 part 2

Part 2 of Episode 18.

The Last Week

So I'm heading into my last week of classes of my undergraduate degree! The reality of the issue hasn't completely sunk in yet. It has been an amazing ride thus far and there still is quite a lot of work left to be done. Last weekend I helped host a leadership conference at our school. It was amazing to see so many people come out for a day and learn many important skills and become even more motivated to make positive changes in the world.
Additionally, I have been nominated, interviewed, and now am awaiting a vote to be honored as the speaker at my graduation ceremonies. That element, to say the least, has been an ever-present occupation of my mind in the past while.
I am so passionate about the role that thoughts of what I could say to entertain and motivate my fellow classmates often distracts me from other work - other work that includes a 10 page paper due on the last day of classes. So, even in my last week, the feelings of stress, worry, and joy while doing it are all still pervasive.

Well Versed Episode 17

My poetry show Well Versed for the week of March 24. Listen every Sunday at 9pm AST:

• 92.5 FM for those in Antigonish, NS
  
• CFXU Radio for those not in Antigonish, NS

An episode to kick off National Poetry Month. I invite local poet, Doug Robertson, to spend the hour with me and read some of his work.

Easter!

So Easter weekend was amazing. Everything went off without a hitch and the whole event was as relaxing as it could be. Things started with my departure on the bus to the Halifax Airport. I got to spend the 2 hour ride with my friend Sara discussing matters of politics and computer programming. Then I got onto my flight quite quickly and without delay. Despite the horrible honey latte I had from Starbucks in the lobby, the flight was incredible. I flew Porter Air and was extremely pleased with the service. I was served complementary bottled water and two meals. I flew on a Bowing Q400, which had more leg room and lower emissions than a bus! I arrived on Toronto Island in the downtown core, rather than at cumbersome Pearson Airport in the North. My parents and little sister picked me up and we went to a rib joint for dinner. I had to get nachos due to my aversion to meat, and was sadly disappointed. The place used fake movie-theater cheese rather than anything real. Yet after having plenty of food on the plane I could not complain.
Once I got home I was picked up by Michelle to meet her friends. I had a good time meeting all of the people she has grown up with and was not surprised by the usual laid-back, casual atmosphere of any house party in my home-town area.
The next day was incredible as I got to go see the Darwin Exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum. Besides this exhibit just being incredible, it was also a treat to visit it on its only Canadian stop. Basically I got to walk through the life of Darwin and really see how his theory of evolution...well....evolved. Darwin lived a very dedicated and inspired life. He was passionate in a highly admirable way. His attention to detail which allowed for such a ground-breaking and important theory were things I was happy to explore and now, greater appreciate.
That night Michelle came over again and she hung out with myself, my sisters, and a bunch of our friends. I was happy to see some of my older sisters friends and my old roommate, Ron. It was also great for my long-time friends James and Simon to stop by. In a guest appearance my old high school friend, Marla, stopped in after not seeing her for many years.
On Easter Sunday I went to mass with my parents but was unable to sit (or stand) with them. Afterward they went to the Zoo with my little sister, while I stayed home to spend some quality time with my older sister. We had an incredible dinner and some good family discussion. I actually talked about taxes quite extensively with my parents, which was a treat as I do not normally get to discuss what I learn in class. We then got into quite a nostalgic discussion about how this would be the last time I "visited" home as an undergraduate. We talked about how my mother was sad that she could not go with me to University on my first day. We talked about me graduating in a month and what that means. I even read them my personal recommendation letter for Senior Class Speaker (which I have since gone on to be named one of three possible candidates for Senior students to vote on). Finally I went to a movie with Michelle and hung out with her for one last night.
The next morning my parents drove me to the airport and rode the ferry over to Toronto Island. I was surprised when the actually broke down in tears and acted as though they would not be seeing me for quite some time. I know this was more a display of the pride they feel for me now, and will soon be overwhelmed with when I graduate.
Finally I spent an hour in the cafe-style lounge of Porter, enjoying lattes and biscotti, before my comfortable flight and bus-ride back to the school I will soon say "goodbye" to.

I'm going home!

Since attending StFX I haven't gone home for Easter Weekend. This is mainly because Easter Weekend usually falls the weekend before the beginning of exams. Normally Easter Monday would be a holiday and I could travel at this time. For some reason StFX doesn't adopt this day as a holiday, despite being a school with Catholic foundations. 

This year is different. Now my decision to go home was very sudden and happened only a few hours ago, thus less than 24 hours before my flight. The reason is I got into a habit of never being able to go home for Easter.

Friends who have been alerted of my travels are shocked by the sudden decision. Some have cited my earlier comments of me making the weekend, "A Paper Weekend!" or "A Study Weekend." This will now have to take second to me spending time with family and friends. So while I think about the end of school, jobs, and life, I hopefully will gain some perspective over this weekend.

Back from Nationals

Last weekend were the National Debate Championships at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I went with my school, St. Francis Xavier, as one of 14 members. Some of us judged, most of us debated on two person teams. StFX was in a three-way tie for sending the most number of people (matching the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta). Achieving this status was the first of several accomplishments of the weekend that I am proud of. Now, while sending a large contingency does not necessarily entail high performance at the tournament, it does say something about the internal development and performance of your club. I, along with my debate partner, re-formed the StFX debate team 5 years ago. As this way my last debate I left the weekend extremely proud to know I had aided in developing the team to be such a presence in the Canadian University Debating Circuit.
The second achievement came in the form not of overall wins for myself, but of my individual performance. Having been scored on my speaking skills in all of the 6 rounds provided an indication of how I had developed over the past 5 years. I left the Nationals with a ranking of 2nd in Atlantic Canada (only to our current StFX Debate President) and 37 of 104. Having achieved this in the face of the best debaters in Canada (and some of the best in the world concurrently) makes me feel pride as well.
The third achievement I left with came after just finishing the movie Rocket Science. This quirky movie about a boy who tried to find himself in the world of high-school debate demonstrated the larger world of debating. Debate is something that has intrinsic and extrinsic values that go far beyond mere resolutions argued from the affirmative and negative. I am proud to say I was and will always be a part of that. I have learned valuable lessons from debate that will last lifetimes.
Debating is one of the few things that I can say has been with me at StFX since the beginning. Debate is like a loyal girlfriend. And while that sounds pathetic and disturbing, I would say that is not the point. Debate has been constant. It has provided. It has helped me grow and learn and heal. Like any relationship you get what you put in. I have given a lot to Debate and I am now getting all it has got to give.

Well Versed Episode 15

My poetry show Well Versed for the week of February 18. Listen every Sunday at 9pm AST:

• 92.5 FM for those in Antigonish, NS
  
• CFXU Radio for those not in Antigonish, NS

A very sexy episode of the show. In this episode I play poems all about sex, including:

• Last Night - Dwayne Morgan
  
• Three Pink Pills, So Beautiful - Corine Demas
  
• Aural Sex (Panafrotix Remix) - Dwayne Morgan
  
• Love Song Of Roy G. Biv - Kevin Matthews
  
• Inside Of You - Dwayne Morgan
  
• Nine Inch Marvin Gaye - Nora Smithhisler
  
• The Way To A Man's Heart - Dwayne Morgan