Adult Under Construction: What Now?

My last post left off at the beginning of the final semester of my Master’s degree. I spent my Christmas break getting acquainted with my nephew, who is an absolute delight to be around. So much so that I’m off to visit him and his parents tomorrow; now that I’m done studying, it’s time to start uncling (for a week).

The final semester’s focus was a team project; my group’s task was to design a conservation subdivision in New Brunswick. I was pleased to find that the originator of the conservation subdivision concept did much of his early work in my first home, the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. His name is Randall Arendt, if anyone wants to look him up.

One of my major commitments early in the semester was arranging the international field trip to the exotic destinations of Boston and New York. You may have heard that Boston had quite a winter (Halifax did too); we were lucky enough to arrive on a day when it did not snow, but had a day’s itinerary cancelled due to a blizzard. Our time in New York was longer and had a more substantial itinerary that was not interrupted by weather. As much as I get tired of hearing how great NewYork is, I enjoyed my first bona fide exploration of the city that never sleeps (I did sleep, though). I also managed to pepper the entire trip with encounters with friends I hadn't seen in years, a pleasant addition for me.

In addition to school, I kept busy by captaining the first organized basketball team I’ve played on since I was 16. Although we only won one game by the score on the scoreboard, our team’s enthusiasm earned us several forfeit victories just for showing up when the other team didn’t. I also played on a European handball team (just handball for Europeans reading this) and quickly fell in love with the sport; I nearly lost my arm by playing in a one-day dodgeball tournament the day before playing two handball games in a row. After the Masters students entered no intramural teams at all in my first year, I was thrilled that we had such enthusiastic participation this year. We even gave out little certificates at the end.

Regardless of what we did, this final semester felt a bit like a victory lap for my class; knowing that we were within sniffing distance of our degrees, many of us turned our focus to the future. When we finally handed in our last assignments, about half of my class had secured jobs in the field in various places throughout Canada. Of those who remain unemployed, most are still actively job hunting and (I think) likely to find something. Which leaves the question: what am I going to do now?

I’m going to go visit my brother and his family for a week. Enjoy the photos.