Archive for Maggie de Barra
Senioritis: Last chance syndrome
With six months left at university, even trivial things now seem to have a much greater significance.
In the spring of my final year of high school I got a little bit stir crazy. I could not wait to move on to bigger and better things. My last fall semester as an undergrad is half over, and I am starting to feel a grasping at straws hysteria. It is a nostalgic longing for the fleeting best days of my life. If I had the chance to go back to freshman year and do it over again, I would do it in a heartbeat. And I would gladly repeat these past years at university many times over, because it does not get much better than this.
When I was a freshman, I measured my first year at Carleton University in all my different firsts. I remember my first lecture, the first time checking out a book from the library, handing in my first essay, writing my first exam in a cold gym and as nerdy as it sounds, it was always exciting for me to cross my next post-secondary hurdle.
I realized something a few weeks ago while I was packing for Thanksgiving. Sadly, as a graduating student in my fourth year, my outlook has changed. I no longer see things as brand new and exciting; instead I’m looking at every milestone as a last. That was my last Thanksgiving long weekend as a university student; my last Halloween at Carleton, and that midterm on Tuesday was last test I have to write for the fall semester.
I know how gloomy this all sounds. I’m trying to stay away from the 2012/end of the world fear mongering, but my clock is ticking. The cure for Senioritis is not to slack off! You have to keep pushing forward. When you only have six months left of university life, you have to make every second count.
A text message that could save your life
Carleton University unveils new Emergency Notification System
I just signed up for Carleton University’s new Emergency Notification System. Students, faculty and staff have the option to enter our cell phone numbers if we want to receive a warning text in case of an emergency on campus.
In addition to text messages, Carleton will send an email to all regular school accounts and a warning message will be displayed across all campus computers.
In an email to sent out by Carleton University, the new system is being hailed as “is the most effective and flexible of any such system on a Canadian university campus.”
This is a new approach to safety that Carleton is taking, and it is unlike anything we have previously seen on campus. I had heard about warning text messages at other universities and I am very excited that my campus is now offering this service.
I just hope that the system does not get overused like some school email notifications we get. Constant emails and text messages from the university would make me want to unsubscribe to this new system.
For more information on the Emergency Notification System, click here.
Does your school use a high-tech warning system? Leave a comment below!
Please allow me to introduce myself…
Hi folks, My name is Maggie de Barra and I am very excited to begin blogging here at Maclean’s OnCampus. I’m starting my fourth and final year of the Bachelor of Journalism program at Carleton University this fall. For the past four weeks I have been studying at the International Summer School at the University [...]
Hi folks,
My name is Maggie de Barra and I am very excited to begin blogging here at Maclean’s OnCampus. I’m starting my fourth and final year of the Bachelor of Journalism program at Carleton University this fall. For the past four weeks I have been studying at the International Summer School at the University of Cambridge.
I am going into study overdrive for the next month as I finish preparing for my LSAT with high hopes of law school in the future.
I’m going to be blogging about current student issues, from orientation to convocation and everything in between. I know what it is like to be a journalism student in Ottawa, but I’m interested in what goes on in the everyday lives of Canadian students from coast to coast. If you are reading Maclean’s OnCampus you’re probably also interested in what students care about and what’s happening in the world that has a direct impact on their lives, both inside and outside the classroom.
I’ll sign off now because I have a lot to unpack, but feel free to leave a comment (I promise to read every single one), send me an email (maggiedebarra@gmail.com) or follow me on twitter! (@maggiedebarra)
Hope to hear from you soon!
