The 411 on Mau's future

Howdy folks!

For the past year or so, I've been contemplating what to do with my future. Since about 2004 I've been toying with the idea of going to graduate school and obtaining a Master of Arts (MA) degree. I wanted to get my MA even more after I did my exchange to Hong Kong - I was hell bent on studying International Affairs/Relations. Meeting all the exchanges students from around the world really inspired me to get involved internationally.

I therefore applied to a couple of graduate schools here in Canada. Throughout the application process I kept flipping back and forth on whether I really wanted to pursue a Master's degree or not, but in the end I applied to the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, both located in Canada's capital city.

I didn't realize until after I applied that Carleton's program was the #2 school in North America... Meaning competition for admittance was very tough! I realized this when I was wait listed by Carleton. I did however receive an offer of admission to the University of Ottawa back in April. I sent in my acceptance letter to them practically right away. I figured that there was no hope in hell of me being admitted to Carleton, so I should just give up. (I also suspect that one of my letters of reference weren't exactly the greatest because I didn't know my profs all that well.)

I was quite happy with going to U of Ottawa until about a month ago when I realized I didn't really know what the program ("Globalization and International Development") was about. On the other hand, when I had been applying to Carleton University, I had been totally in love with what they were offering as it seemed to be right up my alley! I discussed it with my parents and told them that if I didn't get accepted to Carleton University this year, I'd prefer to wait for one more year and then reapply. My parents endorsed my decision and that made me happy.

Well, much to my surprise, several days ago, Carleton University sent me an email saying that yes, I had been accepted to the program. HOWEVER! One of the requirements for being accepted was that I need an introductory microeconomics class... Which I don't have. I had been enrolled in Econ 101 at the beginning of this term, but when I gave up on the idea of being accepted to Carleton, I had dropped the course. Now it's too late to enroll in it (especially considering there's only like 2 weeks till exams).

I talked to one of the admissions officers at Carleton and they said that I could probably take a distance education course through Athabasca University (an online university) and complete it before the end of August... But that would be pretty stressful - I'm taking a full course load right now, my exams don't end until August 9th, and the online course has like 10 assignments in the meantime.

Also, even though life tends to be easier as a student, I have to admit that I'm tired at this point of my life. I've been in school for 5 years now, and I've done 3 academic terms in a row. The idea of going on to do two more years of hardcore school right away does NOT appeal to me in the slightest. I've had fun in these past few years, but I need to have a break from textbooks (well, I still need to take Econ 101 through distance education, but ignore that).

So now I have a year before I reapply to Carleton University. I toyed around with the idea of going back over to Asia and teaching English for a year, but it would take forever to get a visa and paperwork, etc. Plus I don't know if I could hack dealing with kids everyday. They're cute to see, but not to interact with. (My niece being the exception.)

Yesterday I suddenly remembered the Student Work Abroad Program (www.swap.ca)... Essentially it's a program where you obtain a work visa for a European country, fly over, and do temporary/casual work until your visa expires. Since I want to work for the Canadian government when I graduate, I figure that practicing my French would be a good choice... Therefore I'm seriously contemplating going to France for a year to work and travel. My parents are totally in love with the idea (since it means they could visit me - plane tickets to France are a hell of a lot cheaper than to Asia!).

So that's my plan for now. Work in France for a year, take my Econ 101 class through distance education), and travel. Comments and suggestions are welcome!