It's incredible that I made it to December, especially with how much November seemed to ramp up with my responsibilities. There is an upcoming post (soon) about the things that I experienced just at the end of the month.
But November has marked movement on areas of professional development, community engagement, the building of friendships (which can be better understood in my next post), and exploration of Edmonton.
Just within the lab, I am working on 1) training in wet-lab (such as cell work) and dry-lab techniques (such as imaging), 2) a cell based project of my own (which is getting off the ground still), 3) a literature review on therapies for DMD, 4) a machine learning project (which is also getting off the ground), and 5) the Muscular Dystrophy Canada (MDC)'s Burden of Illness project (which I am helping with occasionally). Right now, the training and literature review are my top priority, especially as the review is due in 3 weeks or so. I am getting the chance, however, to learn many types of imaging and gain a finer eye for this type of analysis; this greatly buffers my ability to perform wet-lab experiments as well. Currently, I feel the pressure to learn machine learning, as that project has given me no instructions thus far. Lastly, I hope to interview with the MDC study so that I can give my impressions as a researcher and as someone with a neuromuscular condition. Though this time feels completely draining, I can feel my endurance slowly improving. With time, I can handle everything coming my way.
Much of this work has not produced visible results yet, but I hope to press on. That said, everything else has felt incredibly slow, even as November feels filled to the brim.
As one hopefully guessed, I am still participating with the Toastmasters group here; in this case, I am the secretary, which is a relatively informal role. But my relationship with the group keeps growing as I understand the skills and desires of my fellow clubmates. Furthermore, it has already been twice for a second speech of mine, as of November 27th, which I shall elaborate on in the next post. The most exciting part of my time here is the mentorship program -- just recently, I have made connections with my first 'mentee'. Given their focus on speechwriting, which is largely an area where I excel, I feel our partnership would be an excellent learning opportunity for both of us. This is the newest part to me...the part where I help someone grow as a speaker.
The Feminist group remains as casual as ever, but our tea party on the 21st was incredibly fun. The "Gender Gap" boardgame we played was awful but amusing in every sense. What should a man not do in a relationship? How does a man play golf? How does a woman cook Turkey? It was a testament to the ridiculousness of the game that our top scorer only 'correctly' answered a few cards. This is certainly not a game I will remember for much other than laughs. There was also some excellent green tea there!
My experience with the New Democratic Party, the left party of Canada, has been a mixture of positivity and confusion. The student group here seems to do nothing, perhaps because the university sits in an NDP district! But I did venture out to Edmonton-Manning and Edmonton-Glenora, both of which are far from the university, and catch a glimpse of the familial nature of these meetings. There was an agenda, but there was a common friendly energy to be found. There was also food to be found! The second meeting proved to be more memorable for me because....well....I asked what an MLA is. The answer made me feel silly -- "member of the legislative assembly" -- but they still made me feel welcome in learning. It was the MLA who explained the concept herself! The idea of a question and answer really helped make these meetings feel accessible. I also enjoyed how the MLA brought her children to help explain how the budget cuts proposed by the Alberta premier would hurt many ordinary Albertans. I also learned about the Election Commissioner of Alberta, who had for a year helped ensure election integrity and security, had been sacked. There was a lot of complaining about the Conservatives -- apparently beyond the extensive budget cuts they proposed, they also were rewriting rules to limit the power of the opposition. The opposition leader was even thrown out of the Alberta Parliament! The Conservatives had only taken power a few months earlier, around when I arrived, but they were already wreaking havoc. There was also the Office of Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities. Unfortunately, I had to leave, as my scooter battery had drained a lot. But this gave me a great starting place to think more deeply about Canadian politics.
The Japanese Conversational Club on campus has helped me meet many people and continue to refine my ability to converse in English and Japanese. However, it has spurred me to begin studying Japanese (admittedly just today so far) so that I can learn more. It is very demanding to keep talking to people, especially with the high probability of having at least one or two complete strangers. People also come inconsistently, which creates a different atmosphere each time. Simultaneously, I am interacting with the Japanese society here, which recently held a wonderful celebration, and gaining greater immersion into that culture. Though my progress here is the most abstract, it can feel the most rewarding.
However, on the disability front, I have found some difficulties for contacts. The Students for Life Without Limits group has proven to be missing in action, with an immense lack of contact. Undeterred, however, I am still following up with the Muscular Dystrophy Canada and the Burden of Illness study. I also followed up with the Office of Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, which led me to also contact the Accessibility Committee of Edmonton. Through these connections, I am gaining an understanding of snow removal and the maintenance of sidewalks and roads. However, I am also gaining resources to teach about muscular dystrophy to government officials and to work on disability outreach with children, hewing close to my original community engagement goals here. This part requires the most work. But as I continue I find contacts who lead me to other contacts. I even have followed up with the accessibility committee to talk about physical accessibility. This is the area that I would like to push the most growth in.
For December, I will perhaps begin preparing for 2020 rather than ramming through final changes. However, I hope that lab training and work, supplemented by community engagement, will prove immensely fruitful. Given that I leave on December 17th, I anticipate that there is not enough time for everything I want. But there is many chances for setting up meetings up through I finally head home. So many hopes seem to be riding on these next two weeks, even as I expect all new progress to be in the next year.
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