Thursday, February 25, 2016

Blog 4: Academia vs Professional Tasks and Obligations



My personal reflections during the last few months of my academic career have been very forward thinking: what can I do to make this final stretch as manageable (and honestly, bearable) as possible. I have struggled with the balance I have been forced to pivot between academia and workplace readiness. 

Full disclosure: I am no academic. For me tis not a life of journals and articles and meetings and studies. I imagine my feelings are similar to what I’m sure many teachers  feel at the end of their degree(s): whatever theory I learn it is in the hope that I can apply it in a workplace. As a student in a particularly career-focused specialization (counselling), it can be difficult to sit in classes where I feel like the knowledge is wasted, or doesn’t apply to me, or worst of all isn’t even intended for me. At this point I want to carry on into the workplace and learn through experience. 

As such it has been my internship that has provided me with the most learning. Because I have been experiencing this learning concurrently with school work, I think it has highlighted the feeling that I am more willing to do “real work” (read, practical counselling work) than academic work, and most other tasks feel like minutiae and fluff. I struggle to stay engaged, though I try to do my best for my own benefit, sometimes the reminder must be that in two months I will be a certified professional with a valuable education (practically and academically).

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