"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education"

-- Mark Twain


I have one month left of school. This is not a hopeful exaggeration; today is March 9, the last day of classes is Thursday, April 10. I don't have class on Thursdays, and I don't have any final exams (the luxury of upper-year classes) - so there are 31 days between me and the end of my degree.

This final month is full of events - end-of-semester concerts, speakers, recitals, forums, banquets and fundraisers. It is also full of academic deadlines - term papers, presentations, quizzes and reports.

In this month's battle between 'events' and 'education', I have chosen events. This is my mad dash to try and extract as much as possible from the university environment before I have to move onto big city, big budget culture.

Recently I have attended a good diversity of events, and all of them were worth the time. Just over a week ago I popped into the CCAA National Badminton Championships (held at Mt. A) and watched the men's singles final. It was an intense game; the losing player came back from a 10-point deficit to time the game at 14-14 (although he still lost). I almost teared up watching the game (OK, I teared up), because the players were so good and so passionate about their sport.

On Monday editors from The Dominion came to speak about their five-year plan to increase their presence as the alternative press of Canada. Their talk was interesting, especially given the publication's recent focus on the Alberta tar sands. They are looking for small financial contributions from "sustainers" to help increase their reporting capacity and launch a Canada-wide media co-op programme.

On Thursday I went to a forum hosted by Mt. A's queer issues society, Catalyst. Called "What Do You Mean There's An Elephant in the Room?", the evening featured four speakers who discussed how we can "take the elephant out of the closet" (hah) and be more aware of the discrimination caused by 'heteronormativity', or the assumption that everyone is straight.

Last night I attended two one-act plays performed at Mt. A's Windsor Theatre. The first play, "Wanda's Visit", tells the story of a bored couple whose lives are interrupted by the visit of the husband's insane high school sweetheart. The second was an original, collaborative piece themed around ignorance. The play used abstract scenes to represent the full-circle progression from revolutionary idealism to oppressive conformity.

And there is more to come. Black Tie Productions will be staging "Hair" next weekend. The Society of All Nations has its annual banquet next Saturday, followed by the grad banquet on the 19.

I still go to class, and still enjoy the preparation and discussion. But showing up to events is a bit more exciting, and a bit more spontaneous; after all, when's the next time I'll see a championship badminton match?

Sometimes these events are well attended, other times they are not. It depends on academic deadlines, other events, and the proper planning and advertising. Contrary to some opinions, we are not Mt. Apathy - most students are interested in campus life and want to contribute. Sometimes, as you can see, there is just too much - too many potential commitments. Instead of attending a cancer fundraising concert last night, I stayed home and baked muffins.