It’s 2:37pm on the day before my thesis defence. I’m nervous, excited, and altogether anxious to get through the proceeding 24 hours. A two-year process full of work, stress, new insights, and rapid learning experiences is about to (symbolically) come to an end. I hesitated to talk about my thesis defence publicly, on a blog…
Author: marialegault
I spend my time hiking in nature and reading great novels.
Plyometrics and Why I Love Them
Some days my workouts seem to fly by, and I’m left sweating, smiling, and glowing with the rush of endorphins to my brain. Even a quick workout perks up the rest of my day and makes me feel stronger and more capable – especially when that workout involves plyometrics. It can be quite challenging for…
Horse Racing: The Sport of Kings?
I recently queried Google with this question: “Why is horse racing called the Sport of Kings?” As with all of my questions, the search engine coughed up a treasure-trove of possible responses within mere milliseconds. Wikipedia tells me that “Thoroughbred racing was, and is, popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, earning it the…
From “Bucket” List to “Life” List
I’m turning 24 in several weeks, and have been thinking about starting my next year of life with a bucket list. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines a bucket list as “a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying” (Merriam-Webster 2013). The term is derived from the phrase”kick the…
A MOOC-ish Experiment
For some time now, I’ve been following with interest and excitement the development of new online tools for teaching and learning. I’ve had visions of being able to learn just about anything of interest in my spare time; creative writing, world history, Eastern philosophy, or simply a refresher on my high school linear functions class….
The Doge – A Canine Meme
Have you recently encountered a Shiba Inu with shiny eyes, glossy fur, and an almost unreal perfection? Then perhaps you’ve met the current internet meme known as doge. As I have previously written about Grumpy Cat, a feline of great online notoriety, I thought it only fair to showcase a canine equivalent/ rival. The doge meme…
A Plethora of Beverages
This week I have an interview with the Liquor Control Board of Canada (LCBO), for a position as temporary contract staff in the holiday season*. Not being a terribly heavy drinker myself, I decided to do a bit of background research on alcohol and was astonished to find the great diversity of beverages available; hence…
A Poe of a Good Time
I just finished reading a great collection of stories in an anthology put together by the Mystery Writers of America called On a Raven’s Wing. Each of the 20 stories are written in the spirit and form of Edgar Allan Poe, commemorating the 200th anniversary of his birth, but are modern in setting and content…
In Praise of “Brain Pickings”
To anyone who is craving some intellectual fulfillment this week, I would highly recommend that you make your way over to the Brain Pickings website and either browse through their articles or subscribe to their weekly newsletter. In the most recent weekly newsletter that I received, Brain Pickings touched on topics ranging from the meaning…
Scheduling, Buddies, and Creativity as Keys to Writing
I admit that I’ve fallen off the boat with NaNoWriMo writing. At the beginning of November, I promised myself that I’d write the requisite 1,600 words per day, every day, until the end of the month. It seemed like a simple goal until I sat down to do it. The words were coming out, but…
Employment-Skills Mismatch
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure and privilege of chatting with a group of Waterloo Unlimited students. Waterloo Unlimited is based out of the University of Waterloo, within the Centre for Knowledge Integration, and offers enrichment opportunities to high school students of all grade levels wishing to get a taste of academia. When I…
The To-Do List and How to Use It
On an average day, you will find me making a to-do list. Generally I scribble items down in a plain, lined notebook and then happily strike them off once they are completed. Other times my system of record-keeping and time-scheduling will involve two or three sources; one reminder on my phone or email calendar, one…
Maria Legault 