The cycle continues......Back to School...

So as most would know I am an avid earth and oceans protector.   It is my passion I love the ocean, the world and our animals, and it is my goal to get a job where I can do this or help to protect them in some way.  However the job market in this is impossible and living in London its incredibly hard.  But I try not to let this discourage me.   I apply to every relevant job in the area as well as those outside of the area.   I am pretty proud of my resume and get a good amount of responses to it and positive feedback as well.  So when I do actually get the call for the interview I prepare as best I can and I have had some sketchy ones this past summer.   The last one I went to was for a Team Leader position for a Water Plant.  First of all I have never worked in one, I don't have an operator's certificate that was required and have no manager/supervisor experience (my job experience is limited enough due to the tough field, so how would I gain manager experience).   So that being said I couldn't figure out why I was even called for it, some would say why did you apply for it then, well it was close by and water related I didn't think I stood a a chance but if you apply to these positions that are likely filled internally atleast they know your name in case a position you are more qualified for opens up.    I didn't embelish my resume it says what my real background and skills are.  So anyways I went to the interview, and the receptionist handed me a sheet of questions I would be asked, they were very job specific about water plant maintenance, finance, management, a couple I had no idea and then some that were more genera.  After seeing these I really just wanted to leave but instead I stayed.   There were 4 interviewers writing things down asking questions and me trying to answer and I had to actually say I have no experience in that it was intimidating and hard this went on for about an hour.   But that is not all there was a written component where I was assigned a scenario and had to write a memo, which is hard when you don't know their protocols but I managed to write one.  Then there was a really hard test with a lot of questions about water plant operations and procedures there was lots of chemistry and math and questions about how a plant runs which I had no idea, I am sure I bombed it but I had asked how I could study for it and was told it wouldn't be very hard.  I did my best so not much more I can do.  I also had  a sketchy interview last month what was for a junior taxonomist position at a biological firm, it sounded so perfect what I went to school for.  I knew there would be a test for it involving invertebrates.  I spent days studying for this test and interview I had out all my invert books and notes and did pracitce tests on the internet.  I felt I had prepared.  First of all this firm was located in the basement of somebody's house (not very professional).  After getting into the "lab" I was told to do the test which was a petri dish of invertebrates (mostly bugs), and she expected me to identify them without keys......talk about ridiculous.  So I tried and she told me I was doing well, then she asked me to show her 2 and I was wrong.   Then after that she told me if I didn't know my bugs and would have to relocate she didn't know how to go further than that and did not interview me further.   Talk about rude after driving 2 plus hours to get there she wouldnt even interview me.  It was also 11.00 an hour in a ritzy area of the GTA, to work in a basement who would even do that. 

Anyways, due to frustrations and the fact that I haven't found a permanent job in my field I had applied to go back to school to try to take some upgrades to apply for grad school.   I hope it is the right move, its so hard to break this school-work cycle.  I got into Western and will be taking some geography to go along with my GIS background.   I am going to be taking courses in Biogeography, which seems like a good mix of Biology and Geography, Geomorphology and Hydrology about water systems and cycles, and Geography Research Methods which has projects and qualitative and quantitative methods.  I hope I can do well, although I have biology and GIS I don't really have basic geography but I think that should be fine.  These courses seem relevant to my degree and the type of work I want to pursue and will be good to apply for grad school, that is my plan.  There was only an intro GIS course this term that seems below me the counselor told me I could take it to try to get a good mark but I'm not sure there are some other GIS ones next term that sound more interesting and would expand on my skills.   I also have one course left from my Environmental Conservation Certificate so I am going to take that as well one called Natural Chemicals in the Environment.   Back to school again in order to take more school, call me crazy if you want but I think I need to try. 

Thames River Clean Up at Meadowlilly Woods

Well, I haven't written a blog lately and I thought that I should.  Haven't done a whole lot lately but this week I took part in something that was important to me.  I helped out at a local clean up for the Thames River at Meadowlilly Woods with the Friends of Meadowlilly Woods.  This is a great opportunity to get involved in helping to clean up the local river.   It is quite an eye opener to see what things can be found in the water and along the river bed.   We found lots of scraps of metal, glass, tools, car parts, the usual coffee cups, cans and bottles, pieces of clothing/furniture and even a shopping cart.   I know it could have been a lot worse but it's still pretty bad.  What bothers me the most is how does this trash end up here.  Why are people polluting the river?  They must know its wrong, especially in today's age with all the warnings we have about pollution.   Do people not care about the river or the animals that live in it?   I really don't get how people can still pollute a river this way.  It is just wrong on so many levels.   Do people not understand if they put something in the river it will float further down?  I really want to know how we can prevent people from dumping things into the river.  Do we need more education on water pollution?  Anything dumped into the water will eventually make its way back to us.  Although London's drinking water comes from Lake Erie and Lake Huron, the river eventually drains into these lakes so it is still a concern that it could effect humans through consumption.  Also, indirectly if someone were to catch fish in the Thames and eat it it would have chemicals from the water or if someone went swimming in it too could be harmful if there were toxins.   It just boggles my mind how people can be so careless.   I know that their has been other cleanups and groups doing river clean ups along the Thames which is great and I support it but how can we prevent pollution and dumping all together.  Well maybe we should all do our parts in cleaning up when we walk by the river? Maybe we need steeper fines and better moderation of the river.  Maybe people need more access to the dumps for dumping scraps or more curbside pick up.  Pollution is not good for the animals and plants that live in the river and it degrades water quality which again will affect the drinking water eventually.  You wouldn't want to have to think before you drink, ie think about what could be in the water you're drinking.  So if everyone thought about lawsuits after they pollute maybe they would think twice before dumping trash in the river.