I moved to the NWT in Februray 2010 with my partner, Rob, who accepted a one-year assignment with Parks Canada. It was a big leap of faith for me. I was finally starting to get myself settled into a career of teaching Geography and Science in Ottawa, and I was loving it. But sometimes you need to follow your heart, and this is what I did.
While I was disappointed at first not to have been able to crack into the public school system here, I just recently landed a dream job with the Aurora Research Institute. Part of my responsibilities will be teaching at Aurora College with the Environment and Natural Resource Technology Program (my background is Environmental Science and Watershed Management), as well as a Teacher Education Program, (which is associated with the University of Saskatchewan B. Ed.). The other part will be conducting and supporting research in the region. I'm pretty excited and hoping I will be able to make some sort of contribution.
The name of this blog, 'A Year in Smith' is a bit of a play on the old adage that once people move to the North, they have a hard time leaving. We came under the premise of being here for a year, and we've already decided to extend... while there are many things I miss about 'the south' already (mostly family and friends), there are a lot of great things that this place has to offer and we definitely plan on making the most of our time here.
This blog isn't about what I do every day, how I'm feeling, what we eat or what I am reading -- unless it has something to do with our experiences in the north. So, don't expect to be hearing from me every day unless we're doing a lot of exploring and learning.
Finally, please don't be shy with questions, comments, suggestions and ideas... I look forward to hearing from you one way or the other,
Sarah
Posts
