Final Push

Hey everyone.  How is the midterm madness going for you?  It’s March already and we are well into the semester and can see the end is near.  For some it may not be as near if you happen to be unlucky enough that your exam schedule is not finished until late April.  For the most part, my exam schedules have always been pretty decent and finished early.  However, this year I am not done my last exam until the last week of April.  Being my final year and all this seems like a very long drawn out last hurrah!  Out of the six courses I’m taking this semester only one will be having an in-class final exam.  Otherwise, I’m writing five scheduled exams throughout the exam period.  I think even one or two are on a Saturday… bummer.

I think I have mentioned this before but I am looking forward to graduating from Kinesiology and moving on to the next step in my pursuit of a meaningful career in the field.  At this time, things seem to be pointing to me heading into Education for another two years at UofM and then seeking employment as a physical education teacher.  All my application work has been completed and will find out in April if I am accepted into the program.

What are your plans for the summer?  Starting in May I plan to resume working for Dr. Jon McGavock at the Manitoba Institute of Child Health (MICH).  I’ll be reprising my role on the Healthy Buddies project that was rolled out last September in several elementary schools across the province of Manitoba.  This time the team will be revisiting the same schools to perform a follow assessment of student progress in regards to the Healthy Buddies curriculum.  We’ll be measuring their physical activity levels via a standardized shuttle run test, taking anthropometric measurements and assessing their perceptions of healthy eating and self image via questionnaires.  Once the data collection is done, probably by early June, the team will conduct data analysis to determine if positive changes have occurred since September.  If we can show the provincial government some positive results they will have evidence to support implementing the Healthy Buddies program into the curriculum permanently.  I’m hoping Manitoba adopts this initiative because we need to start promoting healthier lifestyles at the grassroots level if we are ever going to see changes in public health (i.e. diabetes and obesity are major issues).