Resolutions and Such - Happy 2013

Well, 2013 is finally here and the fine folks at Grant MacEwan University decided it would be super awesome to have classes start January 2.  Holiday schmoliday!  Let's crack those books, people!

I have yet to calculate the full damage that those books will inflict on my wallet but I'm hoping that through some student networking I'll be able to beat the bookstore and escape with some savings.  Alas, ranting about textbooks is a post for another day...

It's new year's resolution time!  While I'd love to be able to say that I plan on droping a couple of Christmas-related pounds, those who know me know this just ain't gonna happen.  So I'm going in a new direction this year.  I've been working on this for a while now but I've decided that in 2013 I'm going to make an extra effort to get outside of my comfort zone more often.  Over the last couple of months, I've become really conscious of how people seem to operate inside of their own little bubbles - hanging out with the same people with the same opinions, listening to the same music, parroting back the same ideas.  It feels like there is just way too much group think going on.

Part of what's exciting about being back at school is the opportunity to expand and refresh my own bubble with new people and ideas.  This does have some serious limitations though.  University itself is a giant bubble.  The exciting things that get talked about in class sometimes don't work in real life and sometimes I find myself wondering if the context of some of my class discussions would be different if there was more diversity in the room.  Things sometimes seem to have a sheen of bourgeois about them, if you know what I mean (cough, rich kid problems, cough).

So this year, I'm going to make a more concentrated effort to get outside of my bubble on a more regular basis.  As a creature of habit, this is harder than it sounds.  I'm hoping that some of my volunteer and extra-curricular activities help me in this but I know it's going to take some effort to get outside of my comfort zone and confront my own biases when they rear their ugly heads.

If I happen to get some exercise out of it, I'll consider it a bonus.