Academics & Challenges

ACADEMICS

My entire post-secondary education, including living expenses, was funded by scholarships and bursaries. Completing each milestone paved the way for the next. Some of those educational milestones include:

     BSc: Dean's Gold Medal in Science; University of Alberta; 1968

     History of Art: Bursary; University of Alberta; 1968

     Diploma of Education: University of Alberta; 1968

     Doctorate Studies in Oceanography; Dalhousie University; 1970-72

     Faulty Associate and Associate Professor (Simon Fraser

          University): Trained future teachers and instructed Science 

          Methodology course; 1972-74

     Certified Fitness Instructor, Kinesiology; Simon Fraser University, 

          British Columbia; 1975

     Certified Western Coach, Master Course Conductor, and Western 

          Judge; Equine Canada

     VOM Certified Equine Therapist

My education was a gift. But it never replaced my annual challenges. My life experiences were, and still are, more important than my academic degrees. They taught me how to solve problems.

MY OVERSEAS CHALLENGES: experiencing life between university studies [1968-70]  

My first teaching position was as a CUSO volunteer in Sarawak. During that 2-year posting, I took advantage of the opportunity to explore new terrains and cultures throughout Southeast Asia -- mainly Sarawak, Brunei, Borneo, Malaya, Cambodia, and Thailand. During most of the school breaks, I spent time with various native tribes living deep in the jungles of Sarawak and Borneo. I was chauffeured up the river by the men from the longhouse. The alligators were plentiful. They lay quietly bathing in the sun along the shores of the river. When I arrived at the head-hunters' longhouses, I saw more skulls than I could count. Most of the indigenous natives had never seen a Caucasian before meeting me. They gave me a thorough once-over, standing eye-to-eye, almost touching nose-to-nose, feeling the contours of my forehead, cheeks, and chin, and running their fingers through my hair. I was not surprised that none of my hosts spoke English. I didn't understand a word of their dialect, yet we communicated exceptionally well.  

I continued my annually designated challenges for the two years I lived in Southeast Asia. The first challenge was straightforward. During one of my breaks from teaching, I climbed Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Borneo and Southeast Asia. 

The second challenge was much more challenging than I had expected. With my Iban teacher friend in tow, I started to row our 2-man boat across the China Sea from Sarawak to Singapore. My friend assured me that everything would be okay. He had completed the trip safely a couple of years previously. 

Everything was going as planned until the clock ticked midnight. A storm blew up unexpectedly. WOW! Talk about a storm! Fast and furious! The powerful ice-cold waves pounded and rocked our boat incessantly. The waves almost filled our boat in what seemed like no-time-at-all. I still shiver whenever I think of how cold that water was.

Fortunately, a ship appeared on the distant horizon. My friend and I took turns waving our only lantern. Finally, the boat made a U-turn and headed toward us. It turned out to be a shark-fishing boat. Fortunately, it arrived in the nick of time. We were lifted into the shark boat as we watched our row boat sink to the bottom of the China Sea. The lead hand of the shark boat escorted us to the ship's hull. That was a sight to behold . . .  row on row of dead sharks resting on racks! One of the fishermen wrapped me in a warm, dry blanket and hoisted me to one of the racks. I slept the night away, sandwiched between two monstrous dead sharks. The crew continued their shark-catching expedition for the remainder of the night and the following morning. They delivered my friend and me to the shores of Sarawak in the afternoon. Whew! And I thought hiking the West Coast of Vancouver Island before the path was developed into a trail was challenging!

I took into account that storms were a possibility but misjudged the severity. The next time I visited Singapore, I boarded a ferry!