Faith in all things; Including science

I wrote this for an elective course in college. It is a philosophy course, disguised as a history course. Hahaha. However, the first few weeks of the class we talked about evolution incessantly. Our professor asked us what stuck out about the course, so I let him know.

This was the result of that assignment.

Small disclaimer: This is merely my own speculation and should be reflected upon as such. 

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There was a time that I felt extremely conflicted when presented with the idea of evolution. It seemed from a young age, that I feared facing this internal conflict for my entire life. It was logical to me that evolution could be the explanation of how the earth came to be. However, the conflict came from my own heart and my faith, which told me that God created the earth in His plan for us. Science and history classes taught me that the globe itself formed from some miraculous coincidence. Jared Diamond (1997) is one of the many that propose that we, as humans, emerged from apes and chimps. How could God and those around me expect me to hold true to the feelings of my heart while still listening to the logic in my head? It seemed that the two ideas were incessantly at war with one another.

I once had a discussion with an individual about my confusion on the topic. He suggested that perhaps evolution was simply the explanation of how the earth was created, but that God was why it happened. Perhaps the 7 days that are portrayed in our scriptures were only creative periods, as the measurement of time was not invented by God, but by humans. Perhaps, what was written in many religious texts were tailor made for the people of that time. Could it be that the writers of these creation myths were inspired in this way, for the purpose of the people who would hear it first, so that they could receive it in their hearts and understand it in their minds?

The suggestion was shocking and was an idea that I found to be perplexing. I had never thought that maybe, faith and science could peacefully coexist. I then read in a religious text, “[God] will tell you in your mind and in your heart.” (Doctrine & Covenants 8:2) This passage brought peace to the war that I found myself in on a regular basis.

With this thought of congruity in mind, it would be absolutely illogical to me that God created human beings in the blink of an eye. It would also be illogical to me to think that the world generated itself and all of its inhabitants by opportune happenstance.

Something that I have struggled with since adopting this perspective is how other people of faith do not share this idea of balance between reason and faith. It is confounding to me that individuals can rely solely on faith or solely on reason. While I see the appeal to a strictly science diet, there are still things that have yet to be explained. There are still miracles today, because they are inexplicable to us, even after our vast scientific discoveries that have transpired over the past thousand years.

Nonetheless, I see the appeal in a strictly faith diet, but some of the once inexplicable happenstances have been explained through experimentation and scientific evidence. This evidence does not make your faith or beliefs in a deity any less real. Faith’s purpose is to bridge the gap between these occurrences that we cannot explain and that our limited, human minds cannot comprehend. Faith can be used to help us come to appreciate the sophistication of the evolution theory. The evolution theory can help us appreciate the complexity of the workings of God.

I have realized through my participation in this class, that while I do identify as a devout Christian, I have begun to consider that the theory of evolution may be a possible explanation as to how the earth came to fruition.



What are your thoughts?

Thanks to The Help

I identify as a minority in many ways. I am a woman. I am a French Canadian. I am a Mormon. But there is one prejudice that being myself, I will never truly or fully understand; being a woman of colour.

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I must express how deeply moving this novel was. I know from reading the acknowledgements that this book, the characters and the stories it holds are wholly fictitious. However, the lives that are depicted in this novel was at one time reality. There were many women whose lives were very similar to those portrayed in this novel and I cannot stop myself from marvelling at their tolerance, strength and patience.

When reading the novel, I couldn't help but feel ashamed of the colour of my skin. Knowing that people can associate me to this shallow, unintelligent group left me grieving. Knowing that people could take one look at me and assume that I would treat them harshly. I realized at that moment that I would only ever understand a fraction of what it was like to be a coloured woman in the 1960s. I would only understand a smaller fraction of what it is like to be a coloured woman today. I know that there are still people out there who truly believe that white people are above all others. This is not the case. We are all created equal.

I know that this all seems extremely insincere coming from someone who has never been sneered at or had a slur thrown in my direction... But I will never be the one to smirk or give the disapproving look.

While we cannot change what people think of us, we can change what people see in us. We can be better, kinder, compassionate and loving. One of my favourite parts of the book, Aibileen is trying to teach the little white girl she looks after a lesson on being a good person. She wraps two candies. One in a white wrapper, one in a brown wrapper. She explains to the little girl that regardless of what is on the outside, the inside can still be good.

How simple life is when seen through the eyes of a child.

While I cannot change the past, there is so much I want to change about our future. Please read this book and when you go to speak ill or judge another person, stop it. Just stop.

Finding our humanity

I have been taking the bus for the past week and a half after getting into a bit of an accident with my mom's car. (I'm posting more details on this later this week or next week... Even though I hate talking about it...) I get really anxious when my stop comes up and get in a bit of a rush every time it's approaching. Missing my stop would mean not catching my transfer and subsequently, not making it to work on time. Which according to my boss can lead to termination. UH OH! Don't want any of that.

So in my rush yesterday to get to work on time and not to miss my transfer, I left my gloves on the bus in the chair next to me. I had placed them under my backpack when I sat down originally and hadn't noticed them there when I stood up to get off. 

Now for the past couple of days, it has been FREEZING. The thought of going without my gloves makes me cringe. But luckily for me, there was a very kind heart on my bus yesterday. She was getting off at my stop and came up behind me and handed me my gloves. She just said, "You left these on the bus." And walked away. I was completely awestruck. "Oh my gosh! Thank you!" I had nothing else I could say before she ran off to catch her bus.

To the woman who returned my gloves and made my day, thank you! For restoring my faith in humanity. That there are still good people out there and that I'm not alone in my efforts to be a good person. 

To everyone else, I saw a video yesterday that has been resonating within me since I saw it. Anyone who has any kind of social networking account knows the name Kony. That everyone is trying to make him famous. But why? To find out, please watch the video I'm posting below. Whether you feel that these efforts are a day late and a dollar short or that they are exactly what this world needs. It is never too late to educate yourself.

I've seen many people concerned that the issue is no longer prevalent... Well, guess what? This is history repeating itself. We took too long to act in Poland, too long to act in Rwanda, too long in Russia, too long to act too many times. Too often citizens of this planet were too late to offer their resources to aid another. There is even the Black War which has been considered by many to be the most effectively executed genocide. Because it happened and to this day, few people know about it. 

This time there are people active and willing to help those affected by this group. There are people who will listen. There are ways to get the news out there. While we can't all devote our lives to this cause, we can make change by supporting those who are working to make the difference. 

The thing that I loved most about this video was that through the eyes of Gavin, the young boy, there is absolutely no reason that we shouldn't stop this man. I could not agree with him more. We need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. And if you didn't have one before, why not take on this one?

I've bought my action kit and I'm waiting for it in the mail. I hope that you'll all do the same. Buy it here.

January: A Summary

My life has become so hectic. I don't even know when it got so busy. Or the last time that I was this busy.

Regardless, this month didn't do so well on my goals. Let's review.

17. Read 15 general conference talks - No... I have been reading my Book of Mormon though!
97. See 2 “cultured” events in Toronto - YES! See posts on this soon!
87. Write myself a letter to open in 10 years - No, although I feel that this would be appropriate to do soon.
80. Replace the photos in my room with new ones - I'm going to start collecting photos for this today.
70. Reverse pick-pocket someone - No...
59. Get my G license - I tried to set my appointment but it won't work on my MacBook for some reason...
29. Stop having fast food for a month - This FAILED. I love fast food.. Dang it! But I did cut down a lot. Maybe next month?
30. Drink only water, real fruit juice and milk for a month - YES!
38. Make a ridiculously good-looking dessert - No.
39. Direct a piece in choir that I love - I have the music, now just to actually do it! I'm so excited!
32. Sign my organ donor card - I really need to do this. I've been watching Grey's anatomy and I really, really want to do it.

The 2 Yes's of this month will have posts done for them... This week? I hope!

My days are just so filled lately. I work at noon everyday and then get off at 7:30pm... It's late, I know. I have the whole morning to blog and what not. But I've been going to the gym (and seeing results!!!) and then getting ready for work. I like to take things easy in the morning, it's just nicer that way. 

Some exciting news/events/etc from this month:

1. My ears are almost healed. Which means that soon enough I will (finally) get to wear the Swarovski earrings my sister got me for Christmas! I am so excited about this.

2. I've been going to the gym almost every day of the week. And I can see that I'm losing weight. Now the scale is not showing it yet. But seeing the inches go is just as fun! Any tips on workouts and fat burn? I need to work on my diet this month... I seriously just eat whatever I want, as much as I want, whenever I want it. Which, in case you didn't know, is usually not good for your body.

3. I got my photos! The ones I came home from Ottawa to take way back in August. They are so freaking beautiful. I can't even pretend that I don't think so. I just want to stare at myself all day long... I'm so vain.

4. I am planning a trip to Arizona for the summer. I have a jar full of cash that is hot glued shut. I am so serious about this trip. I am so excited!

5. I am going to school in the fall! I've been accepted to not one, but two colleges. So the way my educational path is looking right now... 2 years of college. Followed by an advance standing in university. Ideally starting there in a 3rd year of a Social Work program. Then a Master's. Then EMPLOYMENT! I am going to be so poor... Oh my goodness.

6. I got my hair done! After taking photos, I realized how much longer it is now than it used to be... See photos below:

Then. Note: So much shorter!

Now. P.S. Am I the only one who can see that I've lost weight in my face? Is that just me? SO EXCITING!

I just thought I would catch you all up on my life. 

So now, I just have to commit to blogging more often. And let's bring back funny fridays. Oh my goodness, I miss those.

Have a great weekend!

My current employment status...

Last summer, after I finished working at Canada's Wonderland I spent months only working part-time at Cineplex Odeon. My parents were less then impressed with this. There were countless arguments about my employment, wasting time, not making enough money, etc. So this year, when the lifeguarding season came to a close... I was extremely nervous. I didn't want to be in the same position that I was last year.

So, I've been applying to every job I could find. I finally got a call from a hiring agency last week who set up an interview for friday afternoon. This was the day of the Jack & Jill I had been planning for Brittany and her fiancé, Brandon. I was stressed about how the interview would go, how the party would go and how I would ever have the time to do everything I had to, now that I had an interview. But of course, I went. I expected to be there for about an hour. I was there for THREE HOURS. I did some testing on their computer for typing speed, call handling and a bunch of other random stuff that I can't even remember. I left feeling really good about it. 

Monday afternoon, I received a call from the woman who had conducted the 3 hour interview on friday and told me that I needed to call a representative to have an assessment of my bilingual skills. I've done a fair few of these assessments and usually they get you to read and write some stuff and make sure that you're coherent in the language. I called this man on my cell phone while I was parked in a Price Chopper's lot and he asked me where I learned my french. I explained that my mom was born and raised in Cornwall. So, she had learned french in her home and community. She thought it would be beneficial for her children to learn french. All of us were placed in a french speaking school and when I reached high school, I went to the local french immersion program. We ended the conversation and that was that.

Apparently he told the hiring agency that he thought I had better french then him. Best feeling ever! (Because I was totally thinking it when I was talking to him on the phone.) The hiring agency decided to set up an interview with the company on Wednesday. I went expecting a 30-40 minute interview, another 3 hours later...

I was hired and filling out papers!

The job itself is at a call centre, which I know kind of sucks, but because I speak french I make 2 dollars more then everyone else. (THANKS MOM!) My mom works at a call centre for Pitney Bowes and she's been there for 3 years. I figure I won't be there for anywhere close to that long, but it'll make me some great money for school.

Anyways, that's the big news with me.
October 6th is my first day, wish me luck!

What comes next?

I've come to terms with the fact that I won't be attending university in the fall... But what am I to do now? It seems that it is near impossible for me to find a job that works with my talents or skills, or just a full time job in general. I don't know if I should temporarily give up on the university aspiration and just go to college for Social Work. Perhaps, take more night school courses, summer school courses... I feel like I'm sitting at a crossroads with no map, or guidance.

I don't doubt good things will happen in my life... I'm just wondering what I should be doing to get to the greatness. I know I have potential, but how do I reach it. I feel like I'm being wasted as a human resource. There are so many things that I want to achieve and it feels like there is opposition in every direction.

So, I'm broadcasting to anyone within the realms of facebook, blogger and twitter...


What do you think I should do next? 

P.S. You can ALL comment on the actual blog, just make sure you're not commenting anonymously. Fill in your name before you submit your comment!

8. Get into university

Completed: May 8, 2010

The Application:
I submitted my university application on December 12, 2009. I was nervous. I had applied to Western, Huron, McMaster and Laurier. My number one school was Western, I wanted to live on the main campus but getting into Huron would have been nice too. I applied a month before the deadline so that I would have lots of time to get any extra-assignments done. It was a fool proof plan, and I was ready to leave high school forever. 

A facebook status update was obviously appropriate for such a momentous occasion!

The Waiting:
This part of the process was definitely the worst. It took me 4-5 months to hear ANYTHING from the universities I had applied to. There were days where I thought that they had not even considered me and that with the look of my name they put my application through the shredder. Other days where I believed that they were holding my acceptance letter from me to watch me squirm.

I went on this website every day... Nothing was different. Ever.

I was beginning to get impatient and antsy by March when other people had started to receive their acceptances. But I was sure I would get in... Somewhere. I was stressed out all the time, and I probably cried once a week. My poor family had to deal with my emotional roller coaster. They were so patient.
Now let me tell you the golden rule:

Grade Twelve + University Applications = Not For The Faint Hearted. 

The Acceptance:
I got accepted to Wilfrid Laurier University on May 8, 2010. I had just got home from a night out with some great, supportive friends. We had even talked about my university application that night. When I got home at about 1am, I did the usual nightly routine: checking my OUAC. I expected it to be the same as it had been for the last couple months. But next to Laurier's application there was a small word. Offer. I had been accepted. I screamed, danced and jumped in my room. It was a tad ridiculous.

I immediately ran into my parents room and shook them awake to tell them the great news. My mom was terrified. I think she may have thought she was being robbed. I have no idea. But I told her with a huge smile on my face, "I GOT ACCEPTED TO UNIVERSITY!" Her response was, "That's great, hunny..." She rolled over and went back to sleep. I ran back to my room, picked up my phone and called my best friend, Dan. He normally would not be awake, but he had been texting me about 2 minutes prior to my discovery. I screamed through the phone. He congratulated me and told me he was proud of me. Probably one of the best feelings ever. I hung up the phone with Dan and proceeded to text about 20 other people. One of my friends told me to come over to his house so we could write a song together... He was definitely a little drunk. It was also 2am at this point. So, I decided against it. I went to sleep that night with a huge smile on my face. I was sleeping on cloud nine that night.

This was after my orientation session in the summer.

I told everyone who would listen about my acceptance. Which made things even more complicated when life's next hurtle was placed before me...

The Rescinding:

I had received a letter in the mail from Wilfrid Laurier about my offer of admission possibly being rescinded because my average was not in fact 70%, as it had to be to meet the conditions of my offer. I later recalculated it to be sitting at a 69.8333333%. If I had had 1% more in any of my four second semester courses, I would have had 70%. The letter had made me nervous, but one of my teachers in high school assured the entire class that those letters didn't mean much, usually if you just called them, they would fix the issue without any delay. So, I procrastinated calling them until after I got home from my summer vacation. When I called them, the lady on the phone told me that the decision would be placed in the hands of my faculty. My heart was in the pit of my stomach. But there was nothing I could do at this point, summer school was over. I was working full time at Wonderland as a lifeguard.

About a week later, I received an e-mail from the university while I was on break at Wonderland. It was titled "Laurier Offer of Admission".

Dear Julie: 

Now that all final grades., including summer school grades, have been received, the Faculty of Arts has determined that there is no space available. As a result they have decided not to waive the minimum final requirement of 70%. Therefore we will be rescinding your Offer of Admission this week. Please respond confirming your receipt and understanding of this email.

Best wishes in your future endeavours,

Laurier Admissions

My offer had been rescinded. It gave me a phone number to call if I had any questions. A later email told me not to come on the move in day that I had been assigned. I didn't know what to do. Which really means, I cried. I called my dad's cell phone and he didn't answer. Brittany had just come home from China a few days before, so I called her. This was the moment that I was probably most grateful for our friendship. She told me everything would be okay, to stop crying because she knew that I was, to get through the rest of my shift and to call her later. I'm pretty sure everyone who walked by me thought I was insane. Crying at work.

After my break was over, I went back to guarding. Luckily, I was on one of the easiest positions because it took everything inside of me not to break down. Every couple of minutes, I could feel the tears coming up. I went home that night, extremely discouraged. My parents were waiting for me when I got home. I got big hugs and words of encouragement. They told me that I didn't need to tell anyone why I wasn't going to school in the fall, I could just say that I'm taking a year off. I decided that that was best. I then called my other best friend, Dan, who I had called when I got the acceptance. He was just as shocked as I was. He too was very supportive.

What Now?
People still ask me why I'm not in university, sometimes I say that I decided to take a year off and to others I tell them this story. I often reflect on all the things I could have done differently to be where I wanted to be right now. But I know that there is nothing I can do now, and I just have to live with the consequences of my actions (or lack thereof). 

Shannon and I at our high school graduation. 

I still count this as accomplishing my goal, because I did get in. I had even picked my courses! I ended up taking a night school course and upgrading my english mark to an 83%. Even though I haven't gone to university, I know that getting an education is the most important thing that anyone can do. So I still plan on going to university... But it's not going to be done at Wilfrid Laurier University.

9. A minimum of a 75% average

Completed: April 29, 2010
I have a confession to make: I am a procrastinator.

I will procrastinate everything until the last possible moment. That is probably why I had such bad marks all through high school, everything was handed in late because I would underestimate the amount of time that it would take me to do an assignment. This is one of the reasons I am so glad I'm not in university right now. Here are some of the things I am good at as a student...

- Keeping track of all the assignments I have due: My parents would always ask me when I was in high school, "Julie, what projects do you need to do and when are they due?" I would be able to just list my to do list forever. Which leads to my downfall: nightly homework or readings. I can never keep track of those. Also, when I start thinking about all of the assignments I have due I will freak out and just do none of them. Why? I don't know. My brain will just freeze and I'll go into hibernation, this includes staring into the fridge for long periods of time, eating too much yogurt and sleeping ridiculous hours.

- Studying for exams: I make MEAN exam reviews. When the teacher says "I'm going to go through the exam with you guys today." That is probably the moment that the teacher has my most undivided attention. Why wouldn't I? It's an easy A+! Tests are always tricky, and most teachers will just say "Look over your notes for Unit 3." HA! I wasn't listening. Guaranteed 50% on that test. Once a teacher gave us an extensive exam review that my study notes were 17 pages. Typed. Did I mention that I found no answers for that review in my notes? It was all in my text book.

- Presentations: I am extremely comfortable standing in front of a group of people and offering them my opinions. Usually, with this comfort comes procrastination. I can whip together an A or B+ presentation in an hour. It's honestly one of my favourite talents as a student. I feel bad when people go up to do a presentation and you can tell they are nervous because they're shaking like a drug fiend who just quit, cold turkey. They are continuously look at their queue cards/power point and NEVER look at the audience.

I was this guy...

When I made this goal, my intention was for it to realize when I was in university (note: procrastinated). I knew that with the marks I had, and my general lack of student skills, that I would never be able to achieve this. Boy, was I wrong. In the second semester of grade 12, I knew that with the awful average of 65%, I would never get into the university of my dreams (The University of Western Ontario). So I needed to get good marks, the best I had ever had. I remember one night, I got home from school, did some reading for a class, went to work, got home at about midnight, did an assignment until 3am, went to sleep, woke up at 5am finished the assignment, went to seminary, got home from seminary, proofread the assignment, got ready for school, printed it off and went to class. I felt like my life was a constant never ending to do list.

My so-called life.

This is beyond accurate. Every time I look at it I think of how difficult it was, actually doing my school work in high school. I also had a lot of things on my plate outside of school, I was a leader in my youth group which required me to attend all the activities and occasionally help out with planning. I had a part time job at the movie theatre, I usually worked about 15 hours a week. I went to seminary (mostly) every morning from 6:30am - 7:30am... And somehow, for my midterm, I had an 80% average. Not only did I complete this goal, I surpassed the expectation I set for myself. And after that triumphant 80%, I slacked off and my average plummeted.

Regardless, I had never had an 80% average in high school before that moment and let me tell you, it was exhilarating... For the few months that I had it. I must admit, I much preferred slacking off and being well rested. I love sleep!

10. Take a Recreational Class

Completed: April 1, 2010
After I made this list, my parents showed their support in many ways by incorporating my goals into family outings and by offering to pay for my recreational class. They put a catalogue in front of me and told me to pick a class. I saw a "learn to run" class and felt that that would be the best because I have another goal to run 5km without stopping. 

I wanted to be this girl...

Just go running every day after school, let out that pent up energy. So, I signed up for the class. Little did I know, the people taking this class would be nowhere near my age and that they would make me feel very in shape. 

They were running a lot more like this. It was a little disheartening to see that this class was going to be a mommy club with the teen tag along. I also missed the first class because I was still in Utah. But all in all, I loved the running class and I learned a lot. Running is a great way to stay in shape, but I think I'm going to try roller blading this year. I went a while ago to an arena with some friends, and I totally loved it! The only thing that kind of sucked was that I was in jeans so it was impossible to really get into it. So this summer, I'll be this guy... 

Just kidding. But I'm excited to have good enough weather to start rollerblading!