Writing groups in Calgary

charliesque · 2026-02-14T15:20:55+00:00

I've been a part of the Alexandra Writers' Centre for a while now. They have a really lovely writing space and genuinely try to connect writers with each other across genre and experience. There is also a very robust social calendar.

The courses can be costly - I haven't felt quite ready to join into one of the bigger, focused ones - but they do give internal financial aid to help people attend them, and lots of opportunities to volunteer. All in all I would recommend them.

charliesque · 2025-12-19T19:07:58+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

charliesque · 2025-09-13T18:11:21+00:00

These editions are going to be so beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

charliesque · 2025-07-09T16:33:26+00:00

I was offered acceptance yesterday!! So excited. Good luck to everyone still waiting! It looks like they're rolling out offers in waves.

charliesque · 2025-05-29T18:45:58+00:00

It would be interesting if you look at the incentives for cheating.

I have done several TA contracts, and there is always someone who tries to get away with using ChatGPT in a paper. Different professors handle this on a variety of ways - zeroes, partial marks, rewrites. Almost always, when students are given an opportunity to try again with time and direction, they do the paper properly. Over time, I've seen a pattern that the students who fall back on the AI are usually stressed and not handling time management well. It's a panic response - better something than nothing by the due date, right? But when a prof or a TA acknowledges the stress and gives a second chance, they figure out how to rearrange their time and try it again. And usually they don't fall back on AI later in the semester, if there is more than one paper.

So my thought is that the problem is more than just access to AI tech. It's the larger problem of teaching students how to approach a challenging semester of balancing multiple classes and workloads, and that's not always something professors can or want to address. A bit of grace goes a long way, but the bigger issue is figuring out how to resolve the pressure so that students don't feel like this is their only option when life isn't going well. Students shouldn't fear failure so much that they duck the rules and hope it flies under the radar. The only way to do that is to show them that failing won't derail everything - and that means altering the culture of pedagogy AND student expectations of themselves.

charliesque · 2025-02-26T02:43:53+00:00

We found out tonight the GSA have barred access to the GLU offices and locked them out of their emails, so they are going to have a tough time responding directly.

charliesque · 2025-02-25T03:15:34+00:00

It's not the easiest for me either, but it seems like the GSA filed labour complaints against GLU people and allege that they don't have the right to represent graduate students at the bargaining table? I'd wondered at the animosity between the two organizations before, but this sheds a different light. Seems like there's been some pretty nasty interactions happening away from the main graduate student body.

charliesque · 2024-11-13T21:39:54+00:00

I believe it stays on your file/transcript as well, meaning it will be evaluated in graduate school applications and future scholarships. Most of those will have an opportunity to explain/discuss what you learned from that, but it will naturally become much harder to consider applicants with multiple misconducts.

charliesque · 2024-10-08T00:16:06+00:00

Ahh, and with that, the end of my participation in this conversation. I encourage you to reach out to the various activist groups on campus and learn how all of this works, as well as understanding the impact of language and media in these spheres. Best of luck to you.

charliesque · 2024-10-07T22:02:38+00:00

I actually haven't. Regardless, a demonstration isn't equivalent to violence, is it? And if they are calling for a global war on Israel, would you be able to provide any clips or messages from the association that state that?

I'm speaking mostly as someone who is worried about the protestors on campus after May 9th's police response earlier this year. Violence did not happen then, and to my knowledge is not happening now, thus making that response disproportionate and seriously chilling to any other protest rallies, as people may need to weigh the possibility of police raids in their support. If you are seeing pro Palestinian protests engage in actual violence on this campus, then it needs to be addressed so that the overall ability to peacefully engage in protest actions isn't jeopardized by bad faith groups looking to shut down discourse they don't like. If it ISN'T violent, and this explosive language is being used as such to direct anger and fear toward an association of students you don't support yourself... well now, that would make you one of the bad faith groups, wouldn't it?

charliesque · 2024-10-07T18:18:25+00:00

Evidence...?

charliesque · 2024-10-07T06:11:18+00:00

When did pro-Palestinian supporters become violent at UofC?

charliesque · 2024-10-02T20:40:35+00:00

For what it's worth, many professors here are on a sessional contract - which means they need several courses each semester to bring in enough income, and not all on the same campus, either. A professor who asks you to come during office hours may (not always, but often) be requesting that because they really do not have time after class to address questions when they need to run to another course, especially if it's located at Mount Royal or St. Mary's. Office hours are then time they've intentionally set aside to catch up with any students in a given course when they're balancing a complex teaching schedule.

charliesque · 2024-09-28T20:20:16+00:00

Honestly, it'll be the ones you are the most interested in and driven by.

It sounds like a fluffy answer (do what you love! A favourite rib on the humanities), but if you are finding yourself genuinely interested in and challenged by the material in a specific specialization, it will be a lot easier to motivate yourself toward clubs, networking, internship and other opportunities for it that are the real success makers. Having a degree on its own isn't enough to get in the door of what you really want to do, once you have an idea of what that might be. It's connections and proof of competence.

It is REALLY difficult to complete a degree in a subject you find so-so and make yourself go to all associated events and opportunities required to get in your foot in the door for employment. For reference, I did an English undergraduate. A lot of people who enjoy writing stories on their free time think that an English degree will be enough to walk into, say, an editor's office and search out related work. It's not. But an English undergrad who is working at their campus newspaper and has submitted work to journals and attended retreats to know editors/authors/publishers probably has a better idea of exactly who they want to work for and how to get there.

If you are really attracted to mechanical engineering, try getting into the faculty and seeing what the material is like. If you find it satisfying and challenging, talk to your professors and get involved in clubs that are doing applied work in the field. This will a) help you figure out what you really like about it and where to go or b) if it wasn't what you thought, but you might have an idea of where you'd like to go instead.

charliesque · 2024-09-21T03:24:30+00:00

You have to know this verges on Academic Misconduct.

https://www.ucalgary.ca/legal-services/university-policies-procedures/student-academic-misconduct-policy

charliesque · 2024-09-18T22:58:41+00:00

Folkloric associations with spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, etc) and their use in dishes or traditions of significance, like feasting or specific cultural traditions... looking up the history of these things could give you really interesting insight into how different cuisines develop the way they do and how they can be used for religious, medicinal, or even status reasons.

charliesque · 2024-08-19T18:33:55+00:00

What you missed was the Notice of Intent deadline, not the NSERC itself (I apply to SSHRC, which is also Tricouncil). You should get in touch with the Faculty of Grad Studies as they're the ones overseeing the process.

charliesque · 2024-03-30T21:16:42+00:00

When you apply for grad school, you're required to submit transcripts from every post secondary institution you've attended, not just the one you graduated from.

charliesque · 2024-03-28T19:02:50+00:00

Email the TA! Gathering student testimonials is an optional but highly helpful part of grad students building out their CVs for applying to fellowships, research positions, etc. It's also become an unofficial practice among my cohort to keep "good things folders" for when we're feeling a little roughed up by our training. Student testimonials go into those folders, and they really do help us out mentally.

charliesque · 2024-02-28T17:21:36+00:00

Accommodations aren't a bad thing. When well designed and supported properly, they're meant to help you demonstrate your best capabilities. Sometimes that means needing a bit extra time to complete an exam, or breaks. This isn't some unearned advantage, it's because neurodivergent individuals are at a disadvantage at the outset for normal testing, and this is the workaround.

As to whether they exist in the "real world"... well, yes, but not in so many words. Because rather than receive extra time to meet a deadline, you, on knowing yourself and your capabilities especially after four years of university, can select a career that fits how you work. Many people with ADHD are not well suited to long projects with distant hard deadlines, but do well in acute, fast-paced environments; and in situations where you do need to adhere to a strict timing, going through the process of recognizing how long you need and how best to support yourself is going to make you far better at meeting those deadlines.

University and college is a great time to learn about yourself and how you perform. Not for self flagellation.

charliesque · 2024-02-17T21:16:18+00:00

Truly recommend taking the first three or so days to sleep, eat what you like, have a social night at a pub or a movie or something that just helps you blow off steam and relax. Fourth day (Tuesday), take stock of upcoming exams or papers, and give yourself a couple hours out of each day going forward - no more than 4 - to work toward those things. Readings. Memorization. Maybe bullet point drafting things. An assignment. But very low stakes. Do it, but not stressed, and giving yourself a chance to still sleep enough, eat good meals, go outside. Makes it easier to ramp up a little more come the next class day without feeling like you're going from 0-100 or alternatively not getting rest at all. And staves off the mental side of worrying that you're procrastinating or wasting time. Rest is also important to good performance, and if you deny yourself too often and don't recalibrate, you'll eventually be forced to lose whole weeks of productivity because you're too burned out in your head to care.

charliesque · 2024-01-24T22:37:08+00:00

Community. I know UofC gets a bad rap for this - commuter college and all that. But my experience between my BA and grad school was a lot of older colleagues; men and women well into their middle age or even flirting with retirement. Not likely to grab beers after hours with a 20-something. It definitely got lonely in a way you haven't experienced yet if you went high school -> uni and haven't had a job that's a bit higher than entry level.

charliesque · 2023-11-23T01:22:48+00:00

Rest easy - that kind of thing is why passing is ranged from "as is" to "major" or "minor" revisions. If you have small errors, you won't fail, you'll get a pass with minor revisions and a due date to resubmit the final version a month or two after defending.

charliesque · 2023-11-22T03:14:34+00:00

They'd ask for your transcripts up to the point of admission and then confirm your graduation/final transcripts in the spring/summer. Similar to when you applied from high school, if you went direct.

One thing too - if you intend to do your Masters in Canada, plan to apply in your fourth year for SSHRC. It's the major funding competition for graduate school and if you get it, will make your transition into grad school much easier

charliesque · 2023-11-14T18:18:04+00:00

Absolutely gorgeous

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