A Tribute to my University Years

April 16, 2013April 16, 2015 / Maria / 2 Comments

This week I’m reaching a milestone. I’m finishing my degree in Civil Engineering! After five years and six work terms, they’re finally letting me graduate! I wanted to take the time to write a little tribute for the last five years and how much I’ve appreciated everything that I’ve experienced throughout my education.

Engineering has definitely been one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding. I had the opportunity to live and work in Malawi and England, and I discovered my huge passion for traveling and international development. I’ve learned so much from all of my work terms and I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many incredible people. I’ve also been lucky to work with a great group at school over the last three years and I’ve made some great friends. We ended the term on a great note last week, finishing up with a presentation on our senior design project presentation. So a special shout-out to my wonderful classmates: Steve, Jess, and Will. We drive each other crazy sometimes, but I still love you all for some reason.

Steve, Jess, Will, and I after completing our final design presentation

Steve, Jess, Will, and I after completing our final design project

After my work terms, the best decision I’ve made was to get involved in on-campus organizations. I’ve worked with Engineers Without Borders for the last five years and I’ve gained more from that experience than from the rest of my engineering degree. I’ve met some incredible people through EWB who have challenged me, coached me, encouraged me, and helped me to grow. I’m glad that I can look back on the work I’ve done with EWB and be really proud of what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve helped other people to accomplish. The MUN Chapter won ‘Volunteer Society of the Year’ last month and I really can’t think of a more deserving group of individuals. I’m so thankful for all of the opportunities that I’ve had through EWB and for the opportunities I believe I will continue to have as a result of what I’ve gained from the experience.

An amazing group of EWBers from the MUN Chapter

I write my last exam tomorrow and on Thursday I get my iron ring. I haven’t lined up a job yet for post-graduation, but I’ve decided not to stress too much about it yet. In the meantime, I do have some pretty awesome plans for the next month. It turns out it’s pretty hard to get me to stay still for too long, so on Friday, Seth and I are heading out on vacation for 4 weeks. This time the destination is Peru!

My key motivation for wanting to go to Peru was to hike Machu Picchu and to visit the Amazon – so that’s exactly what we’re going to do! We’re spending the first 10 days backpacking around Peru, and then we’re going to settle into the tourist capital, Cusco, for the rest of the trip. We’re planning on hiking the Salcantay trail to Machu Picchu for five days and we’re volunteering on a conservation project in Manu National Park in the Amazon for another five days. My goal is to try and write a blog entry for each portion of the trip, so stay tuned!

Beyond that, I’m pretty happy to be finishing my degree and I’m ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. Throughout my time at MUN I’ve learned a lot, made some great friends, and even met my wonderful boyfriend. After Peru, I’m planning to be around Newfoundland for the rest of the summer and I’m hoping to do some road trips around the province. Please give me a call if you’re here this summer. I feel like I have so many people to catch up with and I’d really like to see you!

Love Maria

Changing Rape Culture

March 18, 2013April 17, 2013 / Maria / 4 Comments

I’ve decided to change gears today and to write about something that is hard to write about and hard to talk about. Three things caught my attention today; two young men were found guilty for raping an unconscious girl at a party (see article), a Swiss woman was gang-raped outside a small village in India (see article), and my friend Erin shared with me the fact that rape is the first sexual experience of 20% of Ghanaian women. These things all frustrate me and I think it’s time we talked about them. I’m certainly no expert on rape, but I am tired of the way we talk about (or don’t talk about) rape in our society. I’m tired of a culture that blames the victim and doesn’t talk about sexuality and respect.

As a young female, rape has always been by biggest fear when traveling. When I went to Malawi at 20-years old, my biggest fear was that I was going to find myself in an uncomfortable situation, outside of my control, that might result in rape. When trying to meet new people in London, I was consciously aware of the guys I was meeting and the situations I would put myself in with those guys. When walking back to my flat at night, it was instinct for me to stick to busy streets and I was always intensely aware of my surroundings until I reached the safety of my house. I’m sure I’m not the only female that thinks this way.

I’ve always watched my drinks when I’m out with friends. I’ve always been careful about the company I might attract. I’ve felt a relative amount of security because I thought I never put myself in situations where there was the potential for rape. The problem is that I should never have to think like this. What a woman wears or whether or not a girl is drunk should not constitute an excuse for why she might have been raped. Instead of analyzing the actions of the victim, we need to be talking about a culture where boys don’t see anything wrong with sexually assaulting an unconscious girl; a culture where men feel entitled to sex and where women don’t feel safe walking down the street at night.

The thing that struck me about the cases in the news this week is that they both involved groups of people. The friends of the two football players that raped a girl at a party participated in that crime by not stepping up to help the young girl, by laughing at her shame, and filming as she was assaulted. On two different occasions, groups of men in India got together and thought it was acceptable to gang rape a woman on vacation with her husband and to sexually and physically assault a young student on a bus (see article). 20% on Ghanaian women should not be dealing with rape as their first sexual experience. Clearly we are living in a society that doesn’t talk about equality, respect, and sexual expression.

I know ranting about rape culture is not very effective, but if we’re ever going to change it, we need to start talking about it. Advising women on how to be safe and not get raped is not addressing the causes for why it happens. Engineers Without Borders put a lot of focus on gender representation for International Women’s Day this month and it got me thinking about the inequalities that exist within my own profession and the way that we address (and ignore) gender within our respective cultures. Our overseas partner Erin Aylward wrote a great blog on how we’re not afraid of changing culture, but of addressing the deep-rooted issues that result in that culture.

To finish, this is a completely different type of blog for me and it was difficult to write. However, I’ve always felt that my voice does have power and that it’s important to share it, even if I’m not that eloquent. While the circumstances that started the discussion are awful, I’m hopeful about the conversation that has resulted from it. I hope we can keep talking about it and I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Maria

Home Sweet Home

March 5, 2013June 12, 2013 / Maria / 2 Comments

I’ve been in to the mood to write lately, but since I haven’t been traveling, I’ve been at a bit of a loss for what to write about. Then it occurred to me that I’ve never blogged about one of the most beautiful places I’ve been, my home province of Newfoundland! This past summer, Seth and I drove across the province to visit Gros Morne National Park and to visit my grandparents in Corner Brook, so I decided to write about home for a change.

Driving across Newfoundland often makes me wonder why I feel the need to go chasing new sights all over the world when I already live in one of the most beautiful countries, and certainly the most beautiful province, in the world! I love all the rolling hills and lakes on the east side of the province, driving through outport fishing communities, and finally, the mountainous west coast of the island.

Walking around Berry Hill Pond

For those of you not from Newfoundland, Gros Morne National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site on the west coast of Newfoundland. The Long Range Mountains, part of the Appalachian mountain chain, run right through the park. The park is particularly famous for the beautiful fjord, Western Brook Pond, which was carved by glaciers during the last ice age. In addition to many glacial valleys, the park is also home to the Tablelands, a long section of the earth’s mantle that was overturned by plate collisions more than 100 million years ago. To top it off, the park is located right along the coast and boasts beautiful ocean views along with a huge variety of wildlife. I don’t know how else to sell it to you; it’s seriously one of the most beautiful places!

Green Gardens Hiking Trail

We spent the majority of our time in Gros Morne hiking. There are so many trails and sights to see, you really can’t go wrong on any hike. Unfortunately, we couldn’t actually hike Gros Morne mountain when we were there because it’s closed until July to give the baby animals a little bit of time to mature before being interrupted by hikers, so we did a hike along the Green Gardens Trail instead. I loved this hike! It starts off in the tablelands; because the rock is all mantle, it doesn’t support much life, so it’s very barren. However, once you wind your way through the tablelands, you hike into the woods before reaching the coastline and hiking along the cliffs. Eventually you come out of the woods to grassy picnic areas, sea stacks, and beaches. We had our lunch on the side of the cliff before spending some time exploring the beach. I loved this hike because you really got to see a little bit of everything that Gros Morne had to offer – it was all very beautiful.

Western Brook Pond

We also made sure to hike out to Western Brook Pond to take a boat tour up the fjord. We got incredibly lucky with the weather and it was sunny and warm throughout our entire trip. Western Brook Pond is definitely one of the most breathtaking sights Newfoundland has to offer! You can take a small boat up through the valley of the fjord to the small wharf at the end where the boat picks up and drops off brave hikers. There’s nothing but wilderness in the fjord, so you have to have a special permit just to hike there.

After we left Gros Morne, we drove to Corner Brook to visit my grandparents. I’ve spent a lot of time in Corner Brook growing up and it is definitely one of my all time favourite places. I love skiing Marble Mountain in the winter and swimming in the rivers in the summer. This trip was especially great because I finally got to do the Marble Zip Tours! Marble Mountain has a zipline that goes back and forth across Steady Brook Gorge, coming down the mountain. It starts about halfway up the mountain and has 10 lines going down to the bottom. I was nervous at first, but I absolutely loved it! You get a great view of Steady Brook and the Humber River as you come down, I would definitely recommend you do it the next time you’re on the west coast!

Zip-lining at Steady Brook Falls

Now, my Grandparents don’t actually live in Corner Brook, but they live right outside in the small town of Mount Moriah. It’s located right along the bay and the view from my grandparents back deck is gorgeous! I took Seth to my favourite swimming hole, Cook’s Brook, which I’ve been swimming in since I was little, and out to Blow Me Down Mountain. I love Blow Me Down because it has some of the clearest mountain spring water flowing down. If you hike in about half an hour, you come to a small waterfall and a pool. It is beautiful, but it is also some of the coldest water to swim in. I usually won’t swim there until the middle of summer, but Seth couldn’t resist and we ended up going for a swim even though it was only mid-June.

Going for a swim at Blow Me Down

We finished off our last day with a trip to the Insectarium in Deer Lake. It’s something I’d done many times as a kid, but I hadn’t been there in years, and I knew Seth would just love it. It was definitely better than I remembered it. If you’re ever in the area, you really need to check it out. My favourite part of the exhibit is definitely the butterfly room! I love hanging out and trying to get as many butterflies to land on me as possible.

To finish off, I had a great summer being a tourist at home and I’m hoping to do a few more road trips around the province this summer as well. Newfoundland really does have some of the most beautiful views and one of the most unique cultures in Canada – it makes me proud to be a Newfoundlander.

Love,
Maria