I dropped the co-op part of my degree and am going back to school this semester. I am registered in mostly anthro courses which I need to fill out my anthropology major. My IDS specialist has been essentially taken care of. I was waiting to find out if there was any chance of me getting another job outside of Canada and it sounded like there wasn't, and that's not what I signed up for. In addition, once you have completed 8 months of co-op, you MUST write a thesis...like, a post-grad style thesis. If I am not tied to this thesis for the next year and a half, my options for leaving Canada again this year basically increase by 20 times. In addition to this, there is a course I have signed up for that allows me to get a credit for doing volunteer work one day a week and then writing a paper to be marked by the 'supervisor', who is this really cool woman that does a tonne of development work (among other cool things). Thus, I am still going to be getting experience working with a development organization in Canada, and writing a research paper about it, WHILE going to school. From what Hridi and I can tell, this is winning. We are still going to pursue an admission that the school was in the wrong for ever sending us on these placements in the first place, but that may take some time. What's most important for my mental well being right now is having at least a short-term plan, something to keep myself busy and my small shred of hope that I might get back to China as soon as the summer. Future possibilities of course need to be investigated further, once I'm not scrambling to get my late (EXTREMELY LATE) OSAP application in, registering for courses, meeting with various admin types and finding a place to live (THE WORST...I hate looking for apartments).
Quick update: I have discovered that nobody 'asked for or needed an intern' in Xining. Thus, from the information I have, I wasn't working for an organization OR a person. That's just messed up. I feel like I owe it to future IDS generations to make sure nobody ever gets sent out into a situation that craptastic ever again. Students aren't guinea pigs...not after thousands of dollars in co-op fees. Due diligence, transparency, and an apology would be nice. We'll see what happens.
So yeah, back to normal except everything is different! Thanks for being the best support team anyone could have ever ever asked for!!!!
