The Last Co-op Class
Today was my final hour of co-op class (an announcement that I apparently slept through last week...). The only reason I was even aware of it was the abundance of balloons and streamers as I walked into the room.
What truly shocked me about co-op class was the fact that, even after all these mind-numbing, don't-wear-pyjamas-to-your-interview weeks, some people will still need to take the final test multiple times.
The people, for example, who think that they will not have to commute or relocate to find a co-op job. The people who think the staff in the co-op department will be of any use whatsoever (they made it very clear throughout the semester that everything is up to us). The people who don't realize that they will have to reconfigure their entire lives, nay, their very DNA to succeed in their co-op placements.
One of the questions on the final test, for example, goes a little something like: "The responsibilities of your co-op job must come before other job, social, and personal responsibilities."
Employee: "How about eating? Can I eat?"
Co-op: "Yes, but not at work."
Employee: "What about lunch hour?"
Co-op: "You're a co-op student, you don't get one."
Employee: "But...the last question said we wouldn't be treated differently than other employees."
Co-op: "Ha."
With the way the semesters are broken up, co-op amounts to little more than working for four months, being unemployed for another four, and then pulling your hair out trying to find another job in the last two weeks of your four months of atrophy.
I shouldn't complain, though, this is a fairly helpful tool. I just need to keep in mind that I am older than the other people in my class. Here I am, having worked since I was 15, and, even if the people in my class have done the same, they're only just turning 18 and 19. These are the people that, understandably, need a little prodding.
The important part, though, is that co-op is over, so I just need to get 100 on the stupid final test, and spend four months not looking for work! Hurray!
Today was my final hour of co-op class (an announcement that I apparently slept through last week...). The only reason I was even aware of it was the abundance of balloons and streamers as I walked into the room.
What truly shocked me about co-op class was the fact that, even after all these mind-numbing, don't-wear-pyjamas-to-your-interview weeks, some people will still need to take the final test multiple times.
The people, for example, who think that they will not have to commute or relocate to find a co-op job. The people who think the staff in the co-op department will be of any use whatsoever (they made it very clear throughout the semester that everything is up to us). The people who don't realize that they will have to reconfigure their entire lives, nay, their very DNA to succeed in their co-op placements.
One of the questions on the final test, for example, goes a little something like: "The responsibilities of your co-op job must come before other job, social, and personal responsibilities."
Employee: "How about eating? Can I eat?"
Co-op: "Yes, but not at work."
Employee: "What about lunch hour?"
Co-op: "You're a co-op student, you don't get one."
Employee: "But...the last question said we wouldn't be treated differently than other employees."
Co-op: "Ha."
With the way the semesters are broken up, co-op amounts to little more than working for four months, being unemployed for another four, and then pulling your hair out trying to find another job in the last two weeks of your four months of atrophy.
I shouldn't complain, though, this is a fairly helpful tool. I just need to keep in mind that I am older than the other people in my class. Here I am, having worked since I was 15, and, even if the people in my class have done the same, they're only just turning 18 and 19. These are the people that, understandably, need a little prodding.
The important part, though, is that co-op is over, so I just need to get 100 on the stupid final test, and spend four months not looking for work! Hurray!
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