Tamra Ross:
CLASS OF 1987
Western Canada High SchoolClass of 1987
Calgary, AB
Athabasca UniversityClass of 2001
Athabasca, AB
Sherwood Community SchoolClass of 1984
Calgary, AB
Ogden Elementary SchoolClass of 1981
Calgary, AB
Tamra's Story
Life
My life in 4000 characters? Oy!
The basics: I left school early, bummed around, went to college, studied computer programming and worked as a writer/editor for several years. I did my time as a legal secretary and grew to loathe the whole profession. I got married in 1995, then my husband and I decided to quit work and complete our university degrees, though I quickly found work as Editor in Chief of a small magazine, which I thoroughly enjoyed for the next several years. As it turns out I'm still in school and probably always will be as I've found my calling as a lifelong scholar. Next I'll be entering a Master of Arts program. To fund this, I study part-time while I work as the Executive Director of a large education lobby group and I also have my own firm through which I do website programming, document design, web graphics, writing and editing (currently I'm producing media for Green Beanery, The Editor's Association of Canada, etc.).
I continue to write and seek publication of my first novel. I have completed two research projects for publication so far: 1 was presented at the 2002 International Symposium on Educational Conferencing, and the other is pending publication in IRRODL.
I have two cats I adore (Lurch and Grue). I still love ultra-noisy bands (tending toward industrial and retro punk these days), horror films and literature (I'm planning a thesis of the function of horror as a social metaphor throughout history), computer games, digital design, and, currently, linguistics. I'm also a member of many charities, many with an ecological or animal rights focus.
My husband's also academically inclined and currently providing information tech services for a major Canadian magazine. We're both tech nerds; we continue to live in Calgary and are happily childless.
School
Currently attending Athabasca University and picking up transfer courses from wherever I can. Distance Ed lets me study year round, non stop, wherever I am, and work full-time. I love it -- when I get the time to think about it! I never did finish high school, but who cares? I'm ...Expand for more
entering a Master's program soon and my job is still interesting. Currently I'm studying: Anthropology: (Ethnobiology, Anthropological Linguistics) and Psychology (Assistive Technologies). I recently completed two years of literature studies. I'm also completing a French program.
College
How does this differ from the last category? I'm still working on my first degree, which was sidelined when I started working about 60 hours a week. I'm nearly done and entering a M.A. program shorlty and considering a doctorate if I can find the time. Also, since I work in the tech field, I continue to study computer programming and digital graphics to stay on top of my game. University is wonderful, but I am interested in too much stuff and keep having to change my major.
Rising tuition is the only thing holding me back from being a lot further along in my studies.
Workplace
What's to say? I'm the Executive Director of the Athabasca University Students' Union, which sounds lame but it's not AU is an adult university and most of our 40,000 members are working professionals or people taking a second degree. It's a very high skilled/high eduation environment. As Director, I'm in charge of pretty much everything, which suits my control-freak nature well. I have a small staff and I'm proud that we're very self-sufficent -- I began as communiation coordinator and continue to create all of the union's media and graphics, as well as programming, updating and managing all of the union's web services. I write press releases and lobby documents, design our brochures, postcards, newsletters and student handbook, oversee financial operations and sit on a wide range of university committees (which is also less lame than it sounds). Our student body is comprised of a wide range of adult learners from every possible walk of life -- most of them very non-traditional types. The job is incredibly demanding and the workload is very high, which I love. I work remotely, which permits me a lot more time for work and study than I would have if I had to travel to and from work. It's really ideal.
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