My previous education was at Concordia where I studied Religion and a minor in Sociology. In my first semester, I did not focus on any major religion, as I wanted to study a little bit of everything. I remember for my first semester, I took one Religion, Sociology, Geography and English course; I took Geography and English as I could not fit anything else into my schedule, plus I needed electives.

     My summer semester included two Sociology and Religion courses. In the Sociology courses, I learned about the different Sociologists and their ideologies (such Sociologists included Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber). One Religion course I took was Introductory to Islam and the other was a Ritual course. I believe that the Islam, although I did not study Islam extensively, course opened the door up for me to study the Asian religions and the Ritual course helped me establish a sense for going to different religious buildings and observing rituals.

    For my Fall semester, I took a Christianity, Religions of the West and a Buddhism course. The Buddhism course was the first time that I had Steven Lindquist (now a Ph.D.). For my Religions of the West and Christianity class, I had to go to different religious buildings and observe ceremonies. For example I had to go to a Shabbath and write a field report.  Because I enjoyed Steven Lindquist so much, that I decided to have him many more times. I did not do as well in Lindquist's Buddhism class (I got a B-) as I did in his other classes, however, I  had established that I would study the Asian religions in depth.

     In 2005, I took two religion courses, Women in Christianity and Religions of East, and it was in the Religions of the East (with Steven Lindquist) class was when I got to visit a Hindu temple. I will never forget the feeling I got from visiting and observing the puujaa. I found it interesting to watch people celebrating G-d in a different way, a way that I would later learn more about. I did not understand what the priest said, but I felt moved by the words. I did not receive any food prasad (I did receive spiritual prasad as I got to experience the images), but I still enjoyed my time there and that experience changed me forever.

     I did not take any religion courses for the summer of 2005, but I did take two in the Fall: Introduction to Hinduism (Steven Lindquist, again) and Art and Religion in South and South East Asia with Lisa Owen (who is Steven Lindquist's wife). These two courses were easy for me, but I found that it was interesting to learn about Hinduism from a general perspective instead of it being only one part of a course. In the Hinduism class, I remember I learned all about different periods of Hindu history and theology, and I especially liked the part where virtual puujaas were mentioned, but there was no in -- depth analysis on how virtual puujaas could be used for Hindu devotion; this would later lead to my major research project. I want to say that it was interesting to see how happy Steven Lindquist was after he passed his thesis defense. I think that was the happiest moment for him and for me as I got to see him evolve from student to professor.

     In 2006, I took a methodology course in Religion, a Hinduism course (the last one with Steven Lindquist) and a Religions of China and Japan course. I found the Religions of China and Japan course to be disappointing as we did not really cover Japanese religions. The professor (Dr. Marc DesJardins) later created two separate courses to be able to teach everything. The methodology course was interesting as I got to learn about different perspectives that could be applied when studying religions. In particular, I enjoyed hearing the stories of the different members of the Religion faculty and their perspectives that they apply in their research. I enjoyed writing about what I would like to do as a potential M.A. student, but my plans to go to Asia were not met with approval. I believe that the rejection of my plans ended up impacting on my decision to go into Education.

    In Fall 2006, since I figured Dr. Leslie Orr was going to be my advisor, I would take a course with her. I also took a Sanskrit course, but not at Concordia; I decided to take the class at McGill. I did find Sanskrit to be hard, especially since the professor wanted us to learn the subject quickly; but he slowed down and explained how to do the subject and I ended up loving it. I was also working on various annotated bibliographies for my research project (on virtual puujaas). At the time, Leslie did not seem that bad and that she would look at all my work without much criticism. I found that the Sanskrit course was very demanding and that I had to dedicate long hours to do all the work. I do not know how I managed to do everything that I was given, but I did it in the end.

     My final semester was the most difficult, and I do not know which course (Sanskrit or the research project) was harder. I believe I had the most difficulty doing the research project as I had to go into different books I had not planned to go into and find material. I believe the hardest part was gathering material and then assembling that material in a coherant matter. I remember many times that when I had to go back into the books to look up and prove my points. It was the longest and most demanding project I ever worked on, but I had the strength to do everything that my advisor wanted. During my final semester, it was revealed once again that I am not to go to Asia to study Hinduism or any other religion, but to stay home. 

     Another interesting thing that happened was that happened in the Sanskrit class was a dialog with another student. The student wanted to offer the professor a piece of pie, however, the professor was vegetarian and could not eat eggs. Therefore, my professor asked the student if the pie had eggs, and unfortunately, it did. Afterwards, I figured, if I want to know what this Sanskrit professor does, I have to adopt his eating habits. So, I dedided to eat vegetarian food myself. One student before the class ended, wanted to take a picture of everyone (except for one student who was absent). He took the picture, and to this day, I still have the picture up in my Yahoo Messenger profile. The Sanskrit class ended and I will never forget how it felt afterwards walking out of the room to know that I will never see any of them again. It was sad, but they live on in my heart. That same day, I came home to learn that I had been denied entry into the M.A. program.  I did, however, pass all the subjects and graduated in the summer of 2007.

      I went to see an advisor to learn the reason why I was denied. I was told that although I do write effectively, I do not know how to look at broader issues and that was why I was not admitted in the program. However, I was allowed entry into their program as a independant student and would be granted full acceptance if I could pass a course with a B+ or better. However, when I took the course, I found that I was not capable of doing the work the way the professor (Dr. Leslie Orr) demanded. I also considered all that I heard before (the various rejections of my goals) and ultimately decided not to continue in Religion.  I waited for a long time, working at the St. Francis Xavier Mission Church as a volunteer and then I was admitted in the Education program. Although I miss Religion, I believe that through my field experience that I got am idea that maybe education was the field I was meant for all along. After I finish with the Education program I may decide to continue in the field or go back into Religion. However, I have been thinking of continuing in Education, but I will most likely go into the Cultures and Values in Education program upon completion of my B.Ed.

Pictures of Various Professors, Sociology, and Religious Concepts I Encountered 

Aurobindo (a Hindu philosopher).	Dasharatha (Ten Stables and he was the father or Shri Raama).	A Buddhist temple (I first visited a Buddhist temple last year. It was similar to a Hindu temple).	Jambavantha ([a bear] that Shri Raama meets in Dandaka Forest. He, his brother [Lakshmana] and his wife [Siitaa] spend 14 years in the forest. Siitaa gets kidnapped by Ravana and Raama, Lakshmana and the vanar sena (monkey army) help him. Jambavantha helped Hanuman realize his ability to fly).
Dr. Lisa Nadine Owen.	Arjuna (one of the five Pandavas and the one that Shri Krishna gave the Bhagavad -- Gita towards).	Guru Ram Das (one of the 10 historical gurus of Sikhism. He was the forth).	Ganesha (the son of Shiva and Parvati. His father cut his head off and replaced it with an elephant's).
Arthava Veda (one of the four Vedas, this one deals with ritual procedures for when sacrifices go wrong).	Auguste Compte (the founder of Sociology and a philosopher).	Bhisma (son of Ganga and Shatanu. He was born with the name Devavrata, but his name changed when he vowed to never have children. He was the grandfather to both the Pandavas and the Kauravas).	Dr. Frederick Bird (he was one of my first professors).
Brahma (the creator god).	Buddha (believed by Hindus to be an avatara of Vishnu).	Chandogya Upanisad (I believe it is the one where Uddalaka Aruni explains to his son how the universal brahman [G-d] is related to the individual atman [soul].	Concordia University (my school for three years).
Dr. Valerie De Courville Nicol (one of the last Sociology professors I had).	Devanaagarii Script (a script used to write different languages including Sanskrit, Hindi and Marathi).	Puja.	Durga (a female independant goddess. The other type of goddess is called consort and these are goddesses that are married to gods [e.g. Lakshmi and Vishnu or Parvatii and Shiva]).
Emile Durkheim (the founder of the Functionalist ideology in Sociology).	Garuda (a vehicle that Vishnu rides).	Lakshmi (Vishnu's consort).	A Synagogue (I never went to the one in the picture).
A gurdwara.	Angad Das (the second guru of Sikhism).	Guru Nanak (the first Sikh guru).	Hanuman (a devotee of Shri Raama and the eleventh avatara of Shiva).
Kali ( a fierce Hindu goddess that accepts blood offerings).	A church.	Dr. David Howes (a Sociology professor I had. I took Legal Sociology with him).	Ganesha's vehicle (a mouse that chews through obstacles).
Jatayu (a vulture Shri Raama and Lakshmana met. He ends up dying trying to protect Siitaa from capture).	Dr. Norma Joseph ( she was the head of the Religion Department).	Kamadhenu (a wish granting cow that Guru Vasishtha had and Guru Vishwamitra tried to capture).	Karl Marx (founder of the Conflict theory in Sociology).
Radha and Krishna.	Dr. Leslie Orr.	Dawson College's library.	Dr. Steven Lindquist.
Mahatma Gandhi.	Mahavira (the founder of Jainism).	A Hindu temple.	Max Weber (a Sociological founder whose ideology was symbolic interactionism.).
Nandi (a bull that Shiva rides).	Narasimha ( the name means man -- lion and he was one of Vishnu's avataras).	Om (sacred syllable in Hinduism and Buddhism).	Parvati (consort of Shiva).
Govind Singh (last human guru and instituted the five k's in order to distinguish the Hindus from the Sikhs).	Jesus.	Ram Mohan Roy (founder of the Arya Samaj).	Shri Raama (an avatara of Vishnu that slayed Ravana of Lanka).
Rig Veda (earliest of the Vedas that has various verses to the Vedic gods [e.g. Indra, Prajapati and Soma]).	Satya Sai Baba (the living reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba).	Tulsidas (the poet who wrote the Hanuman Chalisa and the Rama charit manas).	Sama Veda (the second veda that deals with the same verses as the Rig Veda, except these verses are sung).
Sarasvati (the goddess of music).	Shirdi Sai Baba (a Hindu saint that performed many miracles in his time).	Dancing Shiva (Shiva nataraj).	A langar (usually done in a gurdwara where they give only vegetarian food [some religions have food taboos] and everyone sits on the floor [to ensure that everyone is equal]).
Dayanand Sarasvati (founder of the Brahmo Samaj).	Vivekananda (a Hindu philosopher).	Tamil Script (I do not know it, but one day I may decide to learn it).	Valmiki (the poet that wrote down the Raamayana in Sanskrit).
Guru Vasishtha (Shri Raama's teacher and composer of Yoga Vasishtha).	Vishnu.	Hayagriva (his name means horse -- faced and he was a avatara of Vishnu).	Vishwamitra (Raama saved his ashrama from demons and then went to Mithila to marry Siitaa).
Veda Vyasa (complier of the Vedas, composer of the Mahabharata and the Puranas).	A mosque.	Yajnavalkya (a Upanishadic sage).	Siitaa and Raama (this picture depicts Siita and Raama's marriage. Raama had to lift up a bow that the other kings could not).
Dr. Donald Boisvert (one of my professors that taught me about women in Christianity).	Ravana (the demon king of Lanka who kidnapped Siitaa and ended up dying by Raama. His only weakness was his belly button and his brother [Vibhishana] told Raama how to kill him).	Kumbhakarana (brother to Vibhishana and Ravana. He was put to sleep for six months at a time because he would eat all day; Sarasvati entered his mouth and he asked for sleep. If he woke up before six months he would die that same day; he was woken up and Raama killed him).	Image of Balarama (Krishna's elder brother).