What have I learned?
About Geography?
About how I learn?
About my university degree?
My degree does not speak for itself. The value in my degree depends on how I contextualize it and apply it to the situations that I'm in - whether that's a dinner party with friends or an interview for a job.
My degree is highly interdisciplinary, which allows me to: think through complex problems, consider and understand multiple viewpoints, and provide a foundational knowledge for how different systems work together (e.g., in planning and in real estate development)
My degree provided me with the opportunity develop professional skills, which will help me succeed in life - both personally, academically, and professionally
My degree provided me with the training for tools and techniques related to spatial analysis
teamwork
critical thinking
presentation skills, oral communication
written communication
relationship building; networking
architecture; urban design
politics
economics
geography
business
history
portfolio theory; asset management; investment theory
discounted cash flows
real estate development
urban planning
research
R (statistics software) 
Creating maps
Excel
descriptive & inferential statistics
linear/logistic regression
interpreting large amounts of data
ArcGIS
This course has helped me continually revisit my definition of geography. My definition has changed over the duration of the course, starting with simply, how people interact with places around them. Now, my definition is geography: a broad discipline encompassing the physical and social features of places, and the interactions between and within those features. It is the relationship between people and place - how people change the places they are a part of, and how places change the people they nurture. My metaphor for geography is an amoeba - it is broad, networked, amorphous, and misunderstood:
maintaining integrity
maintaining consistency in how you act and express your viewpoints; living authentically to everyone around you, regardless of their viewpoints; to be unapologetically myself
recognizing and improving upon my faults - by not allowing myself to be apathetic or ignorant to the events around me
While apathy is worse than ignorance, pride is the worst of them all. To me, pride is the definition of not caring, and not knowing, the combination of apathy and ignorance. Pride results in closed-mindedness, inhibiting discussion and collaboration between different viewpoints. During the beginning of the course, I felt prideful in my opinions - I felt strongly about my beliefs about social equality and the environment. I was quick to discount opinions that did not align with my own, attributing them to a lack of education. Ironically, I attributed my own ignorance to the ignorance of others
Throughout the course, I made a commitment to question my assumptions and maintain an open mind to the viewpoints expressed in class - while uncomfortable, the class discussions helped me to question my assumptions and facts to understand why I believe in the ideas that I do
Homelessness: the state of not having a home
Assumptions:
My idea of a homeless person are the people I see on my commute to work in Toronto and around downtown London - asking for change and money in public libraries, coffee shops, and on the streets.
Homeless people are often associated with addiction problems, with substances such as drugs and alcohol - what I believed to be a factor of a lack of family or community support.
Homeless can be solved by providing them with a home.
Homelessness is not just a lack of a home - it is a lack of community, a sense of belonging and inclusion in the company. While homes may help, the social infrastructure and sense of a community is just as important, if not more important to provide.
New graduates making an average salary of $55K who wish to live in Toronto are essentially "homeless". Life Lesson: don't let your living expenses creep up as your income increases.
Average Canadian salary = $55K. After-tax income (20.5%) = $44K. Rent + utilities in Toronto = $18K (1500/mth). Transportation (TTC) = 2500 (TTC + Ubers). Food & entertainment = $9K (750/mth). Leftover = $14.5K. At this rate, it would take 10 years of saving every penny of this $15K to have enough for a down payment (20%) of an average shoebox condo in Toronto, the price of which will likely appreciate to a minimum of $750,000 in the next 5-10 years. Though a highly simplified model, it proves a simple point - it will take discipline, work, and frugal living for a new graduate working in Toronto to save up to buy a house. This is a not reality for many people, especially if we add student debt, car loans, an emergency fund, or expensive millennial "hobbies" of travelling and dining out.
There is often a socio-economic "red-taping" that occurs in cities due to cost of living. For example, many homeless people or those living in poverty live in East London. Part of this is because most of the students, professors, and professionals in London live in developed areas such as Old South, Masonville, and White Oaks. The spatial distribution of wealth is also one contributing factor to the problem of isolation and homelessness
Global Warming vs. Climate Change
Assumptions
The well-known hockey stick graph that demonstrates how temperatures have skyrocketed since the Industrial Revolution; implying that global warming is due to human activity and CO2 emissions !
Global warming is a fact proven by the ICCC, and is true because many politicians have grouped together to take a stance on it through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Accords
Data interpretation, correlation vs. causation. Sound science can lead to two completely different conclusions - both theories can and should be accepted, but both cannot be the objective truth. This is the normal scientific process. While data can be interpreted to arrive at two separate conclusions about climate change, it should not be exaggerated or misconstrued to influence the public
We should reduce our CO2 emissions and invest in renewable energy
The most polluted places in the world are anti-capitalist and anti-free market. Capitalism and free markets can actually function as mechanisms to encourage "clean" energy by encouraging economic wealth to create incentives to develop new technologies. Renewable energy should be considered from different perspectives - for example, wind farms can be irritating for rural residents, and have injured many large predatorial birds that are important to the ecosystem's balance
What is the truth? A class discussion about what makes something "true" helped me question ideas that I took as the objective truth. Concerns over climate change and global warming are validated by politicians (people in power) and scientists (people who use numbers and statistics) around the world - this makes it easy for those to influence behaviours, with policies around implementing carbon taxes and investing in clean energy.
While I have learned how to excel at memorization and regurgitation, the most valuable lessons I've gained at university have been those where I've had to articulate my points and ask questions to professors and other students. This can be challenging and scary, because of the fear of saying something embarrassing or silly, or the social pressure of coming across as being too annoying or pushy. While there is a delicate balance, I've realized that if I truly care about my education and improving the understanding of others around me, it's important to ask questions, be open minded, and listen to what others have to say about a viewpoint that may be different from your own
To better understand my own mental map, I created a mental map of my experiences in London. My mental map of London is characterized by a few places: my student residence at Western/Sarnia, the Sobey's & Costco plaza where I do my groceries, the Western campus where I spend most of my time, Broughdale and Richmond Row where I "socialize", and recently, the Western Fair Farmers Market and the tea shops in the Old East Village where I buy niche items such as fritters and reusable grocery bags.
Methodology
I learn best when I can participate actively in class discussions and take notes to reflect and review on what was discussed.
Writing allows me to synthesize a discussion with my key takeaways and learnings after
Articulation and debate allows me to question where my assumptions are coming from, defend my beliefs, and spell out my logic to everyone involved in the debate. I asked a question in almost every class - I was mindful not to state my opinion, but rather ask questions to better understand the flow of reasoning to justify a point.
Attitude & Mindset
Open-mindedness
Curiosity
Dedication
Keeping an open mind to try and understand other viewpoints, alternate methods, and ideas that are different from my own - acknowledging that there are still many considerations and knowledge that I have yet to learn
Having a growth mindset and a genuine curiosity for learning, exchanging ideas, and questioning my own (and others) assumptions is critical for effective learning. It allows you to focus on the development and exchange of ideas rather than grades. While I could have looked at previous students' Prezi presentations to complete this assignment, I knew that would put me at a disadvantage in the long run because I wouldn't have the ability to express and create my own unique thoughts about the course through this assignment
Learning isn't just about writing exams and grades - it's about showing up, listening, being engaged. It's about taking control of your own education. You can choose to sit passively and regurgitate the ideas sent out on poorly formatted PowerPoints, or you can show up to class, ask questions, and engage in productive discussion to challenge yourself to learn something new
Question your assumptions of excellence. Excellent ideas can be referred to many times, but referring something many times does not make it excellent. Create your criteria of excellence (high quality, accessible, impactful) before evaluating something of its excellence.
Ask questions
My place in geography is to learn from those before me - but not just that. It is to apply these learnings to my own ambitions, such as through sustainable real estate development. It is to continue building upon the body of knowledge that I have dedicated 4 years of my education to, by taking part in mentorship, helping the community, and contributing to scholarly research
Selina Phan
Dr. Graham Smith
GEO 4000
Assignment 3