English At 50 | University of Waterloo

Although Dr. Geraldine Balzer (MA 1983) began her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, a decision to travel Europe led her to take some time off. When she resumed her studies in English and Theatre Arts, she did so at the University of British Columbia. She always loved reading, which was a big part of her decision to study English. Another was that her undergraduate supervisor encouraged her to pursue English further because it would lead to more job opportunities after graduation. She returned to UW to pursue her Master's degree because the university offered her the most funding for her studies and allowed her to reunite with old friends.

A graduate course on the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville taught by Dr. Gordon Slethaug was the best class in Geraldine's studies at UW. Dr. Slethaug, with whom she still keeps in contact, was an amazing professor who created a sense of community within the small class. She still keeps up with her classmates as well and plays Scrabble with them over Facebook.

Working towards her MA at UW helped her gain a sense of the “worthwhileness” of reading. “Reading is the core to everything to my life. If I can't read, one of the greatest pleasures in life is gone.”

The English Department organized many social events for the Graduate Students and, like Dr. Slethaug, worked hard at making a community amoung the students. Geraldine remembers one class having a potluck party at a professor's home at the end of the term. She would also have lunch at the University Club with professors and other TAs as the instructor's thank-you graduate students who helped teach the course.

Being at UW also gave Geraldine confidence in her ability as an academic. She had the opportunity to teach ENGL 109 and 110 (Introduction to Essay Writing 1 and 2). She wouldn't have been a teacher if she had not had that chance: “In those classes I discovered my love for teaching and that I'm a good teacher.” Her professors showed her that one of the greatest things a teacher can do is build relationships with their students. Doing so is as important as any subject matter an instructor might cover in lectures. She has continued to apply this lesson with all of her students throughout her teaching career.

Geraldine has learned that is it important to “maintain a balance between working hard and doing the things I love. I think that that was an important lesson, that I didn't spend my life only studying and there was also time to have fun.”

After graduating from UW, Geraldine worked in Toronto. But finding lasting employment was difficult at the time, and she moved to Saskatchewan (her home province), where she earned her Bachelor of Education (BEd) at the University of Saskatchewan. She then taught in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut for 14 years before returning to the University of Saskatchewan to earn her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. She has since been faculty at the University of Windsor and the University of Saskatchewan.

Currently, Geraldine is living in Saskatoon and is married with two daughters (her older daughter is a student at UW and her younger daughter hopes to be a UW student soon). She works as an Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Curriculum Studies. She teaches Secondary School English Language Arts, which prepares students for becoming candidates to teach high school, Curriculum theory and English Language Arts at the graduate-level, and conducts research into the transformative nature of Service Learning.