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THE TELECASTER
EXCERPTS FROM A PERSONAL JOURNAL 1990/1991
BY WILLIAM HILLMAN 

Reflections made during the year-long odyssey
in search of the first Masters Degree
presented to a Canadian educator
by Brandon University's Faculty of Education

A juxtaposition of thoughts emanating from nostalgia, 
family, music, teaching and the university experience

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Bill Hillman has had a decades-long and unique relationship with Brandon College/University. Since enrolling as a student in 1961 he has earned all his degrees on this campus and has worked there as a prof since 2001, teaching a variety of courses for BUNTEP, PENT, and eventually as a full-time Assistant Professor for the BU Faculty of Education. 

He was the first Canadian student to receive a BU Education Masters Degree in 1991. During that marathon "masters year," at the urging of Dr. Robin Enns, he kept a daily eclectic personal journal drawing upon each day's experiences: family & social activities, ongoing commitments as a full-time high school teacher, the nightly 250-km commute, the post-grad courses, thesis work, etc. 

Now that the Education post-graduate degree programme is well-established, some might find it fascinating to look back on that first year of the programme from a student's perspective. Hillman shares excerpts from this very long document in the following Telecaster Journals. 

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CONTENTS
ACT I A PERSONAL JOURNEY
Chapter I Chapter II
ACT II: Practical Po (video documentary) ACT III: PO PROCEDURE (video documentary
ACT IV TELECASTER JOURNALS
Chapter V Chapter VI
Chapter VII Chapter VIII
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SEAQUEST
by Bill Hillman
A dramatic reading for educators
accompanied with guitar and rhythm riffs.
MILIEU: FISHNET BACKDROP - 5 TELEVISION MONITORS - VIDEO WALLPAPER WITH OCEAN MOOD AUDIO/VIDEO -
KEGS - CAPTAIN’S HAT/BLACK TURTLE NECK - MOOD LIGHTS - 
SHIPS LANTERNS - CHESTS - SOUND FX - STOOL - GUITAR - ETC.

Sadly, some navigators seek out little placid tide pools... 
...drop anchor...
...and sit in tired... creaky-leaky dinghies...
...while their young passengers look longingly...
...expectantly...
...out to open sea...

They yearn for the thrill of the salt spray in their faces 
and the toss of the waves 
and a chance to skim across infinite waters to distant adventures 
-- and to learn the skills to survive on this life sea.

Many of these tide poolers will either meet disaster 
when they do break out past the breakwaters, 
or will spend a lifetime as land lubbers -- 
...frustrated...
...angry... 
and haunted with personal devils 
which constantly remind them of what they could have been.

One can study the theory behind seamanship --
it can be mastered by most any hotshot yachtsman, 
but the experience of the old salt is invaluable 
when the going gets long... or rough.

He can read the tides...
...the stars...
...the wind... 
...he can talk to life in the deep...
...he can create a course and navigate it...
...he can sail by the seat of his pants... 
knowledge recollected allows him 
to cope with each unpredictable crisis along his course.

To the novice, 
the waves and cycles with which the old salt is so in tune, 
at first appear meaningless or incomprehensible 
but really they are just a part of life's cycle.

Just as in the oriental concept of yin and yang 
where two complementary forces flow into one another, 
so does night become day...
...season follows season...
...death follows birth...

William G. Hillman ~ M. Ed. (1991)
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