I confess; I found PCJ by accident. I was flipping through the U of T Calendar and looking for a program that suited my range of interests. I came to U of T intending to major in International Relations, like pretty much everyone I talked to in my first year at Trinity College. IR wasn’t a good fit. I didn’t love the focus on economics and was looking for a degree where I could indulge my love of international relations and foreign policy, while still being able to tailor my courses to incorporate the other things I do like. That’s the great thing about U of T. Here, its possible to combine pretty much anything you want into a degree.

I started out in general humanities, as all first years do. When I realized IR was a non-starter, I went program hunting. Flipping through the P section, I paused when I saw the words “the meanings and causes of conflict, peace, and justice; the lived experiences of living in the context of conflict and struggles for peace and justice; and approaches to resolving conflict and producing peace and/or justice.... Including the study of peacemaking and peace-building, interstate war and intrastate conflicts, insurgencies, revolutions and rebellions, ethnic strife, global justice, and negotiation theory.”

This is everything that I loved about Model UN in high school, everything I was interested in reading about in the newspapers; everything I ached to learn about. I wrote my Grade 12 politics thesis about the legality of the war in Afghanistan, for heaven’s sake. For the first time in university, I was hungry for something. PCJ had stringent standards for acceptance. A personal statement, interview, and grades made a difference to your admission. The program only accepts around 50 people per year. Being accepted to the program was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I flopped around a little more in second year. Political science wasn’t the right choice of another major; finally I settled on two minors: Anthropology and Archaeology. There’s a surprising overlap between the three disciplines, but that’s another post. After PCJ260 and declaring Anthropology and Archaeology as minors, I was settled. PCJ was home.

PCJ and Munk have continued to feel like home for the past few years. PCJ is an amazing community full of great people. While many of us have different view points and often disagree in class, it’s never personal and always respectful, and we all genuinely like each other. We’ve had great times together at PCJ Society events, particularly the annual retreat to Hart House Farm. I chose PCJ because it caters to my wide variety of interests, the small class sizes facilitate amazing discussions, and I’ve been lucky to have great teachers and mentors along the way.

When I asked other classmates, they said things along the same lines: They were interested in the small classes and being with a single cohort, they liked the ideological openness of the program, or thought the material was interesting.

For me, PCJ has lived up to its promise. We apply theory to real world concepts, and have a chance to apply what we are learning to what is really happening in the world. It filled a void that ivory tower style international relations theory courses created in my education.

I’ve been very lucky to be a part of the PCJ program, and I’m going to miss it dearly next year when I graduate. Anyone interested in this kind of learning should check it out – you never know where you’ll find your home.