David Forget (1969-1989) was a first year Co-op, Geology Option student in the Earth Sciences Department when he suffered a tragic accident while working in northern Canada during his first work experience in 1989. The David M. Forget Award was instituted in his memory. An award is presented yearly to a second year student who writes the winning essay outlining their personal interest in the geosciences and -
- demonstrating a love for nature,
- displaying a good ablility and interest in writing
- and revealing a dedication to learning.
This year's winner is Kristina Anderson.
Dear David,
You have challenged me to put pen to paper and describe why I love geology. To be honest when I first sat down to write this letter I had no answer to that question. How did you become interested in geology? Alan Morgan would have been your first year geology prof too, right? Did he tell you the story of finding the fossil and receiving identification from a museum and knowing right then that geology was what he wanted to do with his life? Did you fall in love with Earth sciences like that in a single blinding flash or was it a more gradual evolution? For me I think it was more an evolution. Maybe I fell in love with rock and minerals while exploring an abandoned mica pit at my grandmothers' and maybe I fell in love with hydrology during my first swim. Certainly, I fell in love with dinosaurs in Mrs. Emery's grade two class. It is a love so strong that during second year paleontology every time the word dinosaur was mentioned I would jump forward in my seat. For the record, Diplodocus, not T-rex, was the greatest dinosaur of all time.
Time rolled on and like most children I dreamed of becoming a teacher, lawyer or pilot. It never occurred to me or my parents that the rocks I kept dragging home were an indication to future career goals, anymore than were the other odds and ends I brought home from my walks through the bush. During grade eight I attended a week long minicourse at Queen's University about geology, flaming a passion for volcanoes, earthquakes, mineral identification, and fossils of any sort, I doubt much would have come out of it though if I hadn't met up with Mr. Doug Bond during a grade eleven physical geography course. Doug is a geologist and geographer by trade and had seen more of the world than anyone else I knew at the time. To imagine the classroom setting that inspired me so much I need to describe the man who taught the class. Doug has the appearance of a gigantic leprechaun, with balding red hair and larger than life personality included, and only a corn pipe needed to finish the picture. I went to a small rural school and there were only eleven other people in the class and one was Mr. Bond's daughter. We would load up into his family van and he would point out Precambrian basalts, unconformities, and meandering streams. Often, we were treated to an ice cream cone at the local cheese factory after covering ourselves in mud to mid-thigh or grass-stained knees only to return for afternoon classes.
Shortly thereafter it was time to decide what I wanted to do at university. I considered everything from Gaelic studies to teachers college but nothing seemed right. Over lunch one day Mr. Bond pointed out that geology or geography was also an option and things began to fall into place. I applied to geology at four universities. My mother and I drove to Waterloo one day and talked to the science undergraduate office about Earth science at Waterloo and we were directed down the hall to talk to an Earth science prof. I had two main questions: what the heck did the hydrogeology, geophysics and geology options mean; and would geology eventually lead me to a career outdoors where I could travel. Needless to say I was convinced that Waterloo would help lead me to a career I could enjoy for the rest of my life. So far Earth classes have been great and I've been on plenty of field trips with the promise of more to come. I've smashed rocks with my hammer and found fossils of varying sizes. I've worked for the ministry of the environment and driven five hours north of home looking at septic systems and been paid to eat lunch in parks all over eastern Ontario. I've dusted dinosaur bones and sorted minerals. David, I've never regretted it and I doubt you would have either.
A fellow geologist-in-training
Kristina Anderson