Latest news with #RebeccaAdams
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Dan died six weeks after our wedding. I had no idea he was struggling
We all know we're going to lose our life partner one day. If you've ever pictured it, your brain has probably aged you as nonagenarians or centenarians, having enjoyed an extraordinary 60 to 70 years of laughter and love. To imagine anything less is too painful. Yet, according to the last census, many Australians experience this heartbreak at a time when peers are still raising families and building lives. The data shows 55,000 Australians under the age of 55 are widowed, 18,000 of them younger than 45. And of the 1 million-plus Australians who are widowed, eight out of 10 are female. The challenges of young widowhood include financial insecurity and social isolation. Researchers at Edith Cowan University found widows are also at a heightened risk of poor adjustment, with two-thirds of respondents surveyed reporting decreased functioning and high rates of psychological distress. What does it take to start over without your partner? Three women share their stories. 'My husband died six weeks after our wedding': Rebecca Adams, 45 'Daniel was the sort of person people fell in love with as soon as they met him. He was wickedly funny, but because he was also so kind, he always looked for the best in others. We met online in 2011, and when he proposed just shy of our one-year anniversary, I couldn't say yes fast enough. We were both in our early 30s and knew we'd each found 'our person'. We married in June 2013; Dan died of suicide just six weeks later. I didn't know how deeply Dan was struggling; he protected everyone who knew and loved him from that, so his death came as a huge shock. I was still going through the process of taking my marriage certificate around and changing my name on various documents. But very quickly I had to pivot to the process of carrying a death certificate and organising a funeral. The trauma and pain of losing Dan were all-consuming, and being 33, I honestly believed I'd lost my only shot at happiness and having children. When we think of widows, we tend to think of older women – I only knew one other widow at the time, and she was in her 90s, so I felt alone. It felt like everyone I knew was either getting married or having children, so they couldn't quite understand or support me in the way that I needed. When I found a Facebook group dedicated to connecting younger women who'd lost their partners, I realised how helpful it was for me to meet up with others who truly understood what I was going through. In 2016, I launched First Light Widowed Support, a peer-support model of care – whether it be catch-up programs, an online forum, speaking events or resources – to help others find hope, inspiration and understanding through their journey.
The Age
5 days ago
- General
- The Age
Dan died six weeks after our wedding. I had no idea he was struggling
We all know we're going to lose our life partner one day. If you've ever pictured it, your brain has probably aged you as nonagenarians or centenarians, having enjoyed an extraordinary 60 to 70 years of laughter and love. To imagine anything less is too painful. Yet, according to the last census, many Australians experience this heartbreak at a time when peers are still raising families and building lives. The data shows 55,000 Australians under the age of 55 are widowed, 18,000 of them younger than 45. And of the 1 million-plus Australians who are widowed, eight out of 10 are female. The challenges of young widowhood include financial insecurity and social isolation. Researchers at Edith Cowan University found widows are also at a heightened risk of poor adjustment, with two-thirds of respondents surveyed reporting decreased functioning and high rates of psychological distress. What does it take to start over without your partner? Three women share their stories. 'My husband died six weeks after our wedding': Rebecca Adams, 45 'Daniel was the sort of person people fell in love with as soon as they met him. He was wickedly funny, but because he was also so kind, he always looked for the best in others. We met online in 2011, and when he proposed just shy of our one-year anniversary, I couldn't say yes fast enough. We were both in our early 30s and knew we'd each found 'our person'. We married in June 2013; Dan died of suicide just six weeks later. I didn't know how deeply Dan was struggling; he protected everyone who knew and loved him from that, so his death came as a huge shock. I was still going through the process of taking my marriage certificate around and changing my name on various documents. But very quickly I had to pivot to the process of carrying a death certificate and organising a funeral. The trauma and pain of losing Dan were all-consuming, and being 33, I honestly believed I'd lost my only shot at happiness and having children. When we think of widows, we tend to think of older women – I only knew one other widow at the time, and she was in her 90s, so I felt alone. It felt like everyone I knew was either getting married or having children, so they couldn't quite understand or support me in the way that I needed. When I found a Facebook group dedicated to connecting younger women who'd lost their partners, I realised how helpful it was for me to meet up with others who truly understood what I was going through. In 2016, I launched First Light Widowed Support, a peer-support model of care – whether it be catch-up programs, an online forum, speaking events or resources – to help others find hope, inspiration and understanding through their journey.
CBC
28-02-2025
- General
- CBC
In a province desperate for French teachers, a program to train them is half empty
A program at the University of Prince Edward Island that trains French teachers is only about half-full, despite a nationwide shortage of French teachers. Schools in Prince Edward Island and across Canada have been struggling for years to find French teachers. Despite that, UPEI filled only about half of the 30 spots in its one-year French second-language bachelor of education program this year, because people just didn't apply. "Every year, we wonder how can we recruit, what are students looking for, what do they want? How can we bring them here to UPEI? How can we bring them into teaching?" said Elizabeth Blake, the program's co-ordinator. There are bursaries and signing bonuses to entice new French teachers, Blake said. "If you have the necessary skills and desire to teach, the boards are looking to hire," she said. Give students opportunity to learn in French P.E.I. has one of the highest rates in Canada of students taking French immersion. UPEI hopes more of these students will end up becoming teachers, like Nick Reeves, who is now doing his practicum at his old school. Like myself, I'm a second-language learner, and I try to explain that to my students – look, if I can do it, you can do it. — Rebecca Adams, French teacher "Canada is bilingual. You might as well be pushing that other language here, especially in the Maritimes, where there's a lot of French-speaking communities," Reeves said. "I think it's really important for those who want to be French teachers to stay in it, to give the opportunity for these students to learn in French." Teacher Rebecca Adams taught Reeves in Grade 12 when she herself was a student teacher. She thinks some potential teachers lack the confidence to try teaching in French. "I think we need to promote more that second-language learners can become French immersion teachers and that it doesn't have to necessarily just be French-first-speaking people who can come into French immersion classrooms," Adams said. "Like myself, I'm a second-language learner, and I try to explain that to my students — look, if I can do it, you can do it." International recruitment planned The Public Schools Branch and the province's French-language school board hired about 40 new French teachers last year, and say more will be needed next year. The French school board is offering a $5,000 study bursary for people who sign on to work with them. It was eventually able to find the teachers it needed last year, but officials say that wasn't easy. The province already knows there won't be enough applicants from local programs to fill the need for teachers down the road, so officials have also planned international recruitment trips. Meanwhile, UPEI still has more than a dozen seats left for its program, which begins again in May. "It's very concerning… The shortage of French teachers here in P.E.I., Canada-wide, is getting to a point where, are we going to have to change how we teach and what we teach?" UPEI's Blake said.
