Thursday 23 October 2014

I am Canadian

I am Canadian.  I watch 3 down football, hockey and curling.  I live on treaty land. I speak French and English. I wear a toque in the winter. I have seen both Celine Dion and Michael Buble in concert. I drink beer, Tim Horton's coffee and eat poutine. I have free health care. I say "please", "thank you" , "excuse me" and "sorry" all the time, and I probably say "eh" a lot too although I don't even realize it and will likely deny it!

I am so proud to live in the True North Strong and Free and, up until yesterday, a place I naively considered to be safe from many of the senseless acts of terror that seem to happen in other places in the world.

When I was a young, impressionable teen, I had a dream for my future.  I was obsessed with federal politics, I even watched the parliamentary debates on t.v.  I wanted to be the Prime Minister of Canada.

In 1989 I had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa as part of the Terry Fox Youth Centre's Encounters with Canada Program.  The first time I laid eyes on the Parliament Buildings, I felt a sense of awe that I had never known. Pride and a connection to my heritage, to my roots and to my ancestors who helped found this land and the principles, rights and freedoms that I hold dear and strive live up to every day as a Canadian.  I wanted to be a part of that, to connect the past to the future and to represent the people of Canada.

This dream changed as I entered University and discovered that my passion for serving others through politics was equaled with a passion, and talent, for serving others through education.  Instead of a politician, I became a teacher.  Instead of representing the citizens of my country, I was educating them.

Many years later, in 2009, I returned to Ottawa with a group of students as part of an electronic journalism project.  That feeling of awe returned, perhaps in even a more powerful, profound way as I stepped into the House of Commons and was able to share that pride with my students who were connecting with their Canadian heritage for the first time.

Yesterday, someone tried to take that pride away from us, to rob us of that feeling of security that comes with being a Canadian, that inherent trust in the goodness and kindness of others and the safety of walking freely in our streets, our parks and public places.

Yesterday, someone took the life of a young man who was committed to protecting the rights and freedoms that we hold dear in front of a monument that represents the thousands of Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice before him in order to guarantee those rights for us.  This, to me is symbolic.  This act of violence reinforces my Canadian belief in, and right to peace.

 Let his sacrifice not go in vain.  Let us unite in standing for the Fundamental Freedoms that define us as Canadians.  Let us reflect on those in the world who are not so fortunate and who do not have the freedoms we so often take for granted.  Let us be stronger and better Canadians through this reflection.  Let us use our gifts to serve others in our homes, our communities, our provinces, our territories, our country and the world!

I might be naive, I might be simplistic, I might be too polite, I might have too much faith in human kind and the goodness of people but that's okay because I am Canadian and that's just how we are eh?

Thursday 9 October 2014

Mini We Day Regina

It has been a long time since I have been moved by something enough to take the time to blog about it.  Today, I have been inspired. 

A wonderful, motivated group of high school students took me on a journey of self discovery through a project they created and actualized called Mini We Day Regina.  The students shared their passion for the "Me to We" philosophy of putting others before yourself in a variety of ways.  The motivational speaker, Molly Burke, provided an emotional keynote, students shared their own experiences with "Me to We" trips and camps and we were reminded that the issues we so often complain about are, in fact, first world problems.

It is an important perspective to take as so much of my day to day work as an administrator in a high school includes requests and meetings for such important things as, "Please change my timetable because that teacher is too tough", "I want my spare in period 5", "My son should have received a 90% on that essay instead of 85", "My parking spot is too narrow" etc.

These students reminded me of how important education is, how in many places in the world children, especially girls, do not even have the opportunity to go to school!  We are so fortunate that our children receive the kind of education where they are encouraged to be problem solvers, to think outside the box, to consider their purpose and place on the earth, to use their skills and knowledge in service of others, to recognize injustice and to play a role in supporting positive change.

I am not going to lie, there have been days in my career where I have been in fear for the fact the my students will be the adults caring for me one day.  But not today.

 Today I know we are in good hands.  For there is nothing more powerful than educated youth uniting for a cause that is greater than themselves.  Using their power for good rather than evil.  It makes me immensely proud that I can say I may have played a small role in that consciousness.  It makes me immensely happy that I can watch it happen every day.  There are not too many jobs where one has that opportunity.  It makes me immensely grateful that I have one of those jobs. 

This morning, Molly Burke challenged the students to live, learn, pass it on.  I accept that challenge, do you?