We are all just people on a floating sphere

It was a brisk September morning in 2011, the bell had just rung for recess, and I, along with all my classmates rush out of our classrooms to be greeted with the abundance of children in the boot room. We all are touching, bumping and hitting each other, trying our best to throw on our outside shoes. As light breaks through the open door to the outside world, we are greeted with warmth as the sun has hit our skin for the first time this morning. Every child in that entire building has squeezed through the tiny one-person doors and is feeling free. I start by taking my chances near the basketball hoop and quickly realizing how bad an idea. About one million basketballs are being pelted at the above hoop and are missing and coming for me instead as a backboard that previously didn’t exist for the ballers of 3rd grade. I walk around aimlessly with my friend Kesley, and we settle down on a bench to chat. We both are just simply happy people watching until we notice something different about this year’s playground kids.

I come from a tiny town, and we don’t get as many refugees from countries across the world as the big cities; we also don’t get many people choosing our tiny town up north to settle down. So seeing someone with a different skin tone was amazing to my friend and me.

It was almost like we both noticed in sync; we were amazed. I had never seen anyone with a dark complexion before, let alone have them attending my school. I was in great awe as my eyes latched onto the girl swinging alone on the swing set. All in a 15-minute time frame, I realized not only is there you and me, but there are beautiful people of all colours, races, cultures and sexuality on our amazing earth.

Within a week Kelsey and I had added a new bff to our friend group…