Blog 1 ECS 102 Title; What is the informal definition of being Canadian?
I jolt awake from the ringing of the morning bell. My English teacher walks around the room speaking of an assignment we have to do for today’s class, due to the fogginess after my nap, I fail to listen. That is, until a specific sentence floats into my ear, “What makes us Canadian?” I am fully awake now as this question stirs around in my mind, What makes me Canadian? I think to myself, Maybe I should say that acquiring an Canadian citizenship makes us Canadian! I ignore this impulsive thought as it may come off as snarky to my teacher, but I laugh to myself anyway. This thought ponders me, as all I can think about are the stereotypical characteristics and personalities that come along with being Canadian; overly apologetic, playing hockey, our ‘mispronunciation’ of words, to name a few. After having many thoughts flow through my brain on what makes me Canadian I hear another girl’s response ever so clearly, “I think what makes me Canadian is the fact that I love winter, I love when it is cold outside!”. This response infuriates me, maybe it is because of my lack of sleep making me irritable but this comment stings. I think to myself, I hate winter, how can anyone like winter?! She must be insane to say something like that…. After her comment the only thing I hear is silence. No words, no gestures, no acknowledgment of her comment. I look to my right and focus on the girl who just spoke, who has been ignored. Her head peering down, slumped in her chair. I feel sorry for her… I think to myself, even though her response may have infuriated me, I can’t help but focus on the girl whose facial expression can speak more than 1000 words itself. The girl, her eyes tearing, her smile, and excitement evidently washed away from the lack of responses to her comment. Seeing this infuriates me more than her comment itself. All I can pay attention to now is a cheerless girl whose voice was only met with the echoes of silence.
After watching her for a brief amount of time, I finally get the courage, and energy to speak. “I think what makes us Canadian is the fact that many of us hate winter…” The girl to the right has her eyes set on me like the eyes of a hawk, observing their environment. Although I continue, with a bit of hesitation “and some like winter, I think diversity is what truly makes us Canadian.” I look to the right and see a bleak smile from the girl and a nod of gratitude. After speaking I lay my head down on the desk and repeat what I just said, diversity? I think to myself, why did I have to say diversity? Then the realization hits me. Diversity, while yes, makes up some part of our ‘Canadian’ identity, What makes us Canadian? I think to myself, then I realize that I gave a perfect example of what being ‘Canadian is. Being Canadian is being there for other people, whenever they need it.
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Hi Kiel, I really enjoyed reading your story! It shows a true self reflection of what it means to be a Canadian. There were two particular parts of your story that I particularly enjoyed. Where you talk about the girl who spoke up and the room fell silent was something that resonated with me. All throughout school, this was something I feared while being singled out in a classroom! The afterthoughts that maybe what was said was wrong or sounded stupid were something I, and many others, hated to face. Then going on explaining your thoughts of observing the girl’s body language, how she looked defeated and somewhat shameful of what she had said. Tying into that, the second part I really enjoyed was that you acknowledge how she felt and you backed her up. It can be hard to stand up for people in certain situations and this kind of situation shows courage and true kindness.
Your story was very detailed and descriptive. I was intrigued the entire time, hooked right from the start. I was able to picture the scenario perfectly in my head. I loved the last couple of sentences; “I think to myself, then I realize that I gave a perfect example of what being ‘Canadian is. Being Canadian is being there for other people, whenever they need it.” This part of your story ties everything together and shows a true self reflection.
Your story shows a great example of what it means to be Canadian. Thanks for sharing!