My home is in Rosetown Saskatchewan. I have lived on a farm ten minutes out of Rosetown. On my farm, I live with my Mom, Dad, and twin sister. We have horses, sheep, dogs, cats, goats and cows on our farm. Rosetown is a small town populated with around 2,500 people. What makes us most Canadian in Rosetown is when we stop at Tim Horton’s to grab a coffee, while on the way to a hockey game.
What makes me Canadian is that I play hockey and I rodeo. I have played hockey in Rosetown since I could walk and until I was fifteen. All those years I played hockey with the boys, so I learnt to crosscheck and play with my body pretty fast. When I was fifteen, in my second year bantam, I played midget hockey on a girls’ team centered out of Dinsmore. I played on the girls’ midget team until I was eighteen, and in grade twelve.
In my last year of midget hockey, a nightmare that every hockey player has became reality. On February 9th, 2019, it was my second last league game. I was getting excited for playoffs and provincials if we made it. Five minutes into the game, I went to stop and I heard two pops in my leg, so I hit the ice and couldn’t get up. We were playing in Leroy, so they ambulanced me to Humboldt for X-Rays. The doctor in Humboldt referred me to a surgeon in Saskatoon for the next morning. On February 10th, I went to get X-Rays again and to see a surgeon. The surgeon said it was one of the worst breaks he has seen. So on February 12th, I was back in to get surgery. My surgeon put a plate and six screws in my leg. The worst news I wanted to hear was that I was going to be out for the rest of the league games, playoff games and also provincials if my team made it, in my grade twelve year. I watched my team from the bench, cheering them on through playoffs. My team ended up winning the North league, to play the South for the provincial finals. We played Lafleche and it was best of three. The third game went nto overtime and eighteen seconds in, my twin scored and we were the Provincial Champs in 2019!
This is by far the most amazing moment in my life and what I think about when someone asks me about being Canadian, is definitely that year of hockey. It is the most amazing feeling, especially when you grew up playing hockey and it is one of you favourite sports. Hockey is Canada’s sport and it is well-known. That is what makes me Canadian.
Self-Story 2- My First Memory
My first memory of noticing that other people have different colour skin was when I was in Grade three. Being from a small town, we were just used to looking around and all we would see was white people. One of my new classmates just moved to Canada from the Philippines. I ended up graduating with him, and when we got to high school it was way more diverse. I would take a look around and see so many different colours of skin and not just white.
With us being in grade three and this ‘new kid’ coming to join our class, we all made sure he felt welcomed. We let him play with us and we included him in everything. We introduced him to a lot of things that Canadians do, and we also asked him about his country. He was so kind and absolutely hilarious. He became closer with all of us and we ended up all being really good friends.
To me this was so important because we made him feel welcomed even though he might have felt that he didn’t fit in with us just because of his skin colour. When we got into high school, there was so many more people who moved to Rosetown from all different countries and we did the exact same thing to them as well. By the day of our graduation, they were apart of us. We were all a team, no matter what colour of skin someone had.
Tim Hortans and hockey is a huge part of being Canadian, you nailed it! Hockey in Canada really makes communities and people come together! I really liked this post, I grew up playing hockey and love the sport so can relate to how you felt during the time off due to the injury! I feel like the beginning about the farm and all the animals weren’t a necessity, as I was expecting to read a farm story however this did show you’re a small town girl!
As I was reading about you being on the ice and heard to pops in your leg and fell to the ice I could picture being a fan in the rink and hearing it and watching you fall, I then picture the gasps and everyone in aw as you’re laying on the ice! I thought you did a good job with the Canadian part of it! Congrats on being Provincial Champs!
My first memory of noticing that other people have a different skin colour than me is very similar to yours. My elementary school was almost entirely white with the only exception being one or two people. My high school was also a lot more diverse than my elementary school. It’s interesting that people who have never met each other in real life and who grew up in different places end up having very similar experiences. I enjoyed reading about how well you treated the new student because going out of your way to include someone who might feel a little misplaced can really help them get more comfortable! I thought it was nice that you introduced him to some “Canadian” things while also asking about his country. This is a very wholesome post.