There is nothing better than shaping you in your formative years than travel and living in a foreign country. This helps one in accepting different styles and perspectives and being a tolerant and open-minded person in general. It allows one to be an outsider for a while and this is conducive to positive growth and development as it allows analysis of cultural differences and where one stands in ones own personal beliefs.
For me , i feel that the five years that i spent in Canada during my college years were crucial in shaping me and making me who i am today. Arriving in Canada to a college campus during orientation week was an eye opening experience to say the least!! The crazy purple jacketed engineers who persisted in terrorizing the frosh, the upper year students lounging with cans of beer outside their apartments, the majestic limestone buildings and the anticipation of what lay ahead was an incredible feeling.
Though i suspect this was not so for my father who looked rather ashen and devastated at the prospect of leaving me alone in a new country where i knew no-one, for me however the possibilities were endless and i felt a weight being lifted off of me and the excitement of something new beginning.
I was not prepared however for the changes that were to take place in me over the next few years, from a wide eyed innocent first year to a considerably more jaded upper year student who had experienced everything that had been so foreign and exotic what seemed like a lifetime ago. The experience was bitter sweet however as i experienced loss of my first love, disappointment in myself at my inability to accomplish all i wanted, fear that time was passing too fast and the experience had been too fleeting.
I lost close friends which was devastating as i had never known such close friendships before i attended college. The level of trust and interdependence i shared with my best friend was something truly special and magical for me and losing people i loved to distance was not easy especially since i had let much of my old life go in my years away.
Sometimes now i look back at my experiences and am in awe of what i had the privilege to experience during those five years.
1) mind opening and horizon broadening classes and understanding that i was allowed to think and question beyond what i had known, this in turn lead to rejection of some of what i had grown up with but made me who i am.
2) A realization that hard work begets hard work, this was primarily realized through experience when i went through a difficult process of settling down to focus on my studies. When i finally managed to gain a steady momentum and excitement about my work, the feeling of reward and euphoria was exhilarating. While i had been a hard worker at school, we were carefully guided and very little was left to chance and ourselves, the desire to please my parents was always a major factor in my performance. Here i realized that someday i would be on my own to pursue my own dreams and if i did not perform no-one was accountable but me.
3)An understanding that independence was a great thing and not scary or intimidating as i had thought it to be living in the sanctuary of my parents home.
These were some life changing revelations for me as navigated my five year journey through my college years. On a lighter note i miss
1) the friendliness of Canadians
2) poutine!!!
3) Tim Hortons coffee and iced Cappucinos
4) endless hours spent at indigo books
5) Even the Canadian Winter!!!! imagine that!
6) Barenaked ladies
7)Raccoons which i saw for the first time (three of them running in a line)
8)Rollerblading in the middle of the night!
9) thanksgiving and Christmas with friends
Here i went sky diving, was a bridesmaid at my best friends wedding, got my first tattoo and got my first shot at making my own decisions.
I miss you Canada, you enriched my life in a very special way!
For me , i feel that the five years that i spent in Canada during my college years were crucial in shaping me and making me who i am today. Arriving in Canada to a college campus during orientation week was an eye opening experience to say the least!! The crazy purple jacketed engineers who persisted in terrorizing the frosh, the upper year students lounging with cans of beer outside their apartments, the majestic limestone buildings and the anticipation of what lay ahead was an incredible feeling.
Though i suspect this was not so for my father who looked rather ashen and devastated at the prospect of leaving me alone in a new country where i knew no-one, for me however the possibilities were endless and i felt a weight being lifted off of me and the excitement of something new beginning.
I was not prepared however for the changes that were to take place in me over the next few years, from a wide eyed innocent first year to a considerably more jaded upper year student who had experienced everything that had been so foreign and exotic what seemed like a lifetime ago. The experience was bitter sweet however as i experienced loss of my first love, disappointment in myself at my inability to accomplish all i wanted, fear that time was passing too fast and the experience had been too fleeting.
I lost close friends which was devastating as i had never known such close friendships before i attended college. The level of trust and interdependence i shared with my best friend was something truly special and magical for me and losing people i loved to distance was not easy especially since i had let much of my old life go in my years away.
Sometimes now i look back at my experiences and am in awe of what i had the privilege to experience during those five years.
1) mind opening and horizon broadening classes and understanding that i was allowed to think and question beyond what i had known, this in turn lead to rejection of some of what i had grown up with but made me who i am.
2) A realization that hard work begets hard work, this was primarily realized through experience when i went through a difficult process of settling down to focus on my studies. When i finally managed to gain a steady momentum and excitement about my work, the feeling of reward and euphoria was exhilarating. While i had been a hard worker at school, we were carefully guided and very little was left to chance and ourselves, the desire to please my parents was always a major factor in my performance. Here i realized that someday i would be on my own to pursue my own dreams and if i did not perform no-one was accountable but me.
3)An understanding that independence was a great thing and not scary or intimidating as i had thought it to be living in the sanctuary of my parents home.
These were some life changing revelations for me as navigated my five year journey through my college years. On a lighter note i miss
1) the friendliness of Canadians
2) poutine!!!
3) Tim Hortons coffee and iced Cappucinos
4) endless hours spent at indigo books
5) Even the Canadian Winter!!!! imagine that!
6) Barenaked ladies
7)Raccoons which i saw for the first time (three of them running in a line)
8)Rollerblading in the middle of the night!
9) thanksgiving and Christmas with friends
Here i went sky diving, was a bridesmaid at my best friends wedding, got my first tattoo and got my first shot at making my own decisions.
I miss you Canada, you enriched my life in a very special way!
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