A bit about me

Hullo!

So I have this blog, yes. We have established this fact.

I have failed to mention who I am, though! So here I go.
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I am a 20 year old nomad, with absolutely no solid life plans at the moment. I have been travelling with various programs for about 3 years now, and have been away from home for 2 years or so. I first started my travels when I went to Germany in 2010 with my school. I was in a German program at my high school and we were given the opportunity to go to Germany on an exchange. I lived there for about 3 months, and this is what made me really want to travel more. The times when I was desperately lonely and one smiling face meant the world to me gave me the courage to maintain my faith in people and to view the world through eyes other than my own for a change.

Right after coming back from Germany I sent myself straight to a French learning program called Explore. At first I had been disappointed that I was going to be placed in Winnipeg, where I'm a mere 20 minute bike ride from the Explore residence, but my trip to Germany had made me extremely home sick. So I really did not mind being able to visit my family over the weekends in this case. This was a healing process for me, for sure. I was so glad to be close to my family and simultaneously discovering a new community of people from all over Canada. This was the perfect way for me to calm my spirit after a hard 3 months away from home.
Explore program ended after 5 weeks, and I went back to school for grades 11 and 12.

Life went on, I finished school, and a week after graduation I took the plunge and joined Katimavik. I lived with 11 other people for 6 months, doing full-time volunteer service in Ontario and New Brunswick. This was a pivotal point in my life, as it was the very first time I had been so deliberate in leaving home for this kind of time-span, knowing absolutely nobody. It was terrifying. And it was the best experience I have had in my life so far. I still have contact with people I met on this program, and for that I am so grateful.

Katimavik ended, and I fell into a deep sense of withdrawal. I had a really hard time readjusting to my old life, and I honestly never fully got back into the rhythm of things. I had changed too much. My friends had moved on, gotten their own friends and half a year of university under their belts. These changes are normal and there was nothing wrong with it, but I felt like an outsider. I took a spring course and got a job to fill in the gaps and to keep my mind off of how much I missed Katimavik, but it only took so long before I spiraled back into depression. I needed to fuel the fire again and do what I felt God calling me to do.

And this is when I made the decision to resign from my job and join Mennonite Voluntary Service.

I am now in Edmonton, where I have been working with people in the inner-city and discovering what it means to "walk what you talk." A lesson that I had always advocated for in my mind, but had never thought possible for someone like me to carry out. With a new interest in social issues and serving others, I will continue on this path that will possibly lead to working with a non-profit in some shape or form.






Sometimes I wonder if I am crazy. You know, these past few years have been spent trying to find myself. Everywhere I go I meet new people and have new experiences, but I struggle to really understand what community means in a voluntary context. We become a community, for sure, but then we have to part ways and choose our respective life paths. I struggle with this. But that is how it goes, eh?