Home, something some of us identify as a house, an apartment, somewhere we live; for some of us its two eyes and a heart beat, and for me, its UBC. As strange as it sounds, its my home. It was the first place I lived in Canada, and I just fell in love with the place. The trees, the openness, the ocean, Jericho beach, the trails by Acadia, the professors, the big houses, the sense of community the place brings and the perfection the pace holds for me in my heart is truly irreplaceable. But I guess that’s what home is supposed to be right? This one perfect place where you feel best, most calm, most yourself and a place that holds your element. When I last went back to UBC, I could have sworn I was going to cry if I wasn’t in a bus full of my band mates. It was perfect, most of the cherry blossoms were in bloom, the streets were empty, there were students everywhere and it was a little over cast at first, and if it had been raining it would have been my haven, but it turned out be bright and sunny.
I first moved to UBC in 2007, and it was home for me right away. My soon to be best friend was my neighbour who was 5 years old when I first met her. Since day one till today, I treat her like a little sister. Although when I saw her this time, she was so much more grown up and mature it was hard for me to digest. Anyways her parents are my god parents, to give you a sense of how close I am with these people. There were a few other batch mates that my family is still good friends with and were all family and have been since UBC. It was one of the first things I learned in UBC, that family doesn’t end with blood, family is made. We’re a very big family and expanding with some of them getting married and having kids its just growing and its a fantastic family. Every time we go back to visit, that week, every day, we see some of them and at least twice we have a big family dinner where all of get together catch up, eat and just make memories.
I was never good at making nor sustaining friends since I was 2 years old. I have been bullied for 15 years in my life its taught me a lot. But I hadn’t found my voice until I was 8. I was bullied physically and verbally by many kids in my grade three class because my age dictated I be in grade two, but I was in grade three and four classes for my subjects. But predominantly because I was the new kid in school. I usually had my lunch in the bathroom stalls for the first few weeks until a sweet little Korean girl, who’s name I won’t reveal for privacy purposes invited me to lunch. She was the first and my only friend in that school apart from my little sister. This girl was not only sweet and kind she helped me stand up for myself. Once I was being bullied and this was at the beginning of our friendship and she stood up for me. She taught me that being silent does nothing, that raising your opinion and voice makes your heard and known and not looked as weak or venerable. My mother always had taught me to be silent to the bullies because she told me they would react even more. But this girl taught me that don’t stoop to their level but don’t just stand their without a voice. I was eight when I stood up to my bullies for the first time but it certainly wasn’t the last.
This is also the place I learned to not be afraid. As a child I used to be insecure about my voice. My parents then brought me to a classical Indian singer who coached me for years and helped me grow as a singer. Little did I know expanding my range would also help me grow as a person. Within six months, I performed at a few local community events and went on to join the school’s choir. I was outgoing since day one because I moved so much and it was up to me to approach people. But I never voiced my opinion till much later on, I almost never raised my hand in class and I dreaded being put on the spot. Singing helped me grow out of my shell to spread my wings and find my love for speech giving, debating and MUN.
There are many things this place taught me and if I listed them all this article wouldn’t be short of a few thousand words. But this place is my home because it has given me so much, throughout the years its always been there in my life and has helped me be who I am today and I consider my roots as a human being to be there.