My Digital PortraitSo far, I’ve lived a pretty ordinary life. I grew up in Dunrobin,

Ontario with my mom, dad and little brother (who is not so little anymore). My immediate family is originally from the area, although my background extends to Scottish, Norwegian and German roots. I went to a Catholic elementary school known as St. Isidore from kindergarten to grade 6, and subsequently went to All Saints Catholic High school for grades 8-12. After high school, I decided to stay in Ottawa to attend Carleton University for psychology and a minor in law. Four years later, here I am in the university of Ottawa for teacher’s education. I love my friends, my dogs, big family get-togethers, and playing sports. That all sounds pretty ordinary, doesn’t it?

Growing up, like many other Canadian families, I spent most of my time in the hockey rink. My brother and I both grew up playing hockey; therefore the majority of our winters were spent travelling to and from practices and games. During high school, hockey consumed most of my time. I played for Rideau Saint Lawrence hockey team, as well as the All Saints girls hockey team. I spent my Wednesday’s off-ice training, Friday nights in Kemptville, Saturday’s in Spencerville and Sunday’s in Winchester playing hockey – every week. I can remember being away with tournaments on weekends, team gatherings during the week, and long road trips with teammates (with countless pit stops to Timmies along the way). A Canadian family devoted to hockey? Still pretty typical isn’t it?

I had always been average at school. I worked hard and did well in my classes, spent extra time getting help when I needed it, and handed my assignments in on time. I participated in school activities, fundraisers, played on the school varsity teams, and spent lunch times catching up with friends. Maybe what sets me apart from the typical high school student is that I particularly enjoyed math class. I relished

the feeling in mathematics when a tough concept would finally “click” and I could write down my answers on tests with confidence. Don’t be fooled that the “click” always came naturally. Tough concepts were both intimidating and frustrating, but I found that it made me more motivated than ever to determine the solution to each problem I encountered. Looking back, my overall experience with high school wasn’t out of the ordinary. School was gratifying, fun, stressful, overwhelming at times but mostly a pleasant journey. I would argue that most would agree with my statement that my high school experience resembles that of the “average” student. So far, it still sounds like my life is pretty ordinary at best.

My resume isn’t filled with impressive government student jobs nor does it state that I’ve worked overseas teaching English to foreign languages (although I enviously wish it did). Instead, the last three years I’ve spent my summers working at a golf course in Arnprior. I work from May through to November every year. I’ve become familiar with the members that golf there almost every day, as well as the children who come to golf on junior nights. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to work outside

and enjoy the weather during our short Canadian summers. Now working as a server, I look back and wonder whether I should have invested my time at a more esteemed and regarded establishment, rather than spend 3 years working your “average” student job.

It most definitely appears that I’ve described my life as “average”, at best. I was born and raised in Ottawa, went to high school in Ottawa and you guessed it, completed university in Ottawa. I got average grades and did well in school just as many ordinary children have. I can’t say that I’ve travelled across the world to teach or that I’ve participated in groundbreaking research studies, but rather that I’ve worked the traditional student job. So if I have lived the “average” life, what sets me apart from everyone else? What makes my identity so special?

It occurred to me that “average” doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Maybe those who have lived an average life go on to do exceptional things. My life may appear to be pretty average at the surface, but if I were to think, I can start to see that living my average life has lead me to extraordinary experiences. For example, after my first year at Carleton finished and summer began, three of my friends and I set out to backpack Europe for a month. I was able to see parts of the world that I had only seen in pictures. We started in Ireland and worked our way through England, France, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Berlin. I had the opportunity to immerse myself into different cultures from around the world, see famous statues, buildings and fountains, try different foods and meet people who lead entirely different lives than mine. Most importantly, I got to share this experience with close

friends. I may have not been able to teach overseas or spend my summers working at a

government desk, but at least I had the opportunity to travel. I would like to think that maybe from this experience I have acquired skills and knowledge that I wouldn’t attain elsewhere, and possibly transfer these skills to a classroom one day. Perhaps by sharing my experience travelling parts of the world will influence a sense of curiosity and wonder in my students and allow

them to immerse themselves in culture as I had.

Even though working at a golf course could be considered an “average” student job, I still learned skills that one-day might be useful as a future educator. Working at the course both as an employee and as a trainer of new employees, I learned the importance of trial and error, as well as the importance of creating a pleasant environment where questions are encouraged. This is an

important quality to bring to the classroom, as it is my duty as a teacher to create a supportive and caring environment for the students. I believe that it is important to

maintain a positive and encouraging mentality in order to keep students engaged and wanting to learn! Maybe “average” jobs are more beneficial than I had thought after all.

In order to complete my psychology degree, I had to complete my honors project, which I decided to take over the summer. Typically this course is completed over the course of a year, but in the summer, it is scaled down to 4 intense months. We concentrated our research on a certain topic that was related to psychology, but in interest to us. I decided to choose animal-assisted therapy as I have a love for dogs and also was interested in their effect on individuals within the health care system as well as their influence on social behaviour. I put all my time and effort into my research over the summer, as well as produced countless drafts to come up with my final paper. This was the first time, in my whole university career that I had ever received an A+. After my excitement began to wear, I realized that that working on something you’re passionate about, doesn’t feel too much like work anymore. Maybe all that time I thought I was just “average” in school had finally paid off.

In conclusion, perhaps living an “average” life may not be so average after all. I’ve been privileged to live this “average” life and find myself grateful for all the experiences that I have lived through, memories that I have made, and knowledge or skills that I have gained. This includes both the ups and downs that I’ve undergone, as it has all lead me to where I am now. Turns out this average life of mine lead me right to where I want to be!