My story begins not so long ago on Vancouver’s east-side. Being born and raised in Vancouver my world revolved around my community (Hastings-Sunrise) which my family was actively a part of. My home was situated between Our Lady of Sorrows parish (K1-7) and Notre Dame (Secondary) in the P.N.E exhibition area.
At that time the neighborhood was predominately Portuguese-Italian with a growing influx of mainland Chinese, which provided the majority of my friends. Culturally speaking, my family fit in quite well with the neighborhood and with the Canadian mosaic that is becoming commonplace in our society. I came from an interracial marriage; my mother being a third generation Canadian of Irish-Romanian descent, whereas my father being a newly arrived first generation immigrant from Greece. My ethnically diverse community, full of eclectic charm and character, offered me a culturally rich upbringing that would continue to resonate with me throughout my life. An upbringing that granted me a comfort with and an understanding and curiosity of individuals with mixed backgrounds.
Equally important to my story is my educational journey. Education has always played an important role in my life. Values that were initially instilled by my parents and reinforced through my school allowed my academic abilities to flourish over the years. The notion of teaching entered my vocabulary through peer tutoring at a young age. In grade 4 at Dr. AR Lord Elementary in Vancouver I was enrolled into an experimental education program. I began to voluntarily peer tutor other students in my classes and in time I was sent to other classes to tutor other students. By the time I reached high school tutoring others had become a way of life.
However, university was the place that my academic and ethnic inclinations coalesced. At Simon Fraser University I found myself gravitating towards the different ethnic communities that existed as I began to participate in a variety of ethnic club activities. I was an active member of a variety of clubs, most notably was the Punjabi Student Association (PSA) of SFU, in which I was not only a card carrying member, but was the vice president for 2 of those years. My involvement in these ethnic clubs introduced me to the world of work at cram schools and adult educational centers. There tutoring turned to teaching as I began to help students with their K-12 and ESL difficulties. However, it took 3 friends met at Simon Fraser University during my Physics undergraduate degree to set my educational moral compass. These individuals taught me how to enjoy my studies as not an ends to a means, but for the knowledge imparted; and to enjoy the process of learning. It was at this time of my life that I began to envision a career in education.
By the time I had graduated from university I had narrowed my list of potential career paths down to a few. Of these involved my love of education and a desire to become an educator. However, it was my desire to travel to the far reaches of our world together with the opportunities available to teach overseas that allowed me to solidify my career choice. During my time abroad I experienced what it meant to be a teacher in a variety of places by teaching a variety of age levels and subject areas and have subsequently fallen in love with the notion of being a teacher.
One of the greatest opportunities that my travels afforded me was the ability to experience the educational perspectives of non-Canadians. Not only as a teacher, but as a student. It was in Taiwan that I decided to advance my career by obtaining a Masters of Business Administration. During my time in the College of Commerce International MBA Program at National ChengChi University of Taiwan I had the opportunity to not only participate in academic circles, student clubs and the student council, but also be involved with the community and the administration/teaching side of the university through my volunteering contributions.
With this experience I was ready to return home to Canada, commit to the teacher education program at the University of British Columbia to not only validate a career path up to now, but embark on a new journey; to teach in British Columbia’s K-12 public education system. Now I stand, with the Bachelor of Education program behind me and my teacher certification in hand, waiting for what lies ahead…
