Feeling gratitude to those who have shaped me into the person I am.

There are some people in your life that you meet once or twice, or maybe they stayed in your life for a season and are not present in it anymore or no longer there physically, but the impact they have left on you has remained long after.

Growing up I went to predominantly white elementary schools. High school was my first exposure to seeing peers that looked like me. When I think back to my time in high school, I think of all the laughs and shenanigans my group of friends and I got up to. The university student in me can’t help but laugh at how I used to think that Calculus 30 was the hardest math out there, and then I got to university and realized I barely had grazed the tip of that iceberg. 

One individual in particular comes to mind when I reflect back on my time in high school. She was a woman of color.

She was fierce, but composed. Beautiful and intelligent. She had the effortlessness of putting together a look. But above all, I loved the way she stood up for herself.

I immigrated to Canada when I was a toddler. I guess you could call me a 1.5 generation immigrant. At times that generation can feel stuck between two worlds. The culture of their parents and the place they immigrated from, and the culture that surrounds them and that they are growing up in.

I feel like our society has so many definitions of what a 1^st generation immigrant or 2^nd generation immigrant looks like. Yet, I could not find a sense of belonging in either of these communities.

This girl from high school was able to give me my first of many definitions of what it means to be a 1st ½ generation immigrant. She was her own unique self and stayed true to what she believed in. 

She was a blended mix of her parents’ heritage and her environment’s culture. Choosing parts from both and creating her own versions of them. 14-year-old me was just in awe of her being her own beautiful self. 

While we shared classes together throughout high school, we never became close friends. We no longer stay in touch as often as I would like. I might pass her on campus and ask how she is doing. I would barter a large sum she probably doesn’t even realize the impact that she has had on me. And yet it is seasons and people like her, who have helped shape me into the woman that I am.

I still do salt water gargles religiously the way a former chorister’s parent, who I only met on a choir tour where everyone in the choir got sick, showed me when I feel even the slightest signs of a sore throat coming in. I continue to enjoy singing in that choir, but haven’t seen that parent since their child left the choir. 

My Subway order —sweet onion chicken teriyaki on Italian herbs and cheese bread, toasted— hasn’t changed since the first time I got Subway and a friend recommended trying it. The Subway location on Cumberland Avenue has since gone through renovations and I no longer see this friend, but my go to order is the same. 

During this season of thankfulness, this author would like to impart a piece of advice. Each interaction, no matter how big or small you have with someone, has long lasting ramifications, and at times you may never get to see it. 

Some of them can be life changing, like meeting that girl in high school was for me. While others can be as minute as a Subway order, but depending on who you are, food might not be a small thing and getting that food order right is vital to who you are. 

These interactions left positive impressions on me. Interactions that aren’t filled with respect and care can also leave impressions that shape people. It is crucial to strive to leave each interaction you have with someone in a kind manner, knowing that it has the capability to influence who they become. 

I am thankful for all those who I don’t talk to anymore, and always will be, even though they probably don’t even realize the impact they have had on me in the short time we interacted.Your imprint has remained long after you and I am oh so grateful.