It’s a new year. Some people are reflecting on the past
year, some are looking toward the future. Both being great, I’m
appreciating what I have at this moment.
Last night I hung out with friends that I met
while traveling in Hong Kong two years ago with the U of T Summer Abroad
Program. I hadn’t seen them in a while; we chilled as if no
amount of time had separated us. There of course were the usual
platitudes of “What have you been up to? How is school going? Are
you dating anyone? How were your holidays? Happy New Year.” But
then the traditional group activity started: talking, laughing, and
yelling which resulted in us receiving killer stares from our servers and
other clients at the all-you-can-eat sushi place.
We are a diverse bunch. Most at our table
were Asian and from different countries; some full blooded and some
mixed. Ron and Benny are Korean. Anthony is
Chinese. Emily is half Chinese and half Scottish/Ukrainian. Sina is Persian, and I’m Indigenous, Spanish,
Arab, and Chinese.
We are not only ethnically diverse but
academically diverse also. Sina and I are the
only ones from the group that night not enrolled in a commerce program
at U of T. At an event that we attended later that evening I pointed
that out to him. He responded sarcastically, “That’s why
we’re going to be poor all our lives.” We laughed out loud,
very loud, as is customary with us.
Through our life experiences and our studies
we’ve developed a different worldview. Sitting in an office and
crunching numbers is the last thing I want to do with my life. Finding
ways to dismantle the inequality in this capitalist society,
criticizing political systems and entering discussions about oppression
is the last thing my business friends want to do. But there is an
appreciation for each other that we have. Our greetings are filled with
smiles and hugs; memories are shared and relived through conversation;
new adventures are experienced with an eagerness to maintain our bond.
“I’ll probably be protesting
outside of some company that you’ll be working at in the
future,” I said to Ron. “Just don’t put my name in
any of your articles,” he said. “I’ll just wink at
you, letting you know that I’ll be at the next reunion,” I
said. We laughed.
Friendship in all its different forms is just
one thing that I appreciate in my life. Before I started studying at U
of T I was in an accident where I broke my left femur (thigh bone). As
a result I walk with a slight limp. I was in traction for a month and
then had to wear a cast that reached from my waist down to my left
ankle. After that I wheeled myself around on a banana cart (a bed with
big wheels like a wheel chair). When the cast came off I was put in a
wheelchair for a while, then I moved up to a walker and crutches, then
a cane, and finally nothing.
I was sixteen then. I’ll always
remember one of my roommates, Arthur, from the rehab center where I
lived for four months, for teaching me one of the biggest lessons of my
life. Art, as we called him, used/uses an electric wheelchair as his means
of transportation. He has a form of spina
bifida, a malformation of the spine, and is unable to walk. One
afternoon we talked about our dreams. I was spewing out nonsense such
as wanting to own a low rider Cadillac, a mansion on the beach, and
other material things. I asked him, “So what are your
dreams?” He responded, “To walk.”
Smack!
Reality hit. I was going to leave the center
a different way than how I entered it. Art was leaving almost the same.
I had taken for granted the fact that I was privileged in a way that
others are not—I had the ability to walk. I don’t walk the
same as I did prior to my accident, and I do have pains and limitations
as a result, but I can still do so many things that others are not able
to do, for which I am thankful.
My family is also something that I really
appreciate in my life; since coming to U of T I have adopted a new
member into my family, my fourth mom. I’m blessed; I have four
women in my life who love me. I have my biological mom who is number
one for giving birth to me, raising me, and putting up with my
rebellious attitude as a teen. My second mom, Señora
Gabriella, my neighbour, who helped raise me,
as my mom is a single parent. My third mom, my aunt Adriana, who
insists on being called “mama;” and now I have a fourth
mom, Jackie, who looks out for me at school.
Friends, family, abilities and opportunities;
my life and my experiences at U of T are great. Rather than make New
Year resolutions, I’m just focusing on the privileges and the
people that I have in my life. There is an Indigenous teaching that
says, “It takes a community to raise a child.” I appreciate
that.
