Being involved in the community has been important to me since my adolescence. In high school I engaged in extra-curricular activities related to several classes, including Social Justice, which I took in grade 12. This was also the same time when I played my last year of minor hockey, which was always something special to me. In order to stay involved with minor hockey and connected to the sport, I began coaching at 17. Initially I volunteered to work with players in the U12 division of Kamloops Minor Hockey, but by the time I was 19 I was coaching the U17 division. I still volunteer each year to coach a team in this division, and each year presents new challenges. Regardless of the circumstances, the challenges hardly feel difficult or stressful; this is because I love coaching, and any adversity that arises and persevered through is an important aspect of the experience that contributes to the passion. Reflecting on my experiences as a coach, I realize that adversity is always manageable when countered with positivity. I have used this knowledge to my advantage throughout my education and I hope to do the same in my career as a teacher. I understand that the stress related to academics and career development can be a mental burden, but there is nothing more powerful than a positive outlook and reflection. My volunteer work as a coach was an important factor in that realization.
Staying on the topic of countering adversity, one of Kamloops’ greatest challenges in recent years was the British Columbia wildfires in the summers of 2017 and 2018. 2017 was particularly bad and the entire province was shocked by fires it had not experienced in some time. Many were displaced, and evacuees from all over the Thompson-Nicola region called Kamloops home for several weeks. In order to make life as easy as possible for those enduring hardship, the community in Kamloops came together to provide hospitality in many ways. In order to support these efforts, I volunteered with a local animal-support group, Four Paws. This group helped find foster homes for evacuees’ pets as they could not live with them when they were being housed in emergency rest areas, such as local hockey rinks and other city facilities. Volunteering during this time taught me a fair amount about the value of mutual support. Hard times are inevitable, and they often arise without warning. In order to weather them when they do arise, we need to support each other. However, this belief should not be limited to times of adversity. In order to help each other thrive, we teachers, students, and everyone else need to express empathy and compassion.
The third notable volunteer experience I want to discuss is also the one I have most recently been involved in. That is, volunteering to help with an inter-school math challenge. It was only for a short time, one morning at the end of February, but as I reflect on that experience two things stand out to me. First, I was taken aback by how grateful the organizers of the event were that volunteers like myself would dedicate any amount of time to supporting their event and the student’s learning. Second, it was interesting to see students from all over the district compete against one another in a respectful and joyous manner. As part of their math challenge, students participated in several hands-on activities and as they did this they not only did their best to succeed, but they helped other students from other teams do the same. Ultimately, what was on display was the value of experiential learning and cooperation. Although it was only for a few hours that one morning, what I observed that day allowed me to realize how important it is to strive toward revolutionizing the way we teach; this can be accomplished through the integration of inquiry-based and experiential learning philosophies into teaching practices.