Pure excitement

Throughout this week I’ve been trying to put everything into perspective after our trip to Keji and the time we’ve spent with Don and Elsie. Getting back into the routine of a classroom setting was easier than expected but you could tell that everyone’s perspective and how they’ve viewed things have changed since the trip. While we shared our stories with those who didn’t have the opportunity to go, you could tell the impact that Don had on everyone. The opportunity and everything we took away from the experience was priceless.

From the group of us that had the opportunity to meet Elise, I am completely thrilled to have the chance to work with such an amazing individual. I cannot wait for the opportunity to hear the rest of her story and help her illustrate it to the rest of the world. Our society needs to know about the issues that the Mi’kmaq people faced and how much its’ effected their lives and the their children’s lives. My hope is that through Elise’s publication we can inform and educate more individuals to get rid of the stigmas and stereotypes that are associated with the Aboriginal people in our community.

I have nothing but pure excitement in me and I cannot wait to get started with this project. Along with the topic of projects, I’m also going to be working on the application to get Elise an honorary doctorate from Acadia University as well as something from the performing arts sense. There is so much potential in regards to the impact that we as students can have in our community and I’m thrilled to be able to be a part of it.

Going on the land of the unknown

Just a few days ago, I left everything I knew behind about society and its' culture to explore and emerse myself into the land of the unknown. Prior to my trip to Milford house and the Kejimkujik National Park - I had a small amount of knowledge of the Mi'kmaq people. I claimed that I was knowledgable at the time of my learnings (but then again, I was in grade seven so of course I thought I knew everything!), but after an eventful two days I realized that there is much more for me to learn and this trip was only the start of it. This experience has really opened my eyes - to hear Dr. Don Julien talk about his past and experiences, to hear part of Elsie Basque's story. Phenomenal. It was just a breathtaking experience.

The start of this experience was interesting one for sure! By the time that our car got to the park ... we learned that every other car had taken a completely different route because they were following the directions (the direction's weren't completely wrong mind you they were just going to the other Keji park on the South Shore). Upon waiting for the rest of my classmates- I took at little look around the vistors building. Inside the building, Donna our guide, had shown me various paintings on wall that reminded me of the photos inside our reading of Red Earth. The petroglyph paintings were really interesting to look at because a few of them had some similarities to the ones in the book. Taking what I saw of the petroglyph paintings inside - to the rocks was amazing. The smallest of pictures that the Mi'kmaq drew! It was simply phenomenal! It was really sad to see that people have the nerve to write their names and spoil what the Mi'kmaq have left.

Going through the trails and hearing the stories, the artifacts and pictures that Donna had for us was really putting the readings into perspective. The Mi'kmaq were just trying to go about their everyday lives like we are today, yes they did have different tendencies than they did but who are we to cause them grief? How would we feel if someone came into our everyday lives and just upset the natural order of everything! Listening to the stories that Donna had told us, and the things that Dr. Don Julien have shared with us really touched me. I'm not one to show much emotion but I can understand where they are coming from to a slight degree. We will never be able to understand the full depth of it but we can try. Taking into perspective everything I've ever done in my life, all of the people I've ever helped and the situations I've dealt it. It made all of them seem so mediocre.

My favorite part of this entire experience though was staying an extra day. I got to experience something magical the second day. Meeting Elise was such an honor. To hear her stories - the struggles she faced as a child, the struggles she faced when she tried to teach and her will to keep fighting was inspiring. I thought about how I was going to write my blog the entire trip. I was thinking about how I was going to express what I saw, and what I heard - I can't. The entire experience has touched me on the inside and it is really hard to vocalize how it made me feel, how it changes the way I see things. Just trying to imagine how Elise felt during her time at the residential schools - seeing the pain on her face as she recalls those horrid memories. It's something that you won't be able to forget.

The potential project we have to Elise is fantastic. What I would give to have the opportunity to work with her and have people understand her story. It's breathtaking. It's fantastic. I've been at a loss for words since this to Keji and that doesn't happen very often. The photos I've taken during the trip will explain what I can't write. A photograph is worth a thousand words - these photos are worth a lot more then that. They are just simple photos taken of people. They're the photos of survivors, photographs of a culture that is still fighting to this day, photos of a new wakening.

To be blessed to be in the presence of these three amazing individuals has already made my year. The opportunities that are going to come from this class are going to be endless. The friendships and bonding experiences that we've had so far are completely priceless. I feel very privileged to have this opportunity and I'm going to do what I can to help. Going on the land of the unknown didn't hinder my spirits, they made them sore.

(On a side note, I'll get the photos up from the trip soon!)

Introductory information.

Hello there, for anyone that's reading this blog I would like to apologize in advance how personal my first entry is going to be. I do promise that the entries after this will be politically stimulating (or at least, I'm going to try to make them politically stimulating ...)

My name is Lisa Nguyen, and I am a second year student at Acadia University. I'm going into my first year of my political science degree and previously I was doing a double major in Philosophy and Psychology. I do however hope to pair up political science with business if that's at all possible - hopefully in a double major but a minor will also suffice. I was born and raised in the GTA (Greater-Toronto-Area) until the age of six when my parents decided to uproot us to Nova Scotia. Since then I've been living in and around the Halifax area. I personally think that Halifax is a bit too small but it isn't a match for Wolfville.

Coming to Acadia I already had a generalization of the community and a feel for the university. I've been to Acadia on various occasions during my high school career for leadership conference. I have been part of the Nova Scotia Secondary School Students' Association (or the NSSSA) for many years and that has allowed me various opportunities to build on the skills I already have as an individual. For this beautiful organization I've done two crucial roles - Public Relations and WENDY. PR is self-explanatory but to grasp the concept of a WENDY is quite difficult. I would not suggest asking me what it means because to be frank - I don't know what it means, Anyone who has held the position doesn't know what it means. Only the people who founded the NSSSA will ever know. The NSSSA was only one part of my life that has helped shaped me into who I am today. I've always been heavily involved in the community and I couldn't imagine my life without it. From doing positions like Vice President of Information and Technology, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Stage managing musicals and plays, working four jobs at once, being captain of sports teams - I've had my fair share of leadership, planning and executing events; I loved every part of it. That's why I'm so excited about the project part of this course. I get to implement what I've done in the last few years into a classroom.

Aside from that, I heavily involved with SIFE Acadia as the Vice President of Project Development, I'm one of the student campus tour guides, I play on the Acadia Ultimate Frisbee team, along with intramural frisbee, and I keep getting more and more involved as the days go on. I love extreme sports (skypdiving is my favorite as of right now and I'm going to work towards getting my license to skydive), tattoos (it's a horrible addiction), music, travelling, volunteering, photography, and the list goes on forever.

This is me in a nutshell (almost), and to whomever is reading this - it's a small glimpse into my busy, hectic life. Over the next few days I'm going to post my response to the movie and my trip to Keji.

Cheers!