4 Years Later, The View from Here

Well, well, well... Long time no blog. With it coming up fast on 4 years since I finished Katimavik, I thought I would take this time to talk a bit about how I feel the experience still relates to my life today.

These days I'm enrolled to study for my bachelor's degree in Computing and Information Systems and starting to work again after taking a somewhat unwanted hiatus following a month-long work term in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

I haven't traveled near as much as I'd like, although I am hoping to disappear off to Saskatchewan for a little bit sometime this summer to touch base with a friend that I haven't seen since we parted ways at the end of our first rotation in Katimavik, which brings me to the reflection.

A lot of what I have been able to do over the last few years is things I would have been far less likely to do had it not been for Katimavik. For example, living in New Brunswick for just about 2 years. That was an absolute blast, it's one of the most interesting provinces I hadn't thought of going to, plus I lived just a couple doors down from one of the people I did Katimavik with. I even ended up going skydiving for the first time after getting some encouragement from the one friend in Saskatchewan that I mentioned above and had such a good time that I'm making plans to go visit her this summer and do it again (and maybe watch her do some jumps too).

I've not been nearly as involved in the community as I would have liked, but I volunteered with Rogers TV in New Brunswick for just shy of a year while I was there and since coming back to Calgary have been involved with WorldSkills Calgary, the Calgary International Film Festival and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary. I do plan to do much, much more as time goes on and will also be going back to work for the Katimavik cause again, because I just can't get enough of helping out such an amazing organization (and as alumni, it's nice to give back to a program I've gotten so much from).

A question I often ask myself is if I went back to when I decided to try applying for Katimavik and moving through the process again, would I?

To this day, I'm hard pressed to find reason to say anything but yes. There were good times and there were downright horrible times, but it was an experience I wouldn't trade for the world. The friendships I've made, the places I've seen, the things I've gotten to do, without Katimavik, much of it would likely have never happened.