Annie Wasserman

Becoming Canadian

The ICE program was the reason I chose The York School over other schools in Toronto. It seemed so unique and different, and now, I can confidently say it is. As everyone knows, America and Canada are vastly different. The government, the school system, and of course, the people. Speaking from experience, if you're in Canada, and you stand near a parking meter looking upset because your card is stuck, someone will probably help you. If you were in America, it's likely that you wouldn't get a second glance. My peers, teachers and my experiences in Toronto have caused me to change so much as a person, student, and Canadian.

The York School Motto; retrieved from the website

My friends and I at the cabins after the "camping" portion of the trip

I changed most prominently as a person during the winter camping trip. Going on the trip was one of the biggest fears I had going into the school year. I had seen snow once in my life, I didn't really love the cold, and I couldn't put up a tent, let alone a quinzhee. But that part wasn't even what changed me. It was after, back at the cabins. We did a whole bunch of challenges and exercises about our strengths, weaknesses, and world view. In groups, we discovered our thinking traps, bits and parts of our personalities that sometimes alter the ways we see the truth. I've learned about these thinking traps A LOT. I have about 5/12, but I've never really thought about how to break them. The only thing I learned was "you're stronger than this trap" but that didn't really do anything to help me. But, as we discovered these traps, we also learned about ways to overcome them. It's more than just thinking about the truth, but actively trying to overcome the barriers that your mind as set out for you. I learned how to overcome my thinking traps, and that's something that I will always remember whenever I'm faced with one again.

Learning about myself as a student is a bit trickier. I've always thought of myself as pretty dedicated learned, very academic, and very studious. Nothing changed about my attitude as a student specifically, but my views on schoolwork itself did. For me, school always seemed like busywork. Anything I was actually interested in, I went out and learned about it on my own. I now realize I can just blame that on how my schoolwork was structured. It was just a lesson, study, test. Lesson, study, test. Whatever information I retained, it was likely gone by the next test, unless I needed to use it again.as a building block. Anyways, my point is school was a square structure, uniform throughout. For the people who have never been to another school, I promise that The York School is different. Here, we have more projects, group discussions and as the IB way, an openness to new ideas. I think I first realized that when we had our manual book report. It was so different from anything I had ever done. I used to think that I liked my old school because I liked a structured environment. What I didn't realize is that I became like a robot, following the same routine always. After at least 3 months here, I realized that I did not actually like this routine, I just convinced myself I did so I didn't lose my mind. I now realize that as a student I would like to be challenged and be able to make connections rather than fill my mind with otherwise useless facts.

Canadian War Museum

Coming to Canada, I didn't really consider myself Canadian. I was born here, my family is here, I visited Toronto at least once a year and every summer, but I still wasn't Canadian. The ICE program, of course, was the perfect introduction to being Canadian. The first time I felt like I connected to Canada was after we visited the Canadian War Museum. In America, we don't learn anything about Canadian history, and we don't even think about the other sides of the war. We don't learn about anything before Pearl Harbor, because who cares about anybody but America? The Canadian War Museum showed different sides of the different wars. I learned about the Canadian identity, and what it meant to be a part of it. I became more open-minded, willing to learn new things and actively try to see things from different perspectives. I didn't really change as a Canadian, I just became one.