Like any other first year student, I was so excited to start my new adventure in a new environment, especially in residence! I kept imagining what kind of person my roommate was, if she was in the same program as me and if she liked the same music as me. I imagined us, best friends forever! Friends until the very end! But, I did also consider the fact that we might hate each other, she might be a clean freak, a noise hater, a total fun sucker. I considered myself a pretty open minded type of person who didn’t judge people on their race, cultures, etc. I assured myself I was ready to conquer anything!
That all changed when I stepped foot in my residence. Unlike most schools, my residence was 5 apartments in a house. Pretty cool, huh? Anyways, in my apartment there was me, a girl from Ottawa and a girl from Africa. So, two Canadians and one African. Immediately, I felt bad for the girl originating from Africa. Not only was she far from her family, but she was also about to have a huge culture shock. About two minutes later, I then realized it was in fact, me that was in for a culture shock. I later found out in apartment one there was two male Africans and one French male (French from France), in apartment two there was two female Africans and in apartment four there was four male Africans. So basically, me and my Canadian roommate were a minority. Besides being a female, I was never subject to minority. I was feeling all sorts of things I never felt before, nor knew how to deal with.
This was going to be so much more than I thought it was, I was afraid of being racist, I watched what I said but, unfortunately when you’re uneducated, you come off a certain way. Without going too much in detail and embarrassing myself, once again, I basically referred to African commercials I had seen on TV to understand my fellow roommates. To begin with, I wasn’t the type of person to be informed on things going on in the world. I was pleasantly content with knowing Canadian history, and Canadian issues. I was ignorant and I didn’t even know it.
While my first couple of months were rough, they involved questioning everything my roommates were doing and comparing it to what I thought was normal, and thinking it was weird every time they did something “out of the norm”. I quickly realized that “normal” doesn’t exist, because we all have a different definition for the word “normal”. I eventually put everything I had known aside, and looked at things from a new perspective. I learnt more than I had in all four years of high school, ranging from African politics, different languages, different foods and simply different ways of life!
I remember comparing my residence experience to my friend’s experiences, I was jealous of them. But, I’m happy to say I wouldn’t change my experience for a thing. I’ve learnt so much about other cultures and even about myself. I’ve been able to grow as a person and make so many unique and unforgettable memories within a year. All this just to admit, I was quick to define myself as “open spirited” and quick to judge those around me, when really, what I should have been doing is living and learning from the wonderful experience given to me.
So, hey! Nagadef?
P.s, that’s Wolof (an African language) for how are you.
