School is starting, and this year's Olympics have ended. I know for my school we had orientation this past weekend, and in unpacking my room this year I took extra comfort in a specific little statue I had bought on my last trip to see my family in Canada, an Inukshuk.
What the heck is an Inukshuk?
An Inukshuk is a formation of rocks in a way that resembles a human. In fact, the meaning of Inukshuk is in the likeness of a human. These statues were used with the Inuits when fishing, hunting and traveling as a way of saying, "Someone was here," or, "You're on the right path." I find this to be such an inspiring idea, to be traveling somewhere unknown and by seeing a formation of rocks, you know you're traveling in the right direction.
Obviously, this is a symbol that has been around for basically forever, but it was put on — quite literally — a platform back in 2010 during the Vancouver Winter Olympics when they used this as a part of their theme. Now, the theme may be the wrong word, but if I'm being completely honest I don't really get into the Olympics. I haven't even seen any of this year's, apart from those tiny little videos of Simone Biles doing an incredible number of flips. But flashback to 2010 during the winter, and this is what you were seeing just about everywhere.
After that, Inukshuks really took off in Canada, and it was something that revived itself into Canadian patriotism, or at least that's how it felt like for me. It's a pretty uplifting symbol, so it's hard to see it not picking up its popularity, now they really are everywhere and every time I see one there's something inside me that gets the relaxed feeling similar to seeing you passed a test.
What does an Inukshuk have to do with school?
Like I said, moving into my dorm this year I found a special sentiment in my own Inukshuk statue. This is my fifth year returning to school, and all the people I hung out with on a regular basis aren't here anymore. I might be 22 and have plenty of other friends on campus, but that's still a terrifying thing — to go into a school year not sure whom you're going to hang out with because the people you automatically went to are gone. So the Inukshuk gave me that reminder everyone has their own path of life; where I am is where I'm supposed to be. It also gave me comfort because the Wednesday before moving on campus, my cousin died. It was a shock to everyone, and the day I was moving in and picked up my Inukshuk and put it on my windowsill was the day of her viewing I was unable to attend. The decision I wasn't going was one my mom and I discussed for a couple days, and even the day of, I was still questioning if I had made the right choice. It reminded me that I had because I needed to be down here for the commitments I had.
Now obviously, those reasons I have for me writing this article are not going to relate to very many. But for those that are reading this about to start, or have started, their freshman year of college who's nervous, homesick, lonely or any other feeling you might be having, I want to be your reminder and put out a virtual Inukshuk that you are on the right path. If you're finding it hard adjusting to life on campus, reach out to people! You never know whom you're going to meet or how they'll influence your life unless you give it a try. Join as many things as you can, and no matter what, have fun. College is the greatest years of your life, and you're about to meet lifelong friends, so make the most of it.
