toronto, on/life update

This post is quite overdue. I’ve been trying to sit down and write about the experiences I’ve had this summer—from graduation, a short trip to Toronto with my family, driving across the country to move back in with my family, and now, starting to work full-time in something that could potentially become a career. There has just been SO much! So I’m going to start from the beginning.



Once the school term was finished, I spent my time working full time and volunteering. A lot of time spent with friends, enjoying the weather and the patios, as well as keeping a pretty full schedule with my usual commitments. In June, my parents flew out to Ottawa to attend my convocation. I graduated!!! I received my Bachelor’s degree and damn… it felt good. 5 years of hard work and a piece of paper with my name on it. Overall though, it felt good to have what is essentially a closing ceremony of my time at uOttawa and undergrad. My degree is now in a giant frame hanging on the wall. While some of this stuff may be cheesy for some (and trust me, the wall of my certificates and what not in my parents basement is sorta cheesy and hilarious to me!), I feel immensely proud for getting this degree and finishing school. It feels good.

During my parents visit to Ottawa, we decided to extend their visit and spent a week in Toronto. A short little trip that included walking around the city, going to the Royal Ontario Museum, eating, drinking and my favourite part—going to the Toronto Zoo! While there is a zoo in Calgary that I have been to many times in my life, the highlight of the Toronto Zoo was the pandas! Pandas are one of my favourite animals, and it felt pretty surreal to get to see them in real life. It seemed like they could just be people walking around in panda suits. I was so stoked to see them, and it felt like that could have been more of a highlight than walking the stage… ha!



After I returned to Ottawa, it was more of the same summer for me. Although it felt more as if I was tying up loose ends—seeing friends, and prepping for my big move. Well, that’s all for now! It was nice to write up a little update, and next time I’ll be sharing more about my cross country drive.

-g