Canada is the land I set foot in, in the year 2000. It was a very special year because I would be moving to a new country that had many different people. To tell the truth, I was actually a little frightened. Moving to a new school was already difficult enough, but a new country was what I never would have imagined. School would be the hardest to endure because I did not know what to expect since the students were coming from all over the world. Just then, I realized I needed a group or a trustworthy friend to help me in my life towards being a Canadian. Lucky for me, my neighbor was a Chinese Canadian so I became great friends with him. Even though I was very fortunate, I felt that there was still a gap in my heart so I felt that something was still missing. That hole quickly mended when my friend introduced me to church, where my life immediately changed. Never had I seen so many people together, loving each other and being so content. Once I introduced myself to them, they immediately took me in as part of their “clan” and I felt like Canada was the best place ever and was the nicest country to live in. I suddenly felt that I belonged.

Day after day, I could feel the difference between Canada and China. The population is less, less crowded and the people are very multicultural. Even though I was going to church every week, my life was starting to get worse. I had to move to a new school where the students were bullies and very racist. They would make fun of my hint of a Chinese accent and tried to make me feel like I didn’t belong in Canada. That's how they really actually made me feel. Later on, I started ignoring them because I was very proud of my Chinese background. The bullies stopped at once because they felt that they were not having much fun bullying me so they picked on other new kids. Years passed by and before I knew it, I was going to be in grade six. My Chinese accent was gone and I had become a Canadian citizen. But that did not mean that I wasn’t from China. I was still very proud of my culture and the traditions the Chinese had. The biggest thing happened the year I went to grade six because I began to go to youth group meetings in church. There were so many people there of my age group or older. I could feel that they could relate to my life because they had to live in Canada, just like I did. I met many more friends and I really had a closer relationship to God. I understood that the Lord died for me and that he had to suffer so many cruel events even though he could have just killed the people being rude. He decided to do this because he was holy and he realized that the humans were not worthy of something that he should argue with. I realized that if Jesus, the almighty and powerful could take many harsh remarks from pitiful men, than I could just ignore the bullies at school too. Jesus really changed my life, both spiritually and physically. Eventually, another “move” came flowing because I had to go to middle school. However this time, I immediately felt like I belonged since I actually felt like I was a Canadian. One of the church events that really changed my life was Mountaintop, a youth group meeting held in Columbus, Ohio to get to bond with fellow Christians and know more about Jesus. There were about six hundred young people, all seeking the Lord and his help in their life, whether it was in school or at home. I especially bonded with two people who were older than me, one nineteen and one fifteen. They were both immigrants from different countries and had some of the same experiences that I had suffered through. I realized that even though they got bullied or picked on, these people were still together in one piece, perhaps even better. I even felt a tiny bit ashamed for being so shy and not proud of my culture. Eventually, I grew up and entered grade seven, where I felt like I definitely grew up. TV and games were not as important to me as studying and doing my best in school to try and get a better future. In school, projects were something big and made a big percentage of my marks. I realized that if I wanted to receive A’s, I would have to get along with others and work with everyone, even if they were from another totally different section of the world. One project totally stuck out into my mind because it was something for science. I was teamed up with someone from India, Africa, Russia and China. One person in my group was very racist, like the bullies in my elementary school. The Chinese girl in my group got picked on everyday because of her accent and the way she did things, like her food for lunch or her clothes. As a result, no one listened to her ideas and she was too shy to reveal her plans to the group anyways. However, I was not about to give up. I knew that the girl had excellent ideas because every time my group met, she always wanted to discuss something. Nevertheless, when she began to talk, the kids in my group interrupted her by making a nuisance Chinese accent, causing the girl to stop talking. I was appointed the group leader so after one day’s meeting, I asked the girl to express her ideas. To my surprise, she had a mindburst full of a plus work. So, I told my group to actually take the time and listen to her talk. When she was done, the bully started to call her a smart kid and realized that he had made a huge mistake. He apologized and in the end, our group received a ninety five percent mark due to everyone working together and cooperating with each other.

Now, I am in grade eight, with a bright future of becoming a doctor. Occasionally, an event comes when I have to work with other multicultural people, such as for sports teams like basketball or football. This year, I had to work with many different people for a band and to get everyone working together; we had to know each other first. I became very good at that due to my past experiences of school and the real life stories I had heard from church and the friends I had. I am proud to be a Chinese Canadian because it makes me very distinct in my own way. I am proud of my culture, religions and traditions because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be what I am today. This term, I made it onto the honor roll because of God’s guidance and the motivation from all the people in my church, school and family. Nowadays, I feel sort of fortunate that I got bullied in elementary school because I can now sympathize with some new immigrants being a “new kid” at my school or church. I am fighting against racism and school bullying because kids can be whatever they want to be and do not have to be halted to a stop because of some silly kids, ruining someone’s rich future. I hope that, one day, kids will realize that there is no point in making fun of someone just because of their culture or country of origin because everyone could get made fun of. Let racism be stopped through any way possible!

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