One Rising Star

Throughout the summer holidays, I became more interested in the topic of running. I read some books, I attended some workshops, I joined a run club and I did lots of research on the web. In particular, after reading a book called Run the World, by Beckie Wade, I became very interested in the idea of running races internationally. So, I decided to sign up for my very first international road race in Salalah, Oman, a place I had been told was definitely worth visiting. Luckily, I was able to convince a running buddy of mine to join me on this crazy adventure. After travelling for approximately 24 hours from Canada to Dubai, I had less than another 24 hours before I needed to catch the flight to Salalah. Of course I was tired, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from enjoying my first international race. When we arrived in Salalah, it was quite late; we checked into our hotel and headed straight to bed to get some rest. The next morning, we had breakfast and made our way to th

Do you remember those days when you were in primary school and people asked you what you wanted to do when you grew up? At that age, anything seemed possible: professional soccer player, hip-hop dancer, fashion designer... You could dream about doing anything and everything without being scared of failure. Why is it that when we enter adulthood, doing anything and everything suddenly doesn’t seem so simple anymore? In the last two weeks, I’ve really gotten into the spirit of the Olympics and I’ve been blown away from many of the athletes’ stories. Of course, American gymnast Simone Biles, American swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprint super star Usain Bolt have been amongst my favorites to follow thus far, but these champions haven’t been the only competitors that have caught my attention.  As I continue to watch more and more events on television, it's become apparent that there are athletes of all ages at the Rio games. This year, the youngest athlete, swimmer G

It’s been a while since I’ve contributed to my blog - not exactly because of a lack of excitement in my life, but mostly because I have been caught up in a very long phase of reflection since February, when I decided to sign on for a 5 th school year in Dubai. The decision to stay for yet another year in the UAE was a difficult one; I already had some stuff packed, I had been getting excited about the idea of moving closer to my family and I truly thought my time living overseas was due to come to an end. Somehow, I was persuaded to continue my journey, however, weeks later I was still questioning whether it was the right thing to do. Shortly after deciding to extend my stay in the Middle East, I began to look forward to my summer vacation; I really wanted to get back to North America and spend time with my family. If I wasn’t going to move anywhere close anytime soon, I wanted to hang out with everyone as much as possible. I really love my family and in living away,