Over the years I have received the comment that I’m too nice when responding with anything that life throws at me. The comment is usually seen as a bad thing – that I didn’t handle the situation properly.

Our society tends to favour loud and aggressive people. I have been told that I should be more assertive to get ahead in life.   However, when they mean be more assertive, they mean aggressive and loud.  Just because I don’t respond in the same way that they do doesn’t mean my opinion is less valuable or I’m less powerful than them.  Sometimes their opinions and comments are hard to ignore; you always hear them because they make a lot of noise. However, I truly believe actions speak louder than words.

I have always been an athlete. My passion for sports, the sport environment, competition, and the empowering feeling I get after a long workout are what keep me involved.  I strongly believe that participating in sports teaches skills and lessons that you cannot learn in a classroom.  The sport environments which I have been a part of foster passionate and driven people who treat others with respect.I thought sports were supposed to be fun – so what’s with the stories about the “chilly climate”? When I think of chilly climates, I think of the frigid temperatures in Ottawa, Ontario (the coldest capital in the world) where I grew up.  Winter lasted almost six months.  The snow, ice, and freezing-cold temperatures could make anyone want to hibernate until spring.  However, despite the chilly climate, we would all embrace the climate by going outside and having fun.  There were plenty of ways to be active outside during these months: skating, skiing, tobaganning, building snow forts, etc.