Reporting by Devanshi Parekh and Kim Phan

When we first heard about this opportunity, it was through friends. Excited and eager to attend, we talked to Mr. Klassen who gave us all the information we needed to register ourselves for this event. Patiently, we waited for the letter of acceptance. When we got it, we were super excited and  immediately started a countdown on our Facebook walls and phones. October 30th couldn’t come fast enough.

That night, we had decided that we wouldn’t sleep. My parents drove us to Saskatoon at 3 am so we could catch a flight at 6 am. Exhausted, we still tried to keep our enthusiasm and excitement levels up. We knew that there were 3 other people who were travelling with us but as we were nervous, we didn’t make any conversation with them. The flight to Toronto was long but since we had each other for company, it went by fast. The second flight from Toronto to Ottawa was only an hour long and that whole hour was spent with anticipation. We wanted to land and get to our place of residence as fast as possible. We were even more excited to get food!

A person greeted us at the airport and piled us into a small bus, 15 at a time. Luckily we were the first group on so we didn’t have to wait for half an hour for the bus to get back.  Upon our arrival at the Terry Fox Center, where we would be staying for the next week we were disappointed when we were told that we weren’t in the same group, or even in the same dorm!  Although scared,  we realized that there were people there that had travelled on their own and so everyone was in the same boat.

As we headed up to our dorms using the one elevator they had, we were greeted by others who had arrived earlier. It seemed like every conversation on the first day went like this:

“Hi!”

“Hi!”

“Whats your name?”

” Sam…you? Where you from?

We engaged in such conversation knowing very well that as we talked to the next person we would forget the last person’s name as well as what province or territory they were from. Even though this was the case, it was a good conversation starter and with everyone being as friendly as they were, slowly got to introducing themselves. That night they organized an icebreaker for us where they made us play various games that helped us get to know each other. It was quite awkward because normally you would not go up to a bunch of teenagers you do not know and ask them, “How many bones are in the body?” The first night was definitely strange but as we look back, it is quite funny.

As the week progressed, we toured the beautiful city of Ottawa and the Parliament building. We had to dress up formally for the Parliament building and watched politicians speak in the house of commons. Most of us were falling apart because many of us were jet legged and some of the kids had lost of sleep because they arrived at the center late the night before. After touring the Parliament building, we took a group photo of all 130 of us!

We had many activities such as trick-or-treating at the Prime Minister’s house and taking a haunted walk of Ottawa. We were disappointed that Stephen Harper did not hand out candy, but it was probably because there were 130 of us lining up along his house. To top off Halloween, we had the privilege to go on a haunted walk. It was quite frightening and mysterious. We toured a jail that had an eerie feeling.

The last day, we had our group presentations of what we’d learned and had a few good laughs here and there. At the end of the night, we all sat in a huge circle and passed around a stick saying what we’ve learned or how the week had influenced us. Although it was a sad night, it was time to go home and live what we call “our life.” Encounters was definitely a week to remember and if we ever had the chance to go back, we would be on the next flight there!

We did not know what to expect from Encounters but after we arrived home, all we wanted was to go back to Ottawa.

We encourage students from Carlton to take part in this great opportunity!