They raised my brother, sister and I to be curious, honest and respectful individuals and such values were very important in the events that led to my quest to discover the world from my own eyes.
After spending two years of high school in New Hampshire to play hockey, life led me back to Montreal to pursue a degree in biology, while playing hockey for the Concordia University Stingers. Although I thought this would be the best four years of my life as I would be preparing to enter medical school, my entire life took a rather unexpected turn.
I got cut from my hockey team…
This may sound pretty normal to you, and while this happens every year to several players, this is also the moment I finally saw the world as I see it today. I no longer needed to be in a country that had hockey, let alone ice. I could finally spend months away without being scared to lose my talent compared to my competitors. This heartbreaking moment turned out to be an act of freedom after a few weeks.
Earlier that year I had had the opportunity to travel for a month to the Galápagos Islands with other biology students. I can remember how amazing the experience was, to see Charles Darwin’s (founder of the theory of evolution) live laboratory with my own eyes! Giant tortoises, marine iguanas and finches - you name it! I was so inspired by the scenery, people and wildlife that I could only imagine being able to travel to this place every year. Of course, at that time, it was not truly possible because “I was a hockey player,” which meant that I could rarely engage in any other activity for more than two weeks at a time, in case I got injured or out of shape.
