Perspective is the one-word goal I wrote for the year and I am pleased with how I have kept to this goal so far.

I love to hike. I love the fresh air, interesting plants and birds, and watching the landscape change as we climb. I love the conversations that flow and the joy of shared experience. Most of all… I love reaching the top. My husband and I have a tradition of eating a meal while taking in breathtaking views, letting the wind dry the sweat from our hair and resting tired muscles for the trek back down. I love the thrill and sense of accomplishment that you feel sitting on top of a mountain that you climbed, and I love the gained perspective.

Gained perspective through hiking has an immediate effect when you reach the top. One of my favourite hikes in Terrace looks down over the city and it is crazy to see tiny buildings, recognizing how small you are in comparison to the world around you.

After months of hiking, I came to recognize a different perspective that I gained from my adventures. I realized how cool it is to look up at the mountains around you and know them. I like being able to name each mountain and know the views they offer. It has created a deeper sense of connection to the place that I was born and raised in.

Perspective is the way we see things when we look at them from a certain distance and it allows us to appreciate their value.

Rafael E. Piño

In this program, we have talked a lot about our worldviews, positionality and the perspectives we hold in life. As educators, we will come across many different people each with their way of seeing the world and a history that informs their positionality within the world. I think this diversity is a really beautiful thing. It is so important to foster different positionalities in the classroom and I want to continue to seek a broader perspective to help me do this.

The greatest tragedy for any human being is going through their entire lives believing the only perspective that matters is their own.

Doug Baldwin

One of the ways that I have been working to increase my perspective is by listening to and learning through stories. In the last few months, my reading has shifted to almost completely non-fiction works, autobiographies and fiction based on true events (which is usually followed by research and learning about the true stories!). I have enjoyed hearing stories that are different from my own and gaining appreciation for things that I may not have considered before. I have also made a point when conversing with people to ask more questions, hear stories and learn about the different perspectives of those around me.