I was born and raised in Port Credit, Mississauga. I would spend my summers sailing out of the Port Credit yacht club or visiting my grandparents at their Christmas tree farm. Being a member of the Port credit yacht club allowed me to be a part of a very tight knit community. While spending my summers at the yacht club, I fell in love with sailing, and as I got older it only seemed fitting to go even further and begin teaching. I have been a sailing instructor at the Port Credit Yacht Club for the past four years and continue to do it while I am home from school during the summer. When I first got hired as an instructor it seemed like the perfect job for me, I was doing something that I loved while spending almost the entire summer outside, all the while making some money. While working at the yacht club, I realised something else about myself; not only did I love sailing, but I also loved teaching.
After my first summer I began to explore my post-secondary options, with becoming a teacher at the top of my mind. I had always had a strong interest in Queen’s as I had known many of my family-friends and members of my community who attended the school and absolutely loved it! Everything seemed to fall into place when I discovered Queen’s consecutive education program, which is great for people who are uncertain whether they want to do ConEd or not.
While attending Queen’s, pursuing my now decided career path of a French Immersion teacher, I realised something else about myself. I loved making money! As some of my friends looked for different part-time jobs around campus and Kingston, I tried to brainstorm other ways for me to make some money. As I had always had a strong interest in makeup, hair, and everything else cosmetic and had a knack for fine detailed work, I began to do research on becoming an eyelash technician. After a lot of research and some heavy convincing my parents agreed to loan me the money needed to begin my start-up business. Since my first lash appointment in December of 2017, I have paid back my parents loan 10x over!
My time at Queen’s has taught me a lot about the world, about others, and about myself. One lesson I have learned is to be yourself/love yourself because no one is going to do that. for you! If you can’t get there first, people will sense your self-doubt and be more likely to doubt you as a result! Confidence is key!