A Reflection of Herself

A Day in the Life

Silvija was excited for school that day because they were going to work on their collective in drama class. She got off the red and white city bus, went to her locker and put her things away. Then she went downstairs to her drama class and walked over to her friend Marianna who was sitting in circle with the rest of their classmates. Everyone chatted amongst themselves as they waited for the teacher to get there.

"Hey Mar," Silvija said, sitting next to her friend.

"Hi!"

"I can't wait for your party next weekend!" Silvija said, excitedly.

"I can't believe I'm turning 16 already!" Marianna laughed.

"I know, right?!"

The drama teacher came in and, as always, started with discussing current issues.

"Did anyone else hear the story on the radio this morning, about a girl from a Korean background, who didn't like her Korean name as a teen, but is now reclaiming it?" he asked.

Some of Silvija's classmates had also heard the story and they started a discussion on the importance of names and how they relate to people's identity.

After about 15 minutes of discussion, the teacher wrapped up the conversation and then he asked everyone to get into their groups for their collectives. Silvija's group's theme was "Home" and they were going to make individual vignettes which would explore what home means. The teacher handed each group a large piece of paper and markers, and they all started creating a mind map around their central theme.

Silvija's group came up with words and phrases like "identity, Canada, Indigenous people, turtle shell, peace and safety of the home, unsafe homes, broken homes, peer pressure, adoptive homes, belonging, self-discovery, home team, no place like home," and more.

Ryan said, "Okay, I think we should start with the idea of belonging or 'where you are from?'"

"Yeah," said Kara, "my family is Anishanabe, and we struggle with what it means to be Canadian."

"Maybe we could have a part where someone asks where we are from and a few of us answer?" suggested Tina.

Ryan said, "I'm not really sure where I'm from, we're from all over the place".

"Okay, why don't we go home and think about it this weekend." Kara suggested. "We can ask our family and then come back with our ideas of home."

Ryan nodded.

"Sounds good," Joshua agreed.

The first thought that came to Silvija's mind was that she is from Latvia, but then she wondered why that was the first place she thought of, as she doesn't speak the language or participate in a large number of traditions in her daily life. She also had ancestors from several other places, like Scotland, so she wondered why Latvia was what came first to mind. The bell rang and these thoughts drifted out of her mind.

~ ~ ~

Marianna and Silvija walked to their science class and sat down.

A substitute teacher walked in and said: "Welcome class, my name is Ms. Johnson. Your teacher is off sick today."

Ms. Johnson started calling attendance and the class began to quiet down. "Emily..."

"Which Emily?" a girl spoke up.

"Oh, uh, Emily Davis," Ms. Johnson replied.

"Here."

The substitute continued down the list, "Peter, <here>, Joanna, <present>, Kara, <here>, Ben, <yeah>, Mary-anna, <here>, Silveejah..."

"Here, but it's Silvi-ya," she chuckled shyly. It was not the first time someone had mispronounced her name.

"Oh sorry, thanks." Ms. Johnson looked back at the attendance sheet and she continued. After several names she got to "...Max, <here>, Emily Peterson, <present>, Loowamm?"

"It's Lwam."

"Ah, okay, thank you. Today, class, we are going to watch a Bill Nye episode about light and refraction." She turned it on, and the class started chanting "Bill! Bill! Bill!" along with the episode's intro.

~ ~ ~

Later that afternoon the final bell rang, Silvija got her things from her locker and met her mother in the parking lot.

"How was your day at school, Meiten [may-TEN]?" her mom asked.

"It was pretty good, we worked on our collective and we had a sub in science." Silvija continued as she got into the car. "For the collective, we're doing a scene where each of us is going to say where we are from, other than Canada. I was thinking about Latvia, but I'm not sure if I am Latvian enough?"

Her mother answered, "Of course, you are!"

"Okay," Silvija agreed.

They first picked up Silvija's younger brother, Mark, from school and then drove to a restaurant for a quick bite to eat before heading to Latvian school. It was held in the basement of the Latvian Church. They sang Latvian songs and did Latvian dancing. Mark was often bored and did not want to go, but Silvija liked being immersed in the culture. Going to Latvian school today made her very exited for her upcoming trip to Latvia with her family.