Ottawa was a journey of a lifetime, filled with ups and downs, friends I’ll never forget, and memories that will be with me forever. This trip was organized by Encounters With Canada. Encounters is a program that provides a forum for youth around Canada from ages 14-17. It took place at a building called the Terry Fox Youth Centre. Our trip revolved around the topic of Canadians in the First World War, specifically The battle of Vimy Ridge.

Vimy Ridge was a battle that took place during the First World War in Vimy France. It is remembered by Canadians as the battle where Canada gained recognition for being the only country that was able captured the Ridge from the grasp of the opposing German forces. We learned about this battle in detail, hearing from many different veterans, historians, and museum staff.

There was quite a bit of learning that took place on this trip, but there were also a ton of other activities that took place at Encounters. Some were small fun activities like making poppies out of felt and creating cute little animations, but there were also a series of bigger more informational trips and activities that we got to partake in. The most memorable, in my opinion, was when we got to visit the Parliament Building. Not many people can say that they have had the chance to go inside of the parliament building. It was quite a site to see. The architecture on the inside is simply gorgeous, down to the finest detail.

We had the privilege of getting to take a look at the gorgeous library that remains inside of the Parliament Building. It is filled with a glow of light that falls beautifully against the orange tinted wooden bookshelves. It is these bookshelves that stand tall and hold what look to be thousands of books of all different of colours and sizes. The copious amount of big beautiful windows that line the ceilings provide the room with natural light that add to the grand artistry of the whole room.

Coming back to the topic of Encounters and all the activities it entailed, a big part of why we were made to participate in these activities was to meet new people from across Canada and potentially make life long friendships. I met a group of great people from Prince Edward Island that I will never forget, I made a close friend that lives in Tisdale Saskatchewan, and even met some pretty amazing people from Nunavut. These are the kinds of friendships that Encounters helps create.

While this experience helped me create joy in these friendships, it also brought on the pain of having to say goodbye. I never thought that I could feel this way about friends that I had only knows for seven days, but that didn’t effect the amount I cared and cherished them as people and the pain I felt when I was forced to say goodbye. Although many of these people live across the country, I strongly do believe that there will come a time where we will meet again and it’ll all be because of Encounters With Canada.