The Save Juno Beach project was a very important and interesting project for me, that allowed me to dive deeper into the role WWII played in shaping Canadian identity. I’ve always been interested in learning about WWII, but this project helped me explore both the positive and negative impacts of the war, on Canada in a deeper way.

The act of service project taught me a lot about understanding the importance of a deeper meaning. What I mean, at first of thought the act of service was just to get a sponsor so we could fund the flag we were going to buy, (just being upfront). Although after doing the act of service and going over what the driving question was, (what role did the conflict of WWII play in shaping Canadian identity) really means, I learned doing an act of service isn’t about “looking like a good human,” it’s about feeling the impact within you. From helping the community without feeling obligated, connecting with others, and finding meaning on why we are so lucky to even be able to do an act of service.

The process of learning about smart brevity, I found was more important than actually using smart brevity to create the notes I made. Learning a new thing can be challenging just like I found when learning how to do MLA formatting and proper formatting for the essay. But being able to overcome the hard parts and think outside of the box, learning how to overcome the mental challenge will set you up for success. 

World War II helped shape Canadian identity by bringing the country together and showing its independence. Canada’s efforts, like helping in D-Day and freeing the Netherlands, showed its strength and earned respect around the world. At home the war changed life by growing industries and giving women and minority groups more opportunities.

This project shined a whole other light on the conflict of WWII that played in shaping Canadian identity, especially for me since my topic was prisoners of war. Learning about how much one word can effect a sentence, even a whole paragraph and to see both sides of the story before you take to account the bigger picture.