There is something special about BC the further North you go.
I’m originally from Williams Lake and I've had the privilege of living across BC, from the Interior to the Kootenays, the Okanagan, the North, and Vancouver, where I am now attending school.
Like my hometown, Terrace serves as a hub for many rural communities. In both places, it’s a quick hop, skip, and a jump to complete privacy in the forest, with a border of hills, a lake at your fingertips, and someone new always passing through.
During a five-week dietetic practice education placement in Terrace, I learned that in smaller communities there is the chance to:
- Work in small teams where colleagues become friends
- Collaborate with others from across the region
- Experience a variety of roles
- Engage with the public and with leadership
- Tag-along on work or off-the-clock adventures
This past year, I spent time in the hustle and bustle of Vancouver. It reminded me of how much peace there is in rural communities. Every place, city or rural, has things that make it a great place to live, and you’ll never know what they are unless you go.
When trying to write about my experience in my placement, I wasn’t sure where to start. I’ve never thought of myself as a poet, but when I sat down to write, the words began to rhyme on their own, and before I knew it, I had written a poem. Consider this my Ode to the North: the good, the challenging, and the unexpected.
An Ode to the North
The distance here so big and wide
Can be overwhelming overnight
A place to put my mind at ease
A heart long deprived, now free to breathe
Salty tickles on the ocean shore
While mountains whisper with the wind’s roar
Curious creatures small, big and tall
No, you cannot bear spray them all
Flushed cheeks and raucous laughter
Smiling faces help with what you’re after
Frank words and cheeky remarks
Rugged edges hide the softest hearts
If chasing time leaves you tired and battered
Here, there is no need to drive faster
Wild souls and even wilder hair
Did you hear that!? Was that a bear?
Painted skies from nature’s light
The dark has never been so bright
Quiet rest while crickets shout
Sometimes earplugs won’t drown them out
Fear not a lack of tasty options and choices
Surprises will find you when the grocery door closes
No longer surrounded by tall skyscrapers
The mountains are towers from mother nature
No, it’s not all sunshine and roses
Challenged access and road closures
Flies that never hesitate to bite
Leave you scratching late into the night
I don’t know what you imagined
Beware assumptions that might happen
As raw and wild as it may seem
In the North, alone you’ll never truly be
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