Hey guys!! It’s been a while…. again. Since my last post about Identity, The Mountains and Me, my view on the topic has changed quite a bit. I was talking all about how Identity is how people see you, how you see yourself, and how the land, climate, and geography impacts that. But after going on our absolutely AMAZING field study to the far away land of Alberta, (It’s really not that far but being on a bus for 12 hours with 3 teachers and 16 other kids can seem like quite a while, trust me) I discovered it is more than that.

In this post I will be talking all about my view on identity, where and when I actually realized what it is, what the heck individual, collective, and national identity is, some work and highlights of the unit, and last but not least, I will answer THE, *duh duh duh* driving question…. How does land impact our Identity??

BLAST OFF!!

In the beginning of our Identity adventure, which was very early in the school year so my brain was still in summer mode, the first big thing we did was create a video about the identity of people in Deep Cove.

(Again you can checkout my post on the video, The Mountains and Me) When I look back on what I was writing about and talking about, it literally makes no sense compared to my definition of Identity now. My thoughts back then, about a month ago, were that Identity was just who you were, what you looked like, and maybe a bit of your personality. So in the video that, Taylor, Caleb and I made, that’s what we really focused on, the fact that because Deep Cove was surrounded by mountains, oceans, and forests, we, the people who live here are super active and love being outdoors. It’s true, but I don’t really believe that that’s our identity. One thing that we said that I still believe is that Worldview and Identity are strongly tied together.

I know! Worldview again, it will never end, neeeeevvveeeeerrrrrrr!! They have the same components that make up who you are and what you believe in.

CURRENT VIEW ON IDENTITY

After more work and practice at school and in Alberta I finally discovered what Identity really is. It’s not your hair colour or your eye colour, it’s who you are in side and how your surroundings have impacted that. I remember at one point on our trip when we visited Rogers Pass, I was very lost and confused about Identity, I thought there was one answer, and I’m sure I was just over thinking it.

So, I walked through the museum, reading all of the boards and watched a movie called “The Snow War” and that’s when it hit me. It finally clicked in my brain and I understood because of Rogers Pass.

Rogers Pass is a mountain pass used for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and when it was being built by the railway workers, the weather was terrible and it was very dangerous. Most likely leading to a negative attitude with the climate of the area which is EXTREMELY SNOWY!! Then I related it to our relationship with snow and it’s very different because of where we live, impacting who we are.

THE P.R.O.J.E.C.T!

Because of all we learned about the Identity of BC and Alberta and how the amazing geography of these places impact people, we had to make a video about it. My video includes places such as Craigellachie which was the location in which the two sides of the Canadian Pacific railway met and the last spike was nailed into the ground. Rogers Pass was one of the most dangerous parts of the Railway to build because of the weather, Banff was the saviour of the CPR, and the Othello tunnels are what remains of the old spur line called the Kettle Valley railway. This project took a ton of deep thinking and I’m so excited for you guys to check it out because personally, I am pretty proud of it. But like always, we had to do a first draft. My first draft was pretty good but it could definitely use some revision to make it awesome. So here was my first draft:

Not so bad, but there were a few poor video making mistakes that would just make it better in general. So I went back tot he drawling boards to edit it and make it the G.O.A.T.

If you don’t know what that means, it means the greatest of all time, but anyway, as I was editing up my awesome (wow, I think I’m a little bit to excited about this video) Identity video, I ran into a problem. All of my audiophile and voice overs all got shifted and wouldn’t go back. So guess what I had to do? I had to completely redo my voice overs. And to make matters worse, I am sick, so my voice sounds disgusting isn’t he videos but just don’t pay attention to that, pay attention to my wise words. Once I pretty much remade my WHOLE VIDEO (!!!!!!) it was finally done. I had made it the greatest of all time, the absolute G.O.A.T! So that is why I am here today, I wanted to show you my video, The Mountains Make Us:

REALLY…..

You can not pin point one answer to our driving question, how does the land impact our identity? It’s just, not possible! So if you went and checked out everyone in my class’ blogs (please do!), everyone’s answer to this question would be different, everyone’s answer in the whole wide world would be different because fo their experiences and background with there surroundings and the land around them. You, my readers, which probably isn’t many, need to understand that Identity is not an ID card. Not your drivers license, not your care card, nothing like that.it’s not what you look like, if you are male or female, none of that matters. Identity is who you are deep down, below everything else. And that Identity is made up of past experiences and things you have grown up around, that is why the land you live on is so important and every one should start noticing that. Without our beautiful homes, vacation locations, and even where we work and go to school make up who we are, and if we weren’t who we are today that would be pretty boring. So whether you live by the beach, in the mountains, on a boat or in the sky (I don’t know, it just came to me!) that is who you, that is what makes you. The mountains make me, so what makes you, how does the land you live on impact your identity?

~Jordyn 😁