I. Humanities: Seeing Myself and the World Through Stories

Looking Beyond the Words

Humanities class felt like time travel. Through stories, I got to meet all kinds of people and ideas from different places and times. When we read Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I was first pulled in by the drama. But as we analyzed it more, I started noticing deeper things—the way ambition took over Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, how Macduff’s revenge wasn’t just about justice but also about loss and grief. It made me realize how stories like this reflect big, complicated parts of being human—power, guilt, conscience—and made me wonder about how those things show up in the real world too.

Finding My Voice

The Write Stuff project helped me get more personal. It wasn’t just about learning how to write essays—it pushed me to dig into my own thoughts and feelings and figure out how to express them. To find my writing “voice.” I started to understand that writing can be a way to explore who you are, not just to explain something. Finding my voice through writing gave me a kind of confidence I didn’t expect.

Key Takeaways 

Humanities taught me to see stories—and people—in more complex ways.

Some skills I’ve grown:

Critical reading: I’ve learned to ask, “Whose story is this? What’s missing? What does this say about their values?”

Empathy: Even if I don’t agree with someone’s actions, I try to understand where they’re coming from—whether they’re a character from hundreds of years ago or someone today.

Big Learning: Humanities helped me read deeper, think more for myself, and start asking questions about who I am and what I believe.

II. BCFP: The Wisdom That Grows from the Land

A Shift in How I See the World

In Haida Gwaii, we listened to Haida stories and songs passed down through generations. That experience made something click for me—these weren’t just “culture” or “history,” they were alive. The songs were like laws, showing how people should live in harmony with the natural world. Compared to what I’d learned in textbooks, this felt deeply human and real. 

Here’s something that really changed how I think:

Western worldview: Nature is something we control or use—“resources.”

Indigenous worldview: Nature is family—bears, salmon, rivers, trees… we’re all connected, they’re all connected.

That shift made me realize: we don’t “own” the land. The land holds us. As someone who’s into environmental protection. That was a big moment for me.

Learning from the Past, Taking Action Now

When we studied residential schools, historical injustices, and how indigenous people fight for their rights through the Road to Right project, the cold numbers and dates turned into real people and pain with flesh and blood. 

Creating a Infographic based on the made me think—if everyone learned history this honestly like what we do in PLP, not pretending to care. reconciliation will actually start to be real affective.

I also started noticing how Indigenous artists are reclaiming traditional symbols through modern art. That showed me that resilience doesn’t mean moving on or forgetting—it means keeping your culture alive, even after it’s been hurt.

A Change in Me

I don’t just talk about “respecting diversity” now—I try to live it.

Like when a friend complained that the BCFP course was “just something the government forces us do,” I told her:

“It’s not about being politically correct. It’s about fixing what we’ve missed—seeing what we haven’t been taught.”

III. Personal Growth: Understanding Others Helped Me Understand Myself

A New Way of Thinking

Looking back, the biggest change in me this year was learning to see people and issues through a wider lens.

My perspective opened up: I started looking beyond my own experience. When we talk about the big things like the environment or fairness, I try to think about how more, like what are other groups of people’s opinions?—especially those whose voices aren’t usually heard. And what is the effect of the things on different people.

I ask better questions now: Instead of just accepting what I’m told, I wonder, “Why is this being told this way? What else might be true?”

I feel more connected: As a Chinese immigrant who moved to BC 4-5 years ago. Learning how deeply Indigenous peoples are tied to the land made me think about my own connection to the place I live. I will always wander: Do I really understand it? Respect it? Do I know its history?

One Moment That Stuck With Me

I’ve always enjoyed volunteering for park clean-ups. But one day, while picking up trash, I thought about what we learned in BCFP —the idea that “the land is our relative.”

And suddenly, it felt different.

I wasn’t just cleaning a park.

It felt like taking care of someone I love.

My growth: I’ve become more thoughtful, more empathetic, and more aware of how I connect to others and the world around me. I’m starting to understand that growing isn’t just about learning facts—it’s about listening more, caring more, and stepping outside of your own world, or your group of people’s own world.

Final Thoughts: The Story’s Not Over

This year in PLP didn’t just teach me school stuff. It gave me a new way of seeing—how to look at the world, how to understand people, and how to find my place in it all.

And I know I’m just getting started. I’ll keep learning, keep asking questions, and try to become someone who understands the past, cares about the present, and takes responsibility for what comes next.