My Story (2)  
By Tevin Lander 

Hello. My name is Tevin Lander. I came to Canada from Trinidad on Wednesday, September 20th, 2000.

I was 6 at the time, and my mom had already lived here for some time. When I arrived it was starting to get really cold. Lucky for me, my mom had already bought winter clothes for me. I started school the next Monday, the 25th. I didn’t know anybody, but I was ready for a new adventure. The school I first went to was Heath Park School; the first big change was no school uniform. In the Caribbean we wore school uniforms. My teacher was very nice. She reminded me a lot of my Auntie Merle who was also a teacher at my old school back in Trinidad. My new teacher realized my advanced reading potential and would let me go to the library to pick out as many books as I would like to read.

My first snowfall was just the most amazing thing to experience. My mom dressed me nice and warm and sent me out. I chased snowflake after snowflake until I was so tired I just dropped in the snow, which was when my mom showed me how to make snow angels. When it first snowed I was amazed, but as the years went by the snow wasn’t so great because I had to shovel it.

As time went by I hadn’t made many friends because no kids my age lived on my street. It was a bit lonely with just my mom and dad. Back home I had my cousin Ty to play with. Ty and I went to different schools, but we played with each other every afternoon and on the weekend; he was one on my best friends. My mom’s family lived there, too—her grandma, her mom, three sisters and an aunt. At the time there was also Cousin Nicholas, but he was just a baby.

My first teacher retired after Christmas which made me sad because my new teacher didn’t allow me the same privileges my old teacher did. School went downhill from there. I was also being bullied by this new kid to my class and his older brother. My adventure of being a new kid in Canada was gone. I began to get homesick, and being bullied made me not want to go to school. When I first came to Thunder Bay, I missed my family and friends but I was ready for the adventure. But now I just wanted to go home to Trinidad.

My parents decided to move me to a private church school called Seventh Day Adventist Academy. It was way out on Oliver Road, a 20- minute ride down the highway every morning and afternoon. There I finally met many nice people. It was also the church that my mom and dad had started to attend, similar to the one I attended at home, so not only did I see my new friends at school but also at church. By this time my dad had done his training and landed a good job, allowing my mom to stay at home and me to continue at that school. But most important of all, we could take trips home to Trinidad.

Trinidad holds a special place in my heart. My dad’s mom and dad still live there; Mamo & Dado is what I call them. When I lived in Trinidad they raised me. My dad would leave for work at 4 a.m. and my mom was in Canada at University. My grandparents looked after me. My Mamo made my meals and got me ready for school; my Dado drove me to school and back.

When I go to Trinidad I am happy to see all the friends and family I left behind and, most importantly, the places I love to go and the foods I love to eat. My favourite is the beach. My mom says I turned into a fish after I was born. From the time we get there to the time we leave, I swim and play in the sand. It is one of the first things I must do when I go home for a visit. Beside my Mamo or Auntie Merle’s cooking, I must have Caramel Bars, Roti and Milk Fudge, and a thirst on a hot and humid day is always quenched by a cool Supligen, a milk drink that comes in some great flavours like Peanut-Punch and Soursop, which is a fruit found in the Caribbean.

When people visit Trinidad they are shown the tourist parts of the country, but no one sees the poverty or hears about the crime.

One of our big things when we go home is my dad always goes everywhere with us and carries most of our money. His Trinidad accent is so strongthat he is never mistaken for a tourist, so he goes shopping with us and does all the bargaining. When we are in the market, if the vendors hear my mom’s accent they don’t consider her local and refuse to give her any deals. There is always a big fear of being robbed if the criminal elements deduce we are tourists, so we don’t do a lot of talking when out in public.

I am sure it is the same for most countries in the world where most tourists stick to the tourist zones. If you listen to your guide and do some research you can still have a great time. For us it is the love and the chance to visit with family that makes the visit home a great treat, but Canada is now our home.

My mom says “you were not born with a gold spoon in your mouth,” meaning I must work hard and make good use of every opportunity that comes my way, and living in Canada is an opportunity that I have embraced fully. In the last few years I have accomplished my Black Strip in martial arts, one strip away from a Junior Black Belt, and I have made a good friend named Chris. I have also achieved my bronze medallion in swimming and am on my way to being a great lifeguard, and I have made a good friend, Louis. When my parents switched me back in to mainstream school to get me ready for high school, I was a bit reluctant to leave the friends I had become comfortable with, but since I was already branching out with my martial arts, even competing in tournaments all over Canada, I took the challenge. At Nor’Wester View Mrs. Arnett, the principal at the time, grade 6 Mrs. Donahue, grade 7 Mrs. MacDonald, and grade 8 Mr Farquhar made a great impact in my getting ready to face high school. I also learned to play the alto saxophone, another accomplishment, and I made another good friend, Brody, plus many others.

What should you take away from my experience?
When you come to Canada life is strange and new, but exciting and adventurous, and you should not be afraid to learn and explore. You may or may not encounter a few hiccups, but don’t let anything get in your way of gaining and having the spectacular opportunity that Canada has to offer. From age 6 to 14, I made a lot of good friends, met a lot of people that will impact my life forever, and at 14 I have just started to learn.

I learned that in your lifetime you will be faced with lots of challenges, but the key is to never give up but to keep going even if things seem hard.