Kaitlynne-Rae Landry's Blog

Today I went to my first political-ish event since the end of my contract as a Page. My contract ended over a month ago. It's not as if there weren’t ample opportunities before this, heck, here in Ottawa, there are more political events then I really want to think about. They are everywhere. I just wasn’t in the mood for it. It’s a kind of weird experiment, going from super active and involved to stopping dead for a year. I spent a year second guessing the majority of my decisions to make sure that I didn’t cross any lines and put myself at risk. I got in the habit of doing so, and it’s a hard habit to break.
Before my term I would have considered myself to be passionately involved. I scorned those among my peers that weren’t informed on the latest current events and who didn’t stay up to date with politics. I gave them a hard time if they didn’t vote, even in student elections. But I get it now, its easy to stop being passionate about politics. It’s even easy to stop paying attention all together.

I still read newspapers, well, online news sites, daily. I’m still informed. I still know who I’d vote for in the next election, and I’ll still go and vote. Yet, I feel that the passion I once held for politics has dissipated a little. I have become a little more like the statistical young adult: turned off to the realm of policy and decision makers who shape the future of our country.

This is a change for me. I have become part of the statistic I founded a not for profit organization to help. So I guess it’s time I follow my own advice. I’ve decided I’m going to go and get passionate about current affairs again. I’m going to find an event or issue, a cause or reason, and get started with one, in the hopes that it will snowball me back to where I used to be. Join me?

So, this would be one of those comical events where I’d poke my head around the corner and walk back in all stealth like, considering my blog has been largely dormant since June. Really, I’m sorry about this: it’s just, I’ve been busy!

In the world of news, I am now at the University of Ottawa studying History and Political Sciences (French Immersion & Co-op). If you think that’s a mouthful, you should look at the course load, and then you’d understand why I’ve been such an unreliable blogger. I’m also thoroughly enjoying the start of my one year tenure as a Page in the House of Commons. It’s been absolutely exceptional to get such an intimate and at times, overwhelming, look into the inner realm of the political machine. My fellow pages have become some of my closest friends; they are a group of exceedingly amazing youth from across the country. We have a smashing great time.

In regards to CYA, uOttawa has some amazing opportunities, such as their Experiential Learning Service (ELS). This program is basically a localized version of what we on staff see CYA! Volunteering evolving to. Volunteer positions are posted and then can be browsed and selected by students, with the opportunity for the hours to be recorded by the school and put on a permanent and comprehensive record that can be sent to graduate schools or potential employers. I have begun to work closely with the ELS office in getting some of the volunteering positions that are open within CYA posted on their site and in their database, and it has already been extremely successful. We have a volunteer working on things as an Aboriginal Liaison. I’m also really looking forward to seeing this program expanding in the coming semesters. If the school you’re currently attending runs a similar program, please email me (landryk@cya-ajc.ca) and let me know!

Now that I’m all settled into university and tackling my first ever midterms tomorrow, I’m really excited to re-invest more time in CYA, so, I’m back, here to stay. See you on the flipside.

I'm currently in Fredonia, New York with Rotary International District 7090 for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. Today was just arrivals and a few icebreaker acitivities, but I'm already learned a few key things. Well, not so much learned, more been reminded of. One of these things is just how important learning someone's name is. It's a simple concept, really, when someone recognizes you by your name it means so much more than when they use general terms such as "hey dude" and "man", yet, how many of us actually take the time to learn the names of those we meet?

There's an old quote that goes, its not what you know, but who you know. So, the impetus comes down to actually knowing who you know. Names included.

Enjoy grades nine and ten.
Marks matter, but grades nine and ten are the years that you have the most freedom to take risks, screw up, try new things, over extend yourself, and get involved in everything. I did the on average 12 extra-curricular activities during these years, and still wish I would have done more. I also really regret not taking more “out there” classes like computer programming or tech for my electives. It would have been really interesting to try them out.

Don’t overlook co-op.
One of the biggest regrets I have about high school is not doing co-op. I truly wish I would have taken the time to go try a career on for size. I plan to not make this mistake during university and have therefore enrolled in a co-op program there.

Plan things out. Actually.
I wish I had sat down and come up with a timeline in grade nine. I ended up missing my graduating year due to my exchange. It was definitely worth it, but if I had to do it again, I’d have done it a year or two earlier so that I would have had time to mesh better with the group I’d be graduating with. Or, had I really planned, I’d have graduated on time by taking additional night and summer courses.

Pursue your interests.
This is one I think I pretty much followed. I like writing so I contacted my local newspaper to see if I could get some articles published or do some freelance work. I ended up being surprised with a few freelance opportunities as well as an open invitation to write and be published (largely for free). This has opened up tremendous doors for me. Media passes are the COOLEST things ever. The novelty does NOT wear off.

Back everything up. Always.
Nowadays, we all use computers for everything and we end up taking them for granted. Stop that. Make sure you back up everything that’s important, especially assignments and scholarship applications - even if it means emailing them to yourself. Losing a scholarship application with five essay questions…hurts.

Use your agenda.
Yeah, so, the cool kids don’t use them. Get over it. When juggling deadlines, activities, and assignments, it’s nice to be able to go and cross things off as you complete them – not to mention having something remind you what time you have to be when. I went grade nine and ten without using one and couldn’t figure out why I was so stressed…I started using it and things just got a lot easier.

Volunteer hours are good.
Volunteering is amazing. You meet amazing people, do interesting things, and it’s a break from the grind. And then, when grade 12 comes and you’re applying for those scholarships? You’re set and don’t have to run around doing things trying to pad your résumé. If you don’t want to be stereotypical and volunteer at the local soup kitchen, you don’t have to. Seriously, there are a huge number of opportunities out there.

Academics matter.
Marks matter. Now you’re thinking, obviously, right? But let’s put it this way: the vast majority of university programs only look at marks. So even if you’re doing five trillion extra-curricular activities, if you don’t have the marks, you won’t get in. It’s that simple. Find a balance where neither suffers if you’re planning on going out for scholarships. Additionally, scholarships like LORAN require an 85% average in grade 11 in order to apply. So if you’re looking to apply to the larger scholarships, keep that in mind.

Be nice to your teachers.
Being the stubborn, argumentative, and bitter person in class may get you a rep with your peers, but it’s not going to help you later on. Teachers can be a tremendous source of guidance, and reference letters…not to mention they have a say in your marks. Looking back, I definitely see where I could have been more respectful and nicer to some of my teachers, especially the ones I didn’t agree with.

Set goals.
I had one real goal throughout high school, and that was to get into the House of Commons Page Program. And guess what, when I applied the first time, I got rejected. It sucked, for lack of a better word. I was pretty much devastated. But along the way I had accomplished a lot: I learned French because it was a requirement, stayed politically aware (which ended up turning into a passion), and used it as a goal to motivate myself to work harder in school so that I would qualify.

Pursue those goals.
My martial arts instructor once told me it didn’t matter how many times I got knocked down (sparring class, fond memories) but rather how many times I picked myself up. So, I didn’t make the Page Program the first year, but after staying back and re-applying, I achieved my goal. And honestly, that’s an amazing feeling.

Research your university programs EXTENSIVELY.
I totally failed to do this one. And I definitely regret it. Know exactly what each programs admissions requirements are and make sure you fulfill them. Know exactly what you’re applying for, and don’t just apply to places on a whim…it make the decision so much more difficult in the end.

Watch your deadlines. Period.
Universities and scholarships aren’t like teachers in high school. A deadline is a deadline. They will not accept things afterwards. And half the time, they won’t even tell you they haven’t accepted it.

Kick back every once and awhile.
I definitely failed to do this enough, leading to huge levels of stress and burnouts from time to time. Sanity days are amazing. Not that I’m for missing class or vegetating on weekend, but every once and awhile it’s okay to sleep in, stay in your pjs, and do nothing for a day. I find I’m more productive the day after anyways. We’re always being pushed to work on weekends or do extra work, or sports, or volunteer…and that’s all well and good…but everyone needs some down time as well.

Okay, so, I mentioned it being busy in January? Yeah...not even. Things are picking up and rolling full steam. We've already had meetings with a couple MPPs and have a handful more concretely lined up, and a large group more in the works. It's meaning that I'm going to a lot of meetings. A lot. But it's also a lot of fun. What's really refreshing is the positive and enthusiastic feedback we're hearing from members of all political stripes and colours. I'm tremendously excited for the coming months.

In other exciting news, we now have six separate and unique parties which youth can become engaged in! I'd like to welcome the Assembly of Young Canadian Conservatives and the Pro Populus Party to the CYA.

The Simulation Parliament is off to an amazing start: the amount of progress on that front is completely astounding. A solid shout out goes to Jeremy Zhao for taking that on pretty much by himself and working to mold it into a fantastic experience for all involved. Kudos!

I'm going to run off to work now, with the promise of starting to update this more regularly. Toodles!