Author: Lilly

I was born in Winnipeg at Saint Vital Hospital, and soon after my birth, I was on a plane headed to Ukraine, specifically to Kherson. My entire family lives in Kherson, so many relatives welcomed me as I returned from Canada. My dad’s family is originally from Yakutsk, Russia, and they moved to Kherson before the collapse of the Soviet Union while my mom’s family has always lived in Ukraine. Growing up in Ukraine was certainly an experience that, although I don’t fully remember, I miss dearly. Whenever I look at old photos of myself smiling in my babushka’s apartment with her cat Vaisya and her yellow parrot Yasha, a wave of nostalgia washes over me, making me long to return to the country I once called home. I remember baking and playing with my cousins Yana and Stasik, they were a big part of me growing up even though they were much older than me, they always took time to teach me things or to walk with me to markets, they are both still in Ukraine along with my aunt and uncle, Yana was a teacher, and Stasik is in the army fighting in the war. Many of my other relatives still live in Kherson because, in truth, they have nowhere else to go they do not have the opportunity to go anywhere else. Hearing from my relatives is both a happy and sad moment as they are safe, but we never know the next time they are in danger or hurt. My Babushka apartment recently got caught in an air strike, and the left side of the building was destroyed, the apartment that I grew up in, the apartment I had some of the happiest moments in as a child, is practically destroyed, thankfully, my babushka lives with us here in Victoria, but all the memories and items that apartment contained can never be replaced. The country I called home is being destroyed, and I will never be able to go back and see the great history and happy memories it once held, I can not go back to the same country I once knew; the children of Ukraine will never be able to experience the country their parents once new, and this is what saddens me most of all.

Psychology is something that has always fascinated me. I’ve always been curious about how people think, feel, and behave, and I think that’s why psychology catches my attention so much there’s something so interesting about understanding why people do the things they do, and psychology helps answer so many questions about that. I first got interested in psychology when I started learning about emotions and how they affect our behavior especially when it comes to mental and physical health, how different emotions can change the way we act, and how we can learn to control them. It made me realize that the mind is so powerful, and we don’t always fully understand how much it can influence our actions. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to know more about why people react in certain ways to different situations which made me search into moral philosophy as well as they are quite connected. What interests me is how psychology is not just about understanding other people, but also about understanding yourself. It’s helped me reflect on my thoughts and behaviors. For example, when I’m feeling anxious or nervous about something, I now understand why my body reacts the way it does, I think looking into psychology more can help me deal with challenges in my life and also help me relate to others better and it could possibly something I would like to study  in the future.

I have a friend from Amboise, France, named Lilith, though she goes by Lily an ironic coincidence, as that happens to be my name as well. I met her in September 2023 through mutual acquaintances, and when we first spoke, it quickly became clear how similar we were, not just in name but in our perspectives, aspirations, and goals. We joked that we must be twins separated at birth, and over the past year, we’ve grown very close as we talked and shared experiences and mutual friends. Although Lily lives in France, she occasionally visits Los Angeles to see her Dad, which is always a fun occasion, especially since the 9-hour time difference between France and Victoria can be challenging. Despite the distance, our connection has grown very strong in a relatively short time. I would genuinely consider her one of my closest friends she’s incredibly kind, and understanding, and has an amazing sense of humor. I feel incredibly fortunate to have met her, It’s truly insane to think that without the invention of technology like cell phones, I might never have crossed paths with someone who has become such an important part of my life, so in that way, technology is so useful to connect with people and friends from around the world. Many people think they haven’t found a good friend and to that, I say they are probably out there, across the globe thinking the exact thing you are.

I think at this moment in time I’m experiencing the worst physical pain ever, I’ve been through many kinds of painful things like for example, I broke my arm when I was a kid. But I would never wish the pain of wisdom teeth aches on my worst enemy. Starting this month it has become clear to me that my wisdom teeth are growing in and are forming roots which is insanely painful, what started off as a simple earache slowly developed into a fever. During this fever and earache combo, I began feeling pain at the back of my mouth specifically my back teeth, my mom took one look at my teeth and let me know she was calling the dentist. At the dentist, I got x-rayed and the dentist smiled and said “Yep you’re gonna probably have to get all 4 removed under general anesthesia”, in that moment I think I died inside. Have you ever seen those videos of people getting all 4 of their wisdom teeth removed, if you haven’t then I’ll describe it to you, under anesthesia you don’t have absolute control over what you do or say, and don’t even get me started on how swollen your face is going to get. Am I very nervous? Yes! But is this a common and non-dangerous experience, also yes so I think I’ll be fine if rather get them out than keep them in with the pain I’m going through.

Just yesterday the island was affected by something called a “bomb cyclone” It’s not too serious, I mean we aren’t going to get flooded or anything but we will get strong winds, heavy rain, and the tide will be up. As someone who lives smack dab right next to the ocean my house and neighborhood often suffer from power outages, for instance, remember that power outage that happened 2 weeks ago? Well, while the school and other dwellings in sed area got power back at around 8 pm my house did not get power back until 8 am the next day! Now back to the present day with our friend who is the bomb cyclone, our friend is seriously affecting the houses in my neighborhood whether it be; trees, fences, and my gazebo that nearly flew away due to the wind that was whistling through the night. Due to the storm, my house lost power last night, it all started when the lights started flickering which of course I thought was odd until the power went out leaving me completely in the dark, this is a common occurrence in my household so all you can do is light candles and wait out the inevitable time the power gets turned back on. I texted Ely, Eva, Polina, and Roberta asking if their power had gone off as well, but to my surprise, everyone had power except me! I then waited out until we had power and of course power had majestically turned on at the crack of dawn at 5 am in the morning. Now I understand BC hydro is busy and is constantly working around the clock but I mean shouldn’t BC hydro have some kind of back up generator to power the city without having to sit in the dark for hours, and this is me speaking as a resident of a neighbourhood that always gets power last. BC Hydro, shouldn’t you atleast have a plan especially in the rainy season when we have bomb cyclones coming at us? I mean I used to live in Winnipeg where there would be at least 7 different blizzards in a year and our power was on all year round and we had a power outage once every two years, I understand Winnipeg has different whether conditions but why cant BC hydro just adapt better solutions to harsh whether?

I hate power outages and I hate BC Hydro.

2 weeks ago I went on a road trip through Oregon and California, to go to Disneyland and Universal Studios. The road trip to California was excruciatingly long, we stayed in Portland, San Francisco, and finally, Anaheim where Disney is located. On our first day in Anaheim, we went to Universal Studios, when you enter Universal there is a red carpet entrance a huge fountain, and many shops with souvenirs, my favorite store was the Hello Kitty store! Universal is split up into 2 sections: 1. Shops, Minion land, and Springfield (the Simpsons) 2. Jurassic Park, Mario World, and other rides with their own separate sets. I had two separate days in Universal Studios so I was able to explore the whole park and even took photos with King Julian and Hello Kitty! Universal Studios was huge so we decided to take a tour of the film lot, we hopped on to a car called a tram and looked at different film sets and filming locations, we were able to see the sets of; The Good Place, Ted, Jurassic park, Jaws, Big Fat liar, Psycho Bates mansion, Nope, and fast and furious. The tour was so cool because I was able to look at the real stage where some of my favorite films and actors were. Overall Universal Studios was so magical and seeing all the sets, rides, and actors was such a fun experience.

Our second day in Anaheim was filled with Disney from 10 am to 9 pm almost a whopping 12 hours at the park and boy were my feet soar. The day started with going off to the right side of Disney Land called Disney Park, Disney Park features things like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Sleeping Beauty’s castle, New Orleans Square, Toon Town, and Adventure Land. Disney Park was more of a viewing side of the park; you were able to see gorgeous builds of structures from some of your favorite movies. Star Wars was recreated so well whether it be the rides or the actual Star Wars sets everything was detailed beautifully down to the last speck of dust, the rides were so immersive and interactive that sometimes I thought a 3D dark Vader was coming after me on a ride called “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance”. Later in the day at 2 pm, I went to the left side of the park called Disney California Adventure, this side of the park was made more for intense rides with rides like; the incredicoaster, guardians of the Galaxy, Mickey Swinging Ferris wheel, and Space Mountain. If you know me, I’m a sucker for intense and “scary” rides so the incredicoaster which is a fast roller coaster that flips you into a loop was one of my top 3 rides along with Guardians of the Galaxy which is a ride that drops you up and down from very high heights. Both sides of the park were incredibly gorgeous and the second I stepped into Disney land I felt like a kid again getting excited over taking a photo with Mickey and Minnie at the Disney Halloween parade. Both parks were spot on and realistic to all the movies and shows I grew up with and still watch, the parks made me relive my childhood and it was so fun especially since I went with one of my best friends Eva who made it 10 times better to experience.