Who am I? Here I will discuss my life, volunteer work, and hobbies I enjoy!
Here is a photo of me with Chewbacca and a Stormtrooper that was featured in the Edmonton Journal. This was taken at the Edmonton Expo in 2019.
Who am I? As a young adult, this can be a tricky question to answer. I've always been someone who enjoys learning about new things, and has a lot of interests - that's partly why I love my degree so much!
When asked, it can be difficult to put your personality into words. To help me, I chose to take the Myers-Briggs personality test, as it is a very popular personality typing quiz. My Myers-Briggs personality type is INFP-T, which can be summed up as someone who is passionate, imaginative, idealistic and empathetic.
Currently as a university student, I do not have much time for life outside of my studies; but I had a very vibrant childhood! While attending a Francophone school where I learnt to be fluent in French, I spent many weeknights training to dance and swim. Disciplines I learnt through my 14 years dance training were ballet, tap, hip hop, jazz, musical theatre, and character performances. I was placed in swimming lessons at six months old, and since then trained up until I was able to become a lifeguard at the age of 17. Since then I have spent my summers working at local pools and teaching swimming lessons, as well as being certified in many additional courses such as Pool Operators 1. I was also very active in my school student body, as I was the Grade Representative at my high school for Grades 11 & 12. I also participated as a Teacher's Assistant for Drama and Music.
Although my life has turned to focus more on academics, I am very lucky to still have the ability to give back to the greater community through my volunteering. I am a member of the Rebel Legion, this is a charity organization licensed under Lucasfilm Ltd. that helps raise money for various children's charities. I play Princess Leia, a character that symbolizes hope in a time of darkness. I really connect to Leia, and all that she's done. Volunteering as her is very rewarding, as I have been able to meet and learn a lot about others as well as myself during my three years volunteering with this organization. As Leia, you will see in most of the photos I am one of, if not the only character that shows their face. This can be both a blessing and a curse. I have the ability to have much more dynamic interactions with people as it's easy to read each others emotions. But it is also hard to keep a strong face when dealing with difficult situations such as talking to a sick child and trying to not be affected by it.
On a lighter note, I am very thankful for this organization and the opportunities it has given me. I have also developed a second family from it, full of people who have been taking care of me throughout university. I am the youngest female member still in the Outrider Base of the Rebel Legion after joining back in May 2018 and I honestly don't mind, I've met so many people who have mentored me through life as well as my costuming. Being a part of the Rebel Legion also connects to my degree as well as I have made all of the costumes I wear for Leia, and have learnt many different skills in order to create the garments.
Here are a few photos of the many adventures I've had with my Rebel Legion family!
Moving onto hobbies, it's quite interesting how they can shift as time goes on. Over the years (and especially during the 2020 quarantine), I've tried to diversify my interests as much as possible. One thing that seemed to constantly stick with me was my love of pop culture, especially Disney. In high school, I wanted to be some form of designer. I used to paint and draw all over my walls like a real life Rapunzel, and desired to go to animation school (a topic I could ramble all day about). I also wanted to become a mechanical engineer and design theme park attractions. I used to photoshop images of Disney characters and post them on an Instagram page that grew to have over 30k followers at one point, but I did not choose to go forward with a career in graphic design.
Fast forward to Christmas 2014, my mother gifted me a small Brother sewing machine. I had always been fascinated with sewing, and wanted to make my own cosplays to wear for conventions. I distinctly remember the first costume I ever wanted to have was Belle's village dress from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, something I did not make until Christmas 2020. My sewing began with smaller projects. Adding things to ready-made garments and lots and lots of circle skirts. I didn't begin making any full costumes until I decided to transfer into my degree in Human Ecology, which I was approved into in January 2018. Then I began to sew and remake things and sew again.
Other hobbies of mine include taking photos of myself in my costumes and posting them online, as well as interacting with other costumers and learning their techniques and methods to their craft. I am also trying to get better at wig styling and makeup/body-paint. I enjoy the theatre - Drama was my first major in university until I transferred to Human Ecology. I also love learning about historical costuming and historical tailoring techniques. And recently, I've been reconnecting with my younger self and have begun collecting all of the books I read throughout middle and high school from thrift stores. It's been very interesting rereading literature that I used to adore as a child through the lens I've developed as someone who has now completed five years of post secondary education and has had to do a lot of critical thinking.
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