Last weekend I had the pleasure of watching some of the recap from the 2010 Olympics and it was so great to walk that road again.
While the Olympics are usually shrouded in some form of controversy, the Games themselves bring so much to both the people and athletes of this world.
As I sat and watched the highlights of the first gold, our hockey teams winning moments and once again reliving Joannie Rochette’s journey or heard about how John Furlong went to Jordan to pay his respects to the young Olympian who died on the track I couldn’t help but think of how amazing people can be. You don’t have to go across the country or world for that matter to see this in everyday life either.
Right here in our own backyard so many struggle through adversity and overcome huge obstacles to achieve their goals. The human race is quite remarkable in so many ways. Not only do we have the ability to overcome life’s challenges but we also have the capacity to feel for others and share with those we don’t even know.
I think it is safe to say that millions of people watched Joannie with tears in their eyes, or felt the loss of the young bobsledder. We shared the joy of complete strangers who found success on the podium and so many were proud to be Canadian.
I was almost awestruck when Brian Williams said that Canadians reminded Americans of who they used to be and that we are wonderful people. I am proud to call this country my home. I am also equally proud to call Hazelton my home once again this week as yet another great success story unfolds with the young Tait Chandler winning the largest Canadian scholarship.
And he is not the first Hazelton student to receive this great honour!
As I have said many times before, Hazelton has so much talent, so many great people young and old and so much to offer yet, it is always nice to see the reminders.
However that is not to say we don’t have our struggles and I know times are still economically tough in our area.
It is with all of this in mind that I found myself going back to that saying I used to see written on a poster in my Grade 7 classroom many moon ago: “I believe that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but, we are responsible for who we become.”
I also hear the 2010 Olympic theme song playing over and over in my head and I do “Believe in the power of you and I.”
May you all believe in yourselves, in each other and in our country.