This past month has been one of the hardest times of my life but also the most amazing times of my life. It has been a roller coaster of emotions. Our day began similar to every other day, but very different. The sky was blue, cloudless, and the air was thick with the Ontario heat. The sun rose as we walked across campus to Bistro for breakfast. After breakfast we had Shadnews48 that was run by the news committee. Today was a special day, it was Shad Olympics. Today my committee had the chance to show what we have been putting together for the entire month. Shad Olympics consisted of a relay race which included activities such as shoes in a bin, water balloon passing, and trivia. We also played Ultimate Frisbee, watermelon rugby, and soccer. To conclude the events we had everyone set up for a big picture. They didn’t know that the committee, with help from the PAs were filling up buckets of water in the background. As the pictures were being taken we snuck up from behind and soaked everyone with water. It was amazing. We ate lunch and had a lecture from one of our Program Assistants, Andrew Schmidt. The lecture was on the pros and cons of Stem Cell research. We had a heated debate on people for Embryonic Stem Research and people against it. I was against it and we ended up winning the debate and were awarded the privilege of not doing dishes. The rest of the day consisted of Pod time for our projects. The time literally diminished for our projects. My Pod really felt the stress and limited time of the project. It was the first time I really realized that we only have three more days until we are standing before the judges. Today was our last day to finish the Business plan as it is due Sunday evening. It feels we are so far from completing the project but I know it will all work out in the end. There is less than a week left of Shad, and I cannot believe how quickly the month went. It is amazing how every Shad felt that the first two weeks felt like a month and the last two weeks felt like a couple of days. I am going to take in every moment for the rest of the remaining days.
When I read previous blogs the majority of them said that this experience has changed their lives. I was very skeptical on the idea that twenty- seven days can change one's life. However I have come to realize that these are not just twenty-seven days. Through all the hardships and stress we have encountered we all have come together as a family and as a community. Unfortunately this month has been very hard on me as two of my family members have passed away. It was hard because I did not know what I was going to do, especially being so far away from my family. It was amazing how much love and support I received from everyone from Shad Valley McMaster. I felt like I had my family here to help me through this difficult time. So this was truly a life changing experience that is really… indescribable. I would like to dedicate this post to my Opa (Grandpa) who was so anxious to read my post but was one day short of reading it. He didn’t have to read it… he was with me the whole time.
Devin Buffalo, Shad Valley McMaster University 2010
Devin Buffalo, Shad Valley McMaster University 2010
Hometown: Wetaskiwin, Alberta
