I have been in SHARP for almost 2 years and participated different activities. I am really grateful that SHARP gave me so many opportunities to challenge and to know more about myself. They encourage me to break through my comfort zone to be more confident and powerful. My most memorable experience was the 4-days and 3 nights camp, because U maybe the only Filipino but I have felt welcomed and joyful. It was fun and quite challenging exploring new ideas that could help me in the future.
In this journey, I as a person changed a lot. I felt devastated many times. But I never give up on becoming the person I discovered. My perspective on the people around me has changed. I started to discover my strengths and weaknesses. I started to learn a lot of things, listen and follow some guidance that staff gave me. There are four things I learnt about life. I learnt that there are things about yourself and your life that you shouldn’t share with someone. I learned that it doesn’t matter what mistakes I make, the people around me whether family or friends, they will always be proud of me and love me unconditionally. Because of this unconditional support and love, I can find motivation from the past. So thank you SHARP for helping me to be a better version of myself and be open to share and accept challenges in life.

My first interaction with SHARP program was through Celine because we both went to City Mosaic together. Afterwards, I joined SHARP’s regular program. The teachers and our classmates were very engaging in the activities. The whole classroom was filled with waves of laughter. Under the guidance of our instructors, we became familiar and closer with our group through the games. After class activities, we were assigned to different groups for discussion. In the process of discussion, I became clearer in understanding myself and what kind of person I am; I learned what my strengths are, and was able to set some realistic goals. Joel regularly asked about our progress. What impressed me the most was that the entire group worked together to complete the three-minute video project.
Everyone filmed their parts of the content in an orderly manner, then we sat down to discuss everyone’s footage and shared our thoughts and ideas. We had the freedom to express our opinions during this time of discussion, and no one shied away. After the discussion, our group leader recorded the result of the discussion and was filly responsible for editing. When I finally saw the complete video of our group played on screen, I truly felt a sense of accomplishment in my heart. Before joining SHARP, I never thought that we would use the videos and music to conclude our lessons in the program and to look back on our growth during the entire process. SHARP is a very interesting and worthwhile program to me. I hope to continue to participate in this program in the near future. After all, the education content, the rich and different activities, warm and kind teachers and classmates are some of the reasons why I love this program.

The nature walk for SHARP students from different schools is one of the best experience that I experienced. We went to Etobicoke Outdoor Education Centre, and the team leaders made a lot of groups and helps us get to know each other more. I am lucky that my groupmates are also from my school, and I know all of them. But it is a happy experience for me that my group was awesome because it was very easy for us to talk to each other because inside the school, we did not speak to each other that much.
The staff from the Centre guided us and shared their knowledge. They made a fun game, and we gathered as a team to complete the task. They taught us to communicate with our team more and showed us how to look at the map and how to use the compass. The gathered us inside and taught us about the history of Canadian maple syrup, and they also showed us how to put a hole on the tree and hang a bucket on it. They gave us a tour of their little house in the middle of the forest while inside they are making maple syrup. The staff also asked us to fill the bucket with sap, and they even gave us a treat of two syrup samples and asked us to determine which one was the real maple syrup.

This was a meaningful event. I had a chance to go tree planting with my classmates and helped each other to plant the trees and have it rooted in the soil. Because of this event, I was able to build up the relationships that I have with my classmates and got to know different people that were also in the group. In this wonderful atmosphere with the breeze of the March’s wind, we were able to plant seeds in the ground one after another, and got to witness the fields being fully planted. At the end, we not only filled the grounds completely green, but we also learnt a lot about tree planting in details. If there are other opportunities in the future, I would want to join events that are similar to this and would strongly recommend m friends to attend as well.

Being part of the SHARP big family, when I first heard about this overnight camp, I knew that I had to come. It is because I believed that every SHARP program can help me to know more about of myself, meet more new friends and to enhance myself.
When we first arrived at the campsite, all the students were all staying with their friends. We were then divided into different groups. Most of us were still very shy and reluctant to get to know each other more. After the “SHARP style” warm up game, we started to know more about each other and started to become more familiar with each other. Through chatting with the group mates, we found out that there are similarities between us, such as our hobbies and backgrounds. I was very impressed by one of the warm up game we played in the afternoon: the tic-tac-tie relay. In our own group, we supported each other through lots of encouragement. Although we were not the champion, but we are satisfied and proud of the result. Later in the building game, I am amazed by our team spirit. We were able to communicate and cooperate well, we built the strongest shelter out of all the groups.
Throughout the 2-days 1-night camp, I met lots of new friends also enhanced the relationships with my old friends/ All of these are very previous to me. I learned more about myself, I found out that I could also be a leader. I was able to lead the team to finish building the shelter, which made me very proud of myself.
I cannot stress how much I appreciate SHARP program. Because of Sharp program, we are given warmth and support, especially to visa students, like me. Hope SHARP program can be more successful in the future.

One of the most exciting things that I like about camp, it is being with my friends and this community. Although this overnight camo is not my first camp experience, it was special for sure. I spend a god time with my group and other groups. I experiences and learned many meaning things in the camp. I learned how to look for meaningful lessons in everything we do. Another thing I learned was the friends that I got an opportunity to meet at the camp, which was very sweet! I always enjoy SHARP program’s camp because when I leave the camp, I leave with many special things that I learned, which I am so grateful for. One last thing I want to say is a big thanks to SHARP program because I learned so many things from tis program and I am excited to learn more things in the future.