I have always been very aware of my own sexuality and I was lucky to grow up with very excepting parents and they taught me to not judge others for the way they are. Even though my father was excepting of whoever I wanted to be he always encouraged flirting with girls and through that encouragement, I learned who I was. My sexuality has never affected my ability to live but one friend of mine who was bi-sexual was always worried during grade school about bullies and other negative things during this time. I think the reason it’s hard for some people to understand other sexual preferences is because they are scared of what they don’t know. When I was in high school being called “Gay” was a huge insult even though it shouldn’t be and I think in today’s society people are more educated on the matter and at least in my own opinion we are going in the right direction. Reducing or eliminating the stigma around different sexualities is so important in today’s world if we want everyone to feel comfortable in their own bodies. I find it very unfair that me personally can go anywhere and not be afraid that my sexuality will affect the way people treat me or threaten my safety. It is really crazy to think about how some people are judged on their sexuality before they get a chance to show people who they are. Sexuality doesn’t make a person, it’s just a small part of who they are, that’s why you cant group people together just based on some characteristics. The world is changing as we become more educated and excepting of others but we can’t fully move on until everyone joins together and excepts everyone for who they are.

I have always been very aware of my own sexuality and I was lucky to grow up with very excepting parents and they taught me to not judge others for the way they are. Even though my father was excepting of whoever I wanted to be he always encouraged flirting with girls and through that encouragement, I learned who I was. My sexuality has never affected my ability to live but one friend of mine who was bi-sexual was always worried during grade school about bullies and other negative things during this time. I think the reason it’s hard for some people to understand other sexual preferences is because they are scared of what they don’t know. When I was in high school being called “Gay” was a huge insult even though it shouldn’t be and I think in today’s society people are more educated on the matter and at least in my own opinion we are going in the right direction. Reducing or eliminating the stigma around different sexualities is so important in today’s world if we want everyone to feel comfortable in their own bodies. I find it very unfair that I can go anywhere and not be afraid that my sexuality will affect the way people treat me or threaten my safety. It is really crazy to think about how some people are judged on their sexuality before they get a chance to show people who they are. Sexuality doesn’t make a person, it’s just a small part of who they are, that’s why you cant group people together just based on some characteristics. The world is changing as we become more educated and excepting of others but we can’t fully move on until everyone joins together and excepts everyone for who they are.

The very first question was one that related to me well. “I can if I wish to arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time”. I grew up in southern Alberta so I was constantly with people of my race and was hardly around any other cultures. Sports and university are what changed that but before I moved to Regina there were hardly any non-white people in my life. In grade two a new student arrived in our class and he was African American and his English wasn’t great. He did fit in well luckily because he was very good at basketball. Thinking back I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for this kid in grade 2 to move to a new country, be surrounded by people that are not his race and learn a new language. I truly did have it good growing up, I was always comfortable growing up and never had any challenges. This was my first memory looking back to my past.

The second question the resonated with me was number 5. “ I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed”. This example has less to do with white privilege but more to do with gender. I have always been a big guy and felt safe anywhere I went. Going shopping I could go to any store alone and fell completely safe and It was until I talked to a female friend of mine. She was telling me how sometimes in public places they will feel unsafe around specifically older men. It was confusing how I’ve never felt unsafe once and for this girl every other time she went out she had to keep looking over her shoulder. After looking through the rest of the questions I noticed a theme of me being oblivious to other people’s troubles. It gave me a lot more respect for the people around me

This article is based back to just before the early 1900s and mainly explains the hardship that the Ukrainian people had before and during the time so many of the people immigrated to Canada for a chance at a better life. Before making the move to Canada so many Ukrainian people were discriminated against and not treated fairly. Once they arrived in Canada they still weren’t given any favours. Most of these people came in hope of free land which they did receive but by the time they arrived all the quality sections of land had been taken. The Ukrainian people got left with hardly any farmable land and the sections that were miles away from neighbours or civilization. The Ukrainian people had had 3 years to build a house, a garden and a building for livestock otherwise they would be forced to give up their land and leave. Luckily the Ukrainian people had a rich knowledge for farming as they’ve been doing it for many years before moving to Canada. By the year 1900 many of these farms have prospered under harsh conditions. A quote from Myrna Kostash “Without the men and women in sheepskin coats there would be no prairie economy outside the Hudson’s Bay Company, native hunters and trappers and the NWMP in their forts”. The men and women in sheepskin coats that this historian is speaking about it in this quote are the Ukrainian people that immigrated to Canada. Myrna Kostash is implying that without the Ukrainian people Canada wouldn’t have been able to succeed in being an independent country. Without the Ukrainian people, there is a good chance Canada would have been taken over by the United States. The Ukrainian people put together different unions to help make sure Ukrainian people can find jobs other than farming but also to make sure they are being paid equivalent to their co-workers. Also over the years, multiple bilingual schools were open for the Ukrainians and they even got a Ukrainian newspaper published. Although all of this good progress was working towards keeping in tack the Ukrainian rights and culture it didn’t last long. Anti-Ukrainian groups started becoming a more prevalent thing as they even made their own newspaper to show negative stereotypes of Ukrainian people. More and more books and articles came out with negative stereotypes of the Ukrainian people. Later in 1917, the Russian Revolution was starting and in Canada anything remotely connected to Russia was banned. This included many groups like the Ukrainians and these people got forced into concentration camps. Furthermore all Ukrainian language was banned for being in newspapers and being spoken in groups. After years of hard times for the Ukrainian people it got even worst, Ukrainian couldn’t sing or perform anything in their own language. Ukrainians got released from the camps at the end of the first world war in 1918 but not all of them. Ukrainian people only got release because they were needed to maintain labor shortages after the war. After everything was over and the Ukrainian people got released from the labor camps but still got abused from racial violence and in so many cases the cops would do nothing to help out the victims. Even Phillip Yasnowsky lost his job on the first page strictly because of his ethnic background. As the years went on the federal government slowly but surely removed racist restrictions put on Ukrainian and other people during the first world war. In 1919 someone tried to pass a domain act that wouldn’t allow Ukrainians to become citizens for at least 10 years after entry but this was quickly shot down. The Ukrainian people went through a lot of hardship as was displayed in this article and I am glad to see how everyone can work it out in the end.

I’m from a small city called Medicine Hat which is about 4 hours west of here. I have lived there my entire life and living here has blessed me in so many ways. With around 65 thousand people it was a pretty chill place with a great sense of community. Moving away from home was a great challenge and something I am still struggling with today. The experience has filled me with mixed emotions, good and bad. Freedom is something I have fallen in love with. Not having to ask or tell my parents what my plans make moving away worth it for sure. There is, of course, a downside to this as well. Cooking, cleaning and everything else that used to be done for you is now gone and won’t get done unless you do it yourself. Moving away has helped me fix some bad habits of mine. Time management is something my dad has always been on me about being better and all I had to do it fix it was move out. Also being better with my money is a huge problem before I moved out but now when I realize I have to buy everything for myself it helps me save money a lot better. One other thing I learned about myself is that I hate being alone. Without my roommates, I think I would of gone insane. Moving to a new city was hard when I didn’t know anyone and now I realize I don’t think ill ever be able to live alone. I have learned so much about myself and I have only been on my own for 1 semester. I cant wait to see myself in 5 years when I’m all done.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.