January 29th 1997; a rainy Wednesday afternoon. My mother has just arrived at Royal Colombian hospital. My father is frantically driving to the hospital from hockey practice. After countless minutes of speeding through traffic, my father pushes through the hospital doors just in time to see me come into the world. Being only minutes old, I have no clue where I am, or what I am doing here (I still don’t), but I soon discover that I have two parents and an enormous family to help me find my way.
After being nameless for an entire month, I received the name Chelsie Amber Cheta Ram; Chelsie because it is the modern form of the name “Elsie”, a name my parents found in the Bible. My father is Catholic and I was brought up practicing the Catholic faith. My upbringing was filled with love and affection. I was the firstborn grandchild on my mother’s side of the family which resulted in me getting constant attention throughout the beginning years of my life. Unfortunately, at the age of 3 I was forced to share this attention when my brother Elijah was born.
Only two years after Elijah had been born, I was ready to move onto the next stage in my life. At the ripe age of five years old my parents hugged me goodbye and sent me on my way to school. From kindergarten to grade 1 I attended St. Michael’s elementary school. Here I had a group of good friends with one strong best friend In particular. During my time at St. Michaels my sister was born. With 3 kids and a house that could barely hold two people, my parents decided that it was time for us to move. The summer leading into my grade 2 year we moved to North Burnaby. Changing houses meant that I was forced to change schools, but I didn’t mind – I was up for a new adventure! I ended up going to St Helens elementary school from grade 2-7. Here I maintained a group of friends, but I never quite found that one best buddy that everyone else seemed to have. While transitioning into St. Helens, my youngest brother Xavier was born. During elementary school, I was never a good student. Homework never got done, and tests were never studied for. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to complete my homework (although that might have been a small factor), it was that I genuinely did not understand any of the material. From my struggle with school work I have gained the ability to show empathy. After reading the Liberal studies textbook I realize that empathy is an outcome of perspective taking, which is a key component to interdisciplinary studies. While in elementary school I was involved in several activities including soccer, volleyball and track and field, but I was never as passionate about anything the way I was about performing.
Throughout high school I was most heavily involved within the fine arts program. High school is where I discovered my passion for performing. Whether it be singing, acting or dancing, I feel most at home when I am on stage. After discovering that I was able to develop my performing abilities within my high school I began to earn better grades and make stronger friendships. It was at this point in my life that I truly began loving school. When I was in grade ten, my parents went through a divorce. This caused me a substantial amount of hardship as it was something I had never experienced before. Although this was an awkward time filled with great uncertainty, I overcame my challenges and have developed into a stronger person from it. Through my parents’ divorce I learnt how to tolerate ambiguity. There was never a root cause for my parents to get a divorce, it was always just viewed as something that gradually occurred and had several influences. This taught me how to be open to more than one interpretation of a problem, which is a skill necessary for interdisciplinarians.
By my grade twelve year I was liked by both my teachers and classmates. I also had a good academic standing, and I was actively pursuing my passion for the arts. Unfortunately, continuing to perform after high school was not an option as it would not lead me to a realistic career choice. After attending many university workshops, I decided to apply to 5 different post-secondary institutions. I also applied for several scholarships. Near the end of my grade twelve year, I received a letter from Capilano University stating that I had been accepted to the Liberal studies program, and that I had received the We act Entrance Scholarship, which solidified my decision of continuing my studies at Capilano.
My current goal is to receive my undergraduate and hopefully pursue a career in law. When I was choosing my faculty I had no idea what liberal studies entailed. The first time I actually realized what Liberal Studies was about was on orientation day. After orientation, I knew that I had made the right choice. Liberal Studies is by far my favorite class this semester. The idea of interdisciplinary thinking is a concept I have yet to be exposed to, and is something I find extremely interesting. I genuinely enjoy reading the Intro to Interdisciplinary Studies textbook. I feel as though I understand the concepts, and I notice myself learning and growing from these new ideas. Even now as I write this autobiography, I am continuing to learn by developing my “strong sense” critical thinking, as my attention is directed inward, and I am allowing myself to self-reflect. I plan on further developing these interdisciplinary skills throughout not only the next four years, but my entire life. An important concept I have learnt from interdisciplinary studies is that disciplines are constantly evolving ; I am proud to say that I am fully prepared to embark on the ever changing path of life from which I will always be a life long learner!