Your Stories

When Michael spoke, at first I thought he was a comedian. He had the whole audience laughing and smiling. I thought his stories were really interesting and enjoyed listening. But then he said “… But it’s not about how you feel when your with your friends, it’s how you feel when your behind closed doors. How you feel when you’re alone”. That’s when I started really paying attention to what he was saying. Those few words really struck me. He said “it’s being able to know that you will be able to keep going, and that you will be okay”. These were the best words spoken, in my opinion, because I think nowadays it’s so important that we all know, it WILL be okay. Thanks Michael. Meant a lot

Hi my name is Juancamilo and I am a 16 year old from Houston. During the summer I attended a shine work camp in San Antonio. One night we had a great motivational speaker who really got to me. After talking he asked for a volunteer and I was picked. He handed me a $50 bill and told me that I could do whatever I wanted with it as long as it multiplied the money and that I used the money to inspire someone. I multiplied this money in two ways, first I matched it with my own money and I used it for multiple people. My dad is currently on a mission trip in Guatemala and with him I sent ten soccer balls for the children there. I hope that the soccer balls will bring joy to the kids and that this story will inspire you do find your own way to give back with what you are given.

Today I would like to share my story with you. My story is like this: My family moved here 10 years a go with me, my sister, and my parents. Later on I got a little sister in Canada which made my story worse. Ever since I received education here I have been dealing with problems around my home. My parents and my older sister don’t speak fluent English and they still don’t now. Whenever some kind of business calls or anything related with English I had to deal with it, but every time I made a mistake my parents would call me useless and worthless and such. I had all these piled up within me. All these feeling I have never told anyone; none of my friends, no adult I could rely on, nor did I ever tell my best friends I hang around with. With years passing by I would be called more horrible things by my parents and even some of the family friends say that I’m useless too. So I just fake a smile and try to ignore but I always had these feelings piled inside me. But ever since Access52 came I felt really inspired. Even if I do keep these feeling piled up, I feel that I can look forward without regret and worries and try my best to keep a smile on my face. I’m really glad I got this far to get support from my friends, guest speakers, and teachers. I look forward to another day where I can cherish with my friends. I will continue to stand up because you have inspired me to never give up hope. I thank you!

This is my story: The first thing that has affected me most is when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and I was fine at first but as the years went by I got more and more depressed. As a 6th grade student I was bullied to depression ( didn’t help that I was already depressed),so much to where I thought my only way out was suicide. Before I could try, my parents put me in a phycreatric hospital. I got out 8 days later feeling better. But sadly it didn’t last long. I got depressed again and there was nothing I could do. Didn’t help that last year when I was in grade 9 I was diagnosed with ADHD and chronic depression. I couldn’t help but eat my lunch in the corner outside where no one was and cry until the bell went. All I had was marching band it was the only real place I had friends. Sadly not long after, everyone was in my family was depressed and I felt like it was all my fault. I kept thinking my life is so dark and the only way out was suicide but I resisted the evil voices. All these feeling I held in. When I went to the presentation today, and the presenter said all those who are struggling stand up I stood up and when he said tell the people standing up that they are amazing and that you are there for them I started crying. All those feelings I held back for years just flowed out of me and the football team huddled around me and said that they are there for me and that meant a lot knowing that I had no friends in any other year other than a few. They cared sooo much that they talked to the coach and got me on the team. Finally someone someone cared about me. I felt like I could never be normal because of my diabetes but when they put me on that team I was normal, I was accepted as who I was. This is my story and for all those who feel the way I felt just remember never give up your moment will come

I have always been seen as that”happy all the time girl” and I understand why, I act happy because that’s what everyone wants. Last year was the hardest year of my life, it was the year I forgot who I was. I allowed my whole life to revolve on what my friend thought of me. I wanted her approval so badly. I was very depressed, because she pushed me away all the time. I always kept trying. I made myself believe I was a failure and that there was something wrong with me. My grades were low, I wore all black because she told me I didn’t look good in color. I even dressed how she wanted. I had to most struggle deciding who I was. It is so easy to forgot your identity. The saddest part is nobody even knew about my hurt, nobody know until this day. I spent so much time pretending I was always okay and smiling. I became a show. I was not real. A year later she decided we were no longer friends and that was so relieving to me. I began to find myself and be myself again. I learned a lot that year, and I thank God everyday for my life lesson. I see her in the hallways sometimes, I always smile at her. My smile is always real now. I wish her the best.

I am sharing my story today, hoping it can help someone. I spent my first 5 years of life in Haiti, living with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I don’t remember much of it, I don’t even remember if I knew I had parents. My mom told me, later in life, that she had moved to Canada to go to school and find a job. She didn’t know where my dad was. I moved to Canada and lived with my mom. It makes me sad to think about how I might have felt as a 5 year old that first night. Leaving all I knew behind and living with my mom who I had never really known. I remember starting 1st grade, I remember loving it and being excited to see my friends every morning. My mother was good to me all my life, we didn’t have much, but we made it work. My teenage years were hard though. My mom worked evenings and I would go home to our apartment and watch TV until I fell asleep. I was very depressed. So lonely. I had friends at school, but had a lot of trouble with the work. As high school approached, I heard more and more talk of university. I became overwhelmed. I wanted to have kids and give them a better life than I had, but I knew that meant going to university. I knew we could not afford it. I was surprised when my grade 10 year turned out to be great. I had lots of friends, did better in school, and started volunteering to keep me busy. I don’t remember exactly when, but sometime around grade 11, my mom finally told me her story. She told me when she was 16 years old, she was raped by her friend’s dad and uncle. Her friend never knew it happened. She told me how she was beaten by her parents when she told them she was pregnant. She left home and lived with her aunt. She to this day, does not know which one of the men she was raped by, is my father. In the next 2 years, I felt terrible about myself. “My father is a rapist” I kept on thinking. I felt like I shouldn’t deserve to be alive. I felt like I was going to turn into something evil like my father. I eventually started to find a relationship with God. Church was my safe place. I felt his presence all the time, and I really relied on him in my life. I was so thankful I found him. My mom brought home a boyfriend when I was in grade 12. He beat me and my mom and she seemed to look past it. I was angry at her for that. I never let the beatings affect me though. I had God now. My mom surprised me with a computer one day, I was so thankful to her for it. It helped me to…

Hello, I have recently truly become devoted to God. I have gone to a Catholic school since I was in kindergarten and was always told that I had to believe in Christ. All the way up to grade 6 I was taught religion as a class that was treated like math. You learn all about it are told to believe it but, aren’t really experiencing what it’s like to be a Christian. Last summer I went to a camp. A ranch/bible camp, I really only went to be with horses. Oh I got so much more than trail rides, and games and all the other fun camp activities. I was told for the first time that it was a choice to accept God, it’s a choice that’s completely up to you. There’s no right or wrong disision. I had always been told “this is what’s right now believe”. I’m the type of person who if I was told to go clean my room I’d do the opposite but if given a choice would do that and more. It’s all about the wording. I thought about it for a while and decided because I had a free will through the whole thing to go through with it. I was amazed and experienced all of Gods love and realized what I was missing out on. So fast forward to next summer: I go to the exact same camp expecting to feel the same joy and discover so much more but sadly am disappointed. I learnt so much but I didn’t experience that same overwhelming feeling of joy. Oh well. I came home from camp and slept for nearly three days straight!! Something extremely unusual for me, I’m usually very energetic and people have a hard time keeping up with me. My mom took me to the Kamsack hospital emergency room and I was emidiatly diagnosed with liver failure. I was rushed to Yorkton for more blood tests and then Regina. I was under quarantine for two days because they didn’t know what I had or if it was contagious. Later on the seccond day I was airplane ambulances to Edmonton where I spent 2 weeks getting to know my roommate and nurses and doctors. I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. I missed a few months of school to recover when I came back I nearly went crazy. The bully in our class was worse than ever during the two weeks she was still at our school I got a chair thrown at me, many vicious glares and much more. The most amazing part is that the night before I had prayed to be shown why he had gotten me sick. He let me get sick to protect me from the bully. So a year later I am finally in remission. Except I don’t like that word. What does it really mean? You have a disease that could kill you. But don’t worry it’s currently sleeping. So I call myself completely cured. I…

I grew up in a good home, with a good family. I had a great childhood, but as I got older around the age of nine, I started to have a sense of dread always looming over me.I am not saying that I was never happy, it was just harder to enjoy my life, I felt that I was almost a waste and that I ruined everything and everyone I met. When I was in grade 5 and 6 I had trouble getting along with other people and got into some fights. Then I met my best friend at the time. In grade 7 I had lots of fun, got good grades and was happy, but in grade 8 that changed. It was some where around april or may and I got sick and was out of school for 3 days. when I got back all of my friends wouldn’t talk to me or help me with what lessons I had missed. I spent the rest of the year alone, I went for walks off school grounds so no one would see me by myself. Grade 9 started and I had a good class and made some new friends but there were not enough teachers and the classes were re-arranged. I was really stressed and nervous, all my new friends were in other classes. I started cutting and cut until march of that year. I tried to get some help and went to the counselor, but during my second session he told me and I quote” Megan, I don’t believe you have any problems, you have good grades and some friends, just keep your thoughts to your self”. Things got better and I kept in touch with the friends from the beginning of the year and made new friends. That summer went well. Then September came and I started high school. I was terribly nervous and couldn’t eat or sleep. When I got to the school on the first day I only had one friend and she was in a different class on a different floor and I didn’t know any one else. I started to think off cutting again but now on the fifth day of grade 10, my first year of high school, I am still falling apart and hopelessly confused but feeling better. Michael really helped me at my grade 10 retreat. so thank you for that. There is still hope for me yet. – Megan

I was about to be a sophomore in High school and I was spending a week at a summer camp at Forest Glen camps, called Brave The Wilderness. This camp changed my life, and it made me realize why I was catholic. After that week I became very passionate about my Faith and God. I started making several retreats after that week with my older brother, who had just discovered that he wants to become a priest. Each retreat I went on changed my life in different ways, and the most affective one since Brave The Wilderness was the SHINE Catholic Work Camp in San Antonio, Texas and I heard Michael Chiasson speak. It brought me to tears and I cried from the time he was halfway done with his speech to the time I went to sleep that night. My life has been changed in only good ways and I now realize why I’m Catholic and why I love God. -Sarah

Hey, Im Thomas, 18 and a recent high school graduate. School and my faith never got along. Because of the small town I live in, we had a christian and public middle school, but only a public high school. When I was a grade eight student at that christian school, I lost faith. We had all gathered outside at recess, and one kid was being teased. I stood by with the other bystanders to witness what was happening. When I approached, I heard that my peers were mocking this student, on the fact he goes to church. I froze. At a Christian middle school, a kid was being verbally and physically abused for practicing Christianity. Suddenly the bullies looked at me to join in with an insult. I couldn’t speak. I just stood their not wanting to believe what was going on. I was terrified. As I stood in silence, the looks of my peers got more intense. Finally one said, well do you or do you not think going to church is stupid. I muttered yes, to keep them from tearing me apart. That was the day I hid my faith. For the rest of grade eight until part way into grade ten, my faith was completely hidden. I stopped praying daily, I would make excuses to not go to church and youth group, I even hid my bible and crucifix under my mattress, like some explicit material, just in case friends showed up. I started to further myself from God, and the people that knew my religion. I built new friendships, and did stupid stuff. The summer between nine and ten, I went to discovery camp, like every summer. It was that one week I could be Catholic Thomas, not the Thomas I wanted my friends to see. At the end, like all retreats we received a gift bag of prayers, pictures, rosaries, and crosses. That summer I received a small gold cross, on a gold chain. This cross now was my mask. When I wore it, I was myself. When I removed it I was hidden. I was a copy. I was something I wasn’t. At this time it was now November. Every morning I would walk to the front door of my school, remove my cross in fear of the bullying for being religious, and walked in. That semester I had gym in the mornings. One day, while changing, my friend looked over at me and said, “Hey, I didn’t know you were catholic”. Flashbacks from grade eight shrouded me. I stood silent, trying to think of an excuse. I meant to say no, its my grandpas, or no Its my uncles, but instead yes came out. I flinched, knowing I had just opened myself up to the bullying that I witnessed at a christian school, and know at a public school I felt weaker than ever. “Cool”. All he said was cool. No insult, no laughter. Just Cool. For the last two years I had…