Community outreach during the pandemic

Career talks with Toronto high schools

The pandemic has rewritten the syllabus and expectations for the 2020-2021 school year. It has been incredibly tough for teachers and students alike. Teenagers have been robbed of milestones such as prom and graduation. Through these bleak times, teachers have had to show up cheerful and full of energy to a socially distanced classroom or a computer screen.

When Ontario shut down in-person classes again, two of my friends went above and beyond their duties as teachers to provide engaging and stimulating material for their students. I met Sarah an undergrad, we lived in the same residence together. We reconnected over Instagram and she asked me to be a part of her virtual speaker series she called the "Artists in Conversations". "Artists in Conversations” was a series where Sarah invited various local artists to describe their profession to her art classes at The York School. Sarah wanted to show her students that a career in the arts was feasible and rewarding. I was honored to speak about medical illustration/animation to her students. Although only a few students showed up, I was grateful for their time and curiosity. You can check out the presentation in the video below! Shortly after my presentation for The York School, my friend Rosalind invited me to speak with her gr. 8 students about medical illustration. I was blown away by her student’s curiously and insightful questions. They were only in gr.8 but they were asking me questions about Unity and Blender! Some of them had taken the initiative to learn these programs on their own, I was extremely impressed! The students were very chatty and not shy to ask questions, truly a testament to how well Rosalind and her colleagues have been running the classroom!

Kendo Zoom workshops

If you’ve read my profile, you’ll notice that kendo (Japanese fencing) has played a huge role in my life. I was a part of the Canadian national team between the years 2008-2018. When the pandemic hit and Toronto entered a lockdown, all in-person kendo activities halted. Kendo is a very physical activity, without in-person practices the community had to make some major adaptations.

As a Team Canada alumni, I was invited by the Ontario Kendo Federation to help with an event for junior participants. Normally our practices are focused on drills and sparring, however, the Zoom lecture format provided an opportunity to explore something different. I took the opportunity to teach a little bit of anatomy along with some simple maintenance exercises the kids can do on a daily basis to ensure that they stay injury-free when they return to the dojo. See below for some very awkward process images of me painting on my soleus and gastrocnemius muscles!

Process of painting on myself with some dollar store paint and brushes

Taking a picture of the finished painting! (Sorry for the awkward photo op, you do what you need to do during lockdown!)

The World Kendo Championships were unfortunately cancelled in 2021. In an effort to keep the community spirit alive, the Canadian Kendo Federation held a two-day virtual seminar. I was invited to speak on a panel alongside my 2018 Team Canada teammates. I find teaching techniques a lot easier than speaking candidly about my experiences, but it was a wonderful opportunity for me to take time and reflect on my experiences. I hope that the panel talk was insightful for those aspiring to compete at the National level.