Crossing and Creating Bridges

By Shailly Sareen, CASJ PAGE Action Group and Nanaimo-Ladysmith teacher

Since immigrating to Canada, I have crawled, walked, and stumbled across numerous bridges in order to overcome barriers that I have faced as a woman, Person of Colour, and first-generation settler. The term “bridge” serves as a metaphor for the challenges of learning about different cultures and people and embracing the past and present realities of the land. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to learn about the true history of Canada during the Bridge Program at Simon Fraser University. In the years to come, I hope our true history is shared with the world so that new settlers to Canada aren’t shocked when they discover some of these realities.

During my journey, I have continuously made attempts to find a place for my identity within the beautiful Canadian mosaic. On one hand, I have been welcomed by some people open-heartedly, while on the other, I have faced microaggressions—comments and actions that target a person for the sole reason that they do not belong to the perceived norm. This experience has fueled my need to be a stronger advocate for social justice.

Additional barriers I have faced include practical difficulties, such as having to return to university for upgrading in order to become qualified to teach in BC and needing to find part-time work to help pay for my living expenses and education. When there wasn’t an existing bridge, I created one to cross over to the side where I needed to be. As a first-generation settler, I must say that it has been quite a journey learning about and embracing the land where I have had the privilege to settle and educate young people.

While I have continued this journey of learning and teaching in BC for a few years now, I find myself crossing over or creating new bridges every day. I am currently in the process of building a new bridge, as I changed schools last September and am discovering the new community where I spend more than half of my day. Who are these children? Who are their families? What values are important to them? What are their hopes, needs, dreams, and aspirations?

In the average educator’s lifetime, we all cross numerous bridges, beginning with learning about the children, their families, and their communities, and followed by reflecting, questioning, or embracing what we do on a day-to-day basis. We do all this despite the existing issues of class size, composition, digital-era struggles, and the growing mental health concerns in our communities.

What bridges have you already crossed or created in order to overcome barriers? Which ones are you currently crawling, walking, or stumbling across?

Shailly wrote her article on Crossing and Creating Bridges before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May of 2020, caught in the midst of the pandemic and witnessing its impacts on her students and their families, Shailly found herself having to build yet another bridge, or as she so eloquently puts it, “a new foundation.” This experience inspired her to write the following article.