There is a lot more to me than simply my work and school history, and outside of these environments I have a great many interests and goals that I am pursuing. Two of my more serious hobbies are martial arts, and playing piano. I have been practicing various martial arts for over 10 years, and I have been learning the art of Aikido for about 6 years. I have also more recently taken a keen interest in learning piano, and have been practicing for about 2 years. I have been taking lessons for about 1 year. Some of my other interests are traveling, history, and personal relationships. I have always found other cultures to be particularly fascinating, and this appreciation has led me to visit many countries in Europe and Asia as well as to learn both the Japanese and Italian languages. However, more recently, I was able to make a longer and more extensive trip to explore my home country of Canada and finally get to connect myself with the places and people that I consider neighbors.
My view of the world is very much shaped by these interests, and I have a strong desire to play my part in assisting people in countries that are possibly exploited for their resources or labor, or simply the places where the people are struggling to find opportunities to survive and thrive. This has been an influence on what I learn and do outside of school, but it has also guided my educational path. I believe that, whether we are aware of it or not, history is a major part of what shapes who we are and how we behave, and I continually try to learn the history of as many people groups and locations as I can. I find it fascinating, of course, but it has also created a deep appreciation for so many cultures and empathy for the way the modernizing world tended to endanger them. In the modern setting, I hope I can find a real and pragmatic balance to both do my part, however small or large, in aiding different peoples around the world with economic opportunities, while also supporting their own distinct cultural ideas of how to be human.