47. Reflecting on Education

For most of my life --  first as a student and later, as an educator -- September signalled the beginning of another school year.

During elementary and secondary school years, Mother moved brother Jack and me to stay at the restaurant in Stamford. That way, she could work longer hours with my father instead of busing home to look after us. Chores (peeling potatoes, flattening ground meat into patties, cutting butter into squares, stirring boiling pots, running errands) interspersed with TV would keep us occupied.

Summers, my brother stuck pretty close to the restaurant. Eventually, he devised and thrived in a handyman role. Jack was clever with his hands and my parents supported and benefitted from his talent and provided requested tools and materials.

There was one summer when I had swimming lessons at the Cyanamid Pool on Stanley Avenue. And another, when I was permitted weekly visits to the public library on Victoria Avenue near the Armoury. It was not that I was discouraged from participating in either of these activities; it was the added cost of the bus to get there and back.


High school summers permitted us to range farther afield. Working a paying summer job was an expectation. The money we earned was not to contribute to the household income but to be saved for our education. In addition, we would acquire more skills.



Retired now, ease flows through all seasons and the promise of a new school year belongs to my granddaughter. This Labour Day, however, is noteworthy.



In Victoria, a walk commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 1922 Chinese Student Strike. Chinese students had protested the Victoria School Board’s decision to segregate Chinese students from the regular public schools.


Although my roots are not in Victoria’s Chinese community, I joined the commemoration: thinking I wanted to honour the actions of those young students and acknowledge the injustice of the times. An unexpected spin-off was the walk afforded an opportunity to reflect on the privilege I enjoy because of my education; due not only to the equal rights won through the agency of unnamed Chinese Canadians but also to the fair access granted by the sacrifices of my parents.


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