“It felt like puppy love. My first love was a Miami love. I met a guy who was visiting from New York and we spent 2 weeks together everyday. He asked me to come to New York for my birthday a week after he left. I met his family and friends and decided to pack my bags, say goodbye to Miami and move my life to the big apple. When I fall in love there is so much passion in me. I give all of myself to the other person that sometimes I feel like I lose myself but I guess that’s something we learn as we get older." 

- Dina Roudman, 26, Artist

“A classic summer night hanging with my mates in a park nearby one of the two houses we would always hang out at. It was a beautiful, warm and lightly breezy summer night after a long scorching hot day and a group of around 8 of us started to get a little stir crazy sitting in the air-conditioned living room. We decided to make out way to a nearby park that we would frequent to just hang out free from everyone. All of a sudden a police cruiser comes ripping through the nearby school field, sirens blaring and tires screeching to a halt. The officer comes out, weapon drawn and flashlight directly into my eyes so I cannot see the current situation at hand. ‘Put your hands where I can see them, turn around and walk backwards toward me’ was the last thing I heard before realizing that it was the colour of my skin that got myself and my other friend of colour in this predicament. From the group of 8 individuals, only my mate and I were thrown into the back of the cop car without explanation. After 3 hours of sitting in the back not knowing what is going to happen next, staring at the shotgun that is nestled in the front seat of the cruiser, the cop finally decides that we are of no threat to him and have been wrongfully identified. All of this only being pushed through by one of the girl’s sisters who came down after being called by our friend. Apparently, two men dressed in all black (I’m wearing white with plaid shorts on this night and my mate in pink with plaid shorts) broke into the school near where we were hanging out and ran in our direction. Naturally the older sister gave this cop an ear full but he did not let us go on our merry way until he ‘ran our names through the system’. When I finally got enough courage up to ask why he was running only my mate and myself, he replied ‘I can put you back into the cruiser and we can chat about it there if you’d like.’ I was 14.” 

- Silvano Ferreira, 26, Multiplatform Designer

“My earliest memory was from Grade 1 when the teacher told me that if I couldn’t cope up with French, my parents should just take me out. The teacher would let me sit with my hand up for what felt like forever, ignoring me all the time. A lot happened between then and when my mom transferred me to a different school. There was a lot of positive support for me there, but I had fallen behind and my confidence was low, academically. The school worked to adjust the curriculum to help me. I had an Individualized Education Program, but not for the reasons that previous teachers tried to label me with. As I progressed, there were a few teachers that would remind me that I was not equal to my classmates. They would tell me that I couldn’t do a lot of what my peers were doing, even if I pushed myself. The whole experience was embarrassing for a very long time. I was told to go to a ‘trades’ high school, but I fought the teachers, even my parents so that I could go to the same high school as my friends. It was then that I really pushed myself harder than before. I took all the ‘you can’t do this’ and ‘you’re not ready for that’ and used them as my motivation. I broke the limitations they set for me and surpassed everyone’s expectations. I graduated high school at the same level as the other students and on top of that, I received an honours award in math. When they told me I wouldn’t be able to meet the requirements for college, I showed them I could… I graduated college in 2017. I took control of my own life and I wasn’t going to let someone else define my abilities, so thank you to all those who said I couldn’t, because you were the ones that drove me and gave me more strength to push through no matter how hard it got. I am my own biggest advocate, and that is why I am here today. I will never leave my destiny up to anyone else.”

- Elijah Danis, 20, Artist

“Just before my 23rd birthday, my first love, of 7 years, was killed in a tragic car accident… He had filled a gaping hole in my life for 7 years which was then left empty and deeper than I had imagined possible. That hole was once created over years of being told I was not enough, not beautiful, not worthy because I didn’t fit in to society’s standard of thin beauty. He loved me for me, as I was, and made me feel beautiful.”

- Ashley Sharman, 32, Marketing Manager

“The first time I met her… we hugged for like 10 seconds and got a ‘where have you been all my life’ feeling, we both did!”

- Dixon John, 17, Actor

“I met this guy through a friend one summer. One of the nights we were all hanging out, the guy and I ended up chatting till 6 in the morning, and before I went to bed, I gave him a kiss and told him I wanted to go on a date with him. On our first date, the server at the restaurant gave both of us a glass of champagne because she said she knew we were celebrating something special, as if we had been together for ages. We spent the next month together, before I had to leave and move back to Canada. When we left each other on the subway, I finally found the courage to say I love you.”

- Justin Gerhard, 30, Actor

“I went traveling for 8 months by myself and part of that trip was to walk the Camino de Santiago through Spain. It’s about 900 kilometres and if you break it down, it’s like walking a marathon a day. It was an addictive lifestyle to just get up and walk and not have to worry about anything except where you were going to sleep and if you got any blisters. I did the walk alone and met some incredible people. I could spend as much time as I wanted by myself and not have to explain it to anyone. I took on a few mental demons and spent some time with them until I felt I understood them. Walking for 33 days gave me the time and space to reconnect with me. I felt like I was finally where I needed to be and it was awesome.”

- Stefanie Hill, 27, Bartender and Law Student

“When I was younger, I had really bad anxiety when it came to talking to others. I was quiet most of the time and only spoke to my mom if necessary. The kids in my school would bully me for not speaking back to them and called me names. This made me even more scared to speak and articulate myself.”

- Idil Salah, 24, Entrepreneur

“One of my happiest moments was when I went to the Much Music Video Awards in Grade 10 and got to touch Waka Flocka’s hand!”

- Quinn Spurrell, 19, Internet Personality

“I was a little ballerina from age 2-17, working my way up from little pink tootoos to grand elegant costumes where I would perform competitively on pointe. I had worked all year for my solo performance. It was the last competition my dance company had entered in and I had yet to perfectly execute my finishing piece - a series of fouettés ending in a double pirouette. I had always been able to finish and land but not with the poise and accuracy I wanted. Once I got on stage, I knew this time was different. My hair was perfect, my ribbons on my pointe shoes were perfect, costume felt perfect. I was hungry for perfection. Halfway through my routine, the anxiety left and I felt a rush of energy and excitement. It was almost time. As I prepped for my fouettés, I glanced into the crowd and let the lights shine on my glittery costume - all proud. I whipped my leg around, strong and solid and pulled off not a double but a triple pirouette to finish off my sequence. I could not believe I did that. I almost started to jump for joy before the stage turned black. Once they came to announce the platinum solo dancer in my division, my name was called. Tears of joy went rushing down my face. I had worked so hard and it had all finally paid off.”

- Lauren Shea, 20, Make-up Artist