In 2002, I would experience what I now realize as one of the most significant experiences in my life up to that point, when I would go back to the UK for almost two months on my own. Though the trip in 2000 was important I would say that it was my trip in 2002 that was much more about finding myself, and for me the beginning of my own self-authorship.

When I left, I had just finished my third year of university, and at that point hadn’t yet joined my fraternity or become engaged in campus life. I went to class, and left campus as quickly as possible thereafter. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and was feeling dissatisfied academically. What becomes an interesting parallel is that many of the reasons I left for the UK mirror many of the reasons my mother left in 1968. I was also around the same age as my mother when she went.

When I left, I recall having a plan in mind that I would stay in the UK and not come back, and in the process put university on hold. In retrospect, I don’t entirely recall how I planned to do this, though being discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber was involved, and I did attempt (via a letter, resume, head shot, and demo CD) to get a personal audience with him. Somewhere I still have a very kind and thoughtful response from Lord Webber thanking me for my letter, but noting that he wouldn’t be able to meet with me due to his schedule.

Throughout my 2002 trip I became increasingly independent in navigating the UK by myself via trains and the tube, getting much better with directions, and also getting a much better idea of the culture, the history, and both my past and my family’s past. One memory, though simple, that sticks out is the morning I flew into Heathrow Airport. I remember sitting on the right side of the plane in a window seat, seeing the sunrise over the coast, and as we started our descent through the mist, how green the surrounding countryside was. I remember thinking at the time how elated I was to be “home,” and how refreshed I felt. I had also timed the last week of my trip in London to coincide with the final part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations and was outside of Buckingham Palace the night of the jubilee concert. They had screens set-up on all sides of the palace, light projections across the front of the palace, and at the end a spectacular fireworks display and light show that to this day still hasn’t been rivaled.

Throughout my two months in the UK, the combination of visits with family, becoming more aware of the world around me, and both perspective and maturity, when I decided to return to Winnipeg, it was with the sound decision to continue my education. Within a few days of my return, I had decided to continue with my B.A. (Hons.) and also to add English as my second major (which would focus on British and Irish literature, and Victorian literature). I remember after I came back - as cliché as this may sound - being sound in my thought that with my education would come responsibility, and the importance of this has stuck with me and continues to be a motivator.

Two months later I joined my fraternity and became very engaged in campus life. As you may already know, this also became the moment that changed the trajectory of my life and career.