Circus - Britney Spears
All the eyes on me, in a centre of a ring, just like a circus. That's how Britney Spears' current single goes and that's also how my 2008 went, like a circus. Reflecting on 2008 it was a big year for me. It was the year where I turned the big 1-8. It was the year where I graduated from high school. It was the year where I moved from Ancaster to Toronto. It was the year where I started University in Ottawa. Overall, it was a year of change...just like a circus.
ACT 1: The Ringleader
2008 started off as a promising year. At the time I had gotten an early acceptance and scholarship from the University of Ottawa and was pending on an acceptances from Western and UofT (both of which I later got accepted into). My circle of friends was amazing. I was in a good relationship. My parents were proud of my acceptance as was my brother. The one downside was his rocky relationship with his ex who walked out on him. Little did I know this would cause his eventual departure from home.
ACT 2: Departure
My brother's ex-wife walked out on him late 2007 leaving him shocked, confused, sad among many other mixed emotions. How could someone who's been married 4 years just walk out with no notice, no talk, no nothing? That still boggles my mind. This was a crucial time where my bro needed his family most and day to day I was by his side trying to do what I could to cheer him up. Most of the time we would rent a movie and watch that or I would call him a "hooch" and a semi smile would make a way across his face. As time went on, he slowly got better with the situation. It was in late February when the big news came. My brother had attended this seminar in the U.S.A. where he found out about a posting in a hospital near the Middle East. This was his big break. He needed to get away from the place that always reminded him of his once happy marriage and he was always talking about going overseas to work. Together, this was the perfect opportunity and he jumped on it. We were all extremely happy for him, however I had this feeling of sadness that I'd be losing my brother. He wasn't only a brother, he was like my best friend. Throughout drama filled high school and time of big decisions, he was by my side helping me. In May the big day came, and he left. He was gone, right before my prom and graduation and everything. He was gone....and so was part of my life.
Through the beginning of the year I was also in a good relationship that dated back to fall of '07. Before the relationship, the two of us were friends who met at a Hilary Duff event at MuchMusiceach (oh the irony). The relationship was nice and we had both grown fond of other, however by March the two of us broke up. After this, a series of dramatic events that followed. One of the reasons it grew to be so dramatic was because of how close we had gotten in the time we were together. We got to know a lot about each other and to this date, the two of us can predict what one another would do in a specific situation. Although we had hoped that we'd be good friends after the breakup, the first few months were more involved in handling the situation and getting each other comfortable with being just friends. It was easier said then done, especially on her end. The period became very dramatic and involved some funny, some angry and some hurtful moments. Eventually as we both pushed for the friendship, we became a bit more comfortable with the idea. Dramatic events still occurred throughout the year as the relationship became very turbulent. That being said, to date we still talk and have a great time when we do so. Although one chapter closed, another opened.
Suddenly I see a path that's changing directions but leading to a better future.
ACT 3: Instruction
Highschool and University were both really big words in 2008. The first six months of the year were dedicated to my last six months in highschool. After four years, it was really coming to an end. It was something a lot of people were looking forward to but also something I know at some point people would miss. 2008 was a great year in Highschool, I had an amazing semester and at least a few good friends in each class. After school hangouts were a regular and as the weather got better and nearing early April, my bud and I would ride our bikes to school in the morning. I had English, Comm Tech, Data Management, and French. I enjoyed going to all those subjects. I think part of the reason for that was because it was senior year and ultimately the last semester of highschool...for good! Classes went well and it wasn't until Prom that everything was rushing to an end.
ACT 4: Celebration
On Friday March 28th, I got my license. It was also the same day as my 18th birthday! Goodbye childhood, hello adulthood! (I was thinking that then, but trust me it doesn't really change). My birthday brought some good surprises. I guess one of my biggest joy was getting my license as I had craved it for a long time. The second biggest was the surprise party that my cousins and family held at my house. My brother and I were at the gym and we had an extra long workout. Finally he got a call and all I heard was "put it in the garage. I'll be home". I had some suspicious but not many. Finally I got home and all my cousins welcomed me to my birthday party. It was amazing. The following Sunday I held a joint birthday dinner with a friend who's birthday was during the same week. Because we had mutual friends, this worked out well. The dinner was at Jack Astor's with an "after party" at Starbucks and then my house. My 18th birthday was probably one of my more memorable ones!
When Prom came around on May 30th, everyone was pretty excited. It was on a Friday (which ironically was the day of celebrations for me) and in the morning we had classes. I was able to get out around 12:00, went for a quick lunch with a friend and then went to go get corsages for our dates. We had to go all the way to Limeridge Mall and get it from the Fortinos there. I still wonder why I didn't just order it from the neighbourhood Fortinos. Regardless, we picked up the corsages and then head to the Meadowlands to pick up my co-worker and really good friend to help me get ready for prom. I dropped my friend to his house, I went to mine with my co-worker/friend and got ready for the big night. This took about an hour however, having no parents at home was really beneficial (my dad was at work and my mom went to Pakistan for a few months). When I was finally ready, I went to go pick up my friend and then we went to our other friends house where we would meet our dates and get ready to go to another friends house where the limos would be. Once there we took some professional pictures before dividing ourselves into two groups for the limos. The limos were nice and it was a fun way to get to the event. When we got to the event it self, (held at Liuna Gardens) it was a bit different than we had expected. For example, although this doesn't matter, they didn't have Prom King/Queen voting among other things. On top of that, the beginning kinda lagged as 2 and a half hours of Prom was spent on getting food, which didn't leave much time for the dance floor. That being said, it was still an enjoyable night being able to see all your friends, take pictures, and party for the last time. The after party was an "eventful" night. After being there for about an hour, a classmate of mine in grade 9 had overdosed, passed out and the police had to be called. I was parked in the driveway so it was a tough way to get out, but eventually I did and I got myself to a friends' house where we had a miniature after party there before I had to go home. Prom was definitely a great celebration to the ending of highschool.
Soon after that the end of highschool came so suddenly. Within a few weeks exams were over and Graduation Day was here. Unfortunately there were 3 significant people I wanted at my graduation that weren't; my mom, my brother, and my sister. My dad attended and one of my best friends came as well. The ceremony was nice but long...especially when my last name starts with P and they started with the A's. It was a good experience. Right after the ceremony we all saw each other ONE last time. We socialized, signed yearbooks, took pictures, discussed our futures, had food and ultimately tears. After that was over, my friend that came to the graduation and another one of my best friends went with my dad to Hutch's, a fish and chips restaurant located in front of a beach that merges into Lake Ontario. It was the start of summer.
Act 5: The After Party
Summer was a huge highlight of my 2008. Despite doing an online calculus course for the first 3 weeks of summer, I was able to make the most of it by hanging out with friends, searching for apartments with my dad, going to the beach, mall, shopping, Wonderland all that jazz. In the first half, I went with a group of us to Canada's Wonderland. We took two cars, well vans, and I was one of the drivers. We spent the whole day there and it was good times minus the fact that I lost my camera on one of the rides. Silly move on my part, but I guess it gave me an excuse to get a new one. This half included but wasn't limited to further trips to Wonderland (I believe 2 more), beaches, parks, movies, birthday parties, hangouts at the house and hikes in the woods. The second half was devoted mostly to packing up the house; this was probably the part that wasn't the most exciting especially since I didn't really want to move away from that house. Within the packing, I was able to fit in one of the summer's highlights which was the Ottawa Road Trip. 5 of my friends and I went to Ottawa and we stayed in my future (now current) condo, In that time we did everything from clubbing in Quebec to visiting a graveyard at night to sleeping on the balcony. The end of the road trip signified the end of the summer, the end of highschool days and the end of my presence in Ancaster.
The summer rushed to an end, my family and I did some final packing, I said my goodbyes to the Ancaster community and moved down to Toronto. It was ironic because when in Ancaster, I would love going to Toronto and would jump on any opportunity to go there, but it was different now. I stayed in my new house for literally 3-4 days. In those days, half of them were spent at my cousins until it was time for the big move to Ottawa. 2 moves, in 2 weeks.
Act 6: Alter-Ego
2008 was an eventful year in terms of some of my big passions which included media. The start of the year was amazing as I got to see the Spice Girls in their "Return of the Spice Girls" reunion tour in Toronto.....TWICE! Both with amazing seats, once with second row. The concert was breathtaking and to date my favourite concert. The day of my second Spice Girls concert I also had the opportunity to meet Posh Spice, Victoria Beckham. I went with two friends, then girlfriend and another mutual friend I met from a forum. Beckham was at Holt Renfrew and was doing meet and greets with people that came to the store. Although we were there since almost 8:00 in the morning and she was coming at 1:00, we found out when she got there that to get a picture we had to purchase something. This was a bummer, and instead we lived with an autograph. To date, I still regret not getting an item. It would've been worth it (for me at least). My ex fainted at the event and got to drink out of Posh's water cup and got a personal get better wish from Victoria. If only I could faint on the spot!
By being a In late April, I arranged and organized my Comm Tech class's class trip. One of the best things about this trip was that it was with my Comm Tech class which made up about 55% of my good friends. We went to Complexions make up school, toured the CBC building and finally and probably one of the highlights, MuchMusic. It was there where Much added me to their Webcam Correspondents list. As a webcam correspondent, Much calls me via Webcam and ask me to interview celebrities broadcasted live over their show MuchOnDemand. This was probably one of the better things that happened to me that year and by being a Webcam Correspondent I have thus far interviewed Tom Cochranne's daughter Evenne Cochranne, Melanie C, Jesse McCartney, and T-Pain. I also gave Canada my opinion on Mariah Carey's and Nick Cannon's engagement over the show. I wasn't done with MuchMusic yet, this year I also submitted an audition tape to be on their show called "The Shift" as well as their second MMVA Superstar Contest (last year I came in third place). Both of them were fun shoots and the later was also used as my final project in my Comm Tech class. This project held a lot of meaning to me as it was my final project in Comm Tech for good, and I made the most of it by having cameo appearances by many of my friends in the video. The same year in Comm Tech I also made a music video to One Republic's number 1 hit, Apologize with 2 of my good friends.
Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham, MuchMusic, and Comm Tech videos...could there possibly be more? Around May it was announced that Bollywood Legends would be coming to Canada. The good thing about living near Toronto is that almost every act comes to Toronto when they are on concert and yes this did include The Unforgettable Tour by Bollywood Superstars AishwaryaRai, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Akhsay Kumar, Priety Zinta, Riteish Deskhmukh, and Vishal & Shekhar. I got tickets the day they went on sale and eventually entered an essay contest where I described the many reasons I should get to meet the stars. One of the greatest days that year was when I got a message on my voicemail saying I won the contest and that I would be meeting all the Bollywood stars! This was huge! I grew up watching half of those stars and loving their movies. The concert was rocking and getting to meet the stars (at least the ones I did meet) was an amazing experience. Later that summer in August, I went with another one of my friends to the "Soundtrack of my Summer" concert which included Metro Station, Good Charlotte, Boys Like Girls and Maine. The concert was amazing and was well enjoyed. This was my last concert for the year (although I had really wanted to see Madonna and Lady Gaga dates and times weren't on my side).
Act 7: Rebirth
The last quarter of 2008 was devoted to a new beginning; new school, new city, new condo, new friends, new everything. It was like starting at square one, with the exception of me having one my best friends as my roommate. Coming to Ottawa was a good away to start a new beginning. Adjusting to university and the courses was a unique experience. One struggle was meeting new people as I didn't live on campus and each class had around 100+++ people. I started using the bus system which here in Ottawa is remarkable, (except for the fact they are on strike at the moment which makes me wonder about what I just said). In addition to that, living in Ottawa and living alone with a good friend was another fun thing about Ottawa. Finding new places, discovering new restaurants and everything was all part of the experiences. I think it is safe to say that Ottawa has more Shawarma restaurants than Hamilton has Tim Hortons. During this period, my roommate and also got a pet ferret. While in Ottawa I was also able to get close to my sister and her family again which was very nice. We have a really nice relationship right now which I hope continues to stay. Near the end of the year, I got a job at the mall working at the Calendar Club and Go! Games kiosk. It was a good way to spend the holidays at home and eventually brought me to the end of the year.
Act 8: Encore
When New Year's rang in, I knew 2009 would be completely different. I knew this would be a year of change. A metamorphosis. Will 2009 be a Circus just like 2008 or will it be something else...something different? I guess only time will tell.
You know you love me.
-The Ringleader
