First things first, welcome to my blog and my very first post! My name is Juan Garrido, and I'm one of Glendon College's eAmbassadors this year! I'll be blogging and tweeting about what it's like to be a student here at Glendon. My current plan is to get my Trilingual iBA with a double major in French and Drama Studies, and at the end of this year I'm going to apply for the Concurrent French Education program offered here. That's basically a fancy way of saying that I'm insane. I live on residence, so any questions you have about living on campus, feel free to ask me in the comments section, or in the handy Formspring widget over here ---->

I could go on forever introducing myself, but I'll stop myself. That way if you want to know more about me you'll just have to keep reading my blog ;)

So as any Canadian knows, today is Thanksgiving up here in the Great White North. So I thought I'd answer that age-old question: What am I thankful for? Essentially I'm thankful for opportunity.

Opportunities provided by my family *cue sappy, heartfelt speech*

While this may seem like an obvious one, it's a necessary one. My mom and dad made the decision, 16 years ago to move themselves and their three young children, including their one year old child (pictured right) to Canada good ol' Arkansas. Don't ask me why we moved to Arkansas first, but we did and that's why I can say that I learned how to walk on a farm in Arkansas. Eventually we did move to Canada, and because of that my older siblings and I were able to have so many great opportunities. From growing up in (what is in my opinion) the greatest country in the world to having access to amazing educational opportunities, I am so thankful for my parents. My older sister just recently graduated from University of Waterloo, my brother is finishing up his degree at Laurier, and I got the awesome opportunity to attend Glendon!

Opportunities to I've had to travel
I love travelling, whether it be within  the confines of Canada, or abroad, I love visiting other countries, provinces and cities. My high school career was riddled with travel opportunities because through them I traveled to France, Italy, New York City, Washington D.C., Quebec City and even Toronto. I've fallen in love with all of those cities, and clearly I loved my annual weekend trips to Toronto through DECA, because I live here now! Each of the places I visited in my high school career had such a unique and amazing atmosphere that I can't wait to go back there again! Because of those opportunities I got through high school, I've been bitten by the travel bug. That's one of the reasons I chose Glendon, was for the iBA program, because I can't wait to do a full year abroad (hopefully Paris!) Next year I'm also applying for the Explore Program so I can study in Quebec for a summer, while earning credits. I'm thankful for the opportunities my high school teachers provided me, and I'm thankful for the fact that I know my travelling days are far from over.

Opportunities from my friends
When I made the decision to move to Toronto, one of the pressing issues that always was in the back of my mind, was whether or not I'd be able to handle starting completely fresh. In high school, I had my close group of friends that stuck together. Sure we had our ups and downs, but we always ended up making up. We had so many experiences and opportunities that forged lifelong bonds. So how could I go to a completely new city, without knowing anyone? There were two situations that I had envisioned. One, I'd be so focused on keeping my bonds strong with my friends back home, that I wouldn't open up and make any close friends here in Toronto OR I'd be so focused on making new friends at Glendon that I'd lose touch with my high school friends.
However just one month in I've been proven wrong. I have my good friends here at Glendon; on my floor, in my house, from my Frosh Week group, in my classes and through extracurricular activities I've joined. Some of them, it feels like I've known them forever, because we spend so much time together. That being said, I came home this weekend, and me and my friends got together to have our own Thanksgiving dinner. Even though it had been a while since we had all gotten together, it had felt just like old times. So I'm thankful for all the opportunities I had to make new friends, and keep my old friendships just as strong.

One last thing I'm thankful for... going to Glendon and being part of York. Now I could make this a huge long list of "Why you should come here", but I'll keep it to one reason. A reason that I'm sure every single YorkU and Glendon student is thankful for:

We have a fall reading week. Yup. While other university students are heading back to class tomorrow, (perhaps still with food babies in their stomachs), York students don't have class until the 17th. That should be enough time to get over all that turkey we all ate this weekend, right?

Remember to count your blessings and stay thankful!

Check out my Twitter for my frequent updates on being a Glendon student either here: @JuanGarridoGL or on the right toolbar! And check out my eAmbassador list on Twitter to follow my fellow eAmbassadors!


P.S.
Want more information on the Explore program or Glendon's exchange programs? Check out the links!