Celina Liu

Katherine: my sister. She’s two years older than me, and born in the second week of February. Not just that—she’s twice as smart as I am, and twice as eloquent, too. School was a breeze for her. I, on the other hand, had a rather rocky start in grade 10 math, and I seem to recall crying myself to sleep every night over my seemingly endless stream of failures. Right now, Katherine is in Calgary, my home city.

She’s so far—everyone I used to know is. The first time I came to Ontario was in the August of 2018, and that was mainly for the purpose of university. I didn’t even know what McMaster looked like. I know Calgary, with its downtown streets and interesting transit. But Hamilton is new. The people here are different. The air here is different. Sometimes, I think everything is different.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either. I’ve met some people at McMaster I know I’d never have met in Calgary. I’ve had some of the strangest conversations in class, learned about the most beautiful prose and poetry, and had my first experience with ripping my pants on a wire fence. McMaster, although it may be far from Calgary, has been like a second home to me.

But, there are things I miss about Calgary, and it feels so tangible it’s like I’ve left a part of me behind. It’s definitely not the transit system. It isn’t downtown, or the noodle-bar that was a 7 minute walk from my high-school—it’s the people.

So to the people I love: Katherine, Cameron, Sebastian, Ben, Indigo, Letizia, Charles, Matthew. I miss you. I’ll see you soon.

To the people here, at McMaster: I can’t wait to meet you all.

- Celina Liu, 1st year Health Sciences student, Marketing Team