KIRBY WIAFE —

RISE OVER RUN

A | LORENZO COLOCADO | PROJECT

A few years back, I was in what seemed like the darkest stage of my life. It was the summer before I started grade 11; 16 years of age with no care in the world. Well that was until a friend, who was more like a brother, was brutally murdered. Growing up in the streets of Rexdale was tough, it made me who I am today. It taught me to never give up on a dream, but it also taught me that death was a common thing in life. Way too common. Here is where my life spiralled out of control: since I could remember I had been friends with the same 10 guys. We all lived in the same building, we were all ’93 babies, same elementary school, same high school, same everything. We were all attached by the hip. My friend who was killed, sorry my brother, was also apart of this group. The pain of losing him was unbearable, I cried for days. A week later, still in a fragile state, my mother had called me to watch news (CP24) because their was an update on my friends death. The news report had shown that not only was he shot 3 times but he was stabbed and cut repeatedly. To top off the gruesome news I had just read, I got a phone call from one of my good friends telling me who the killers were. To be honest, not even growing up in Rexdale could have prepared me for it. It had turned out that the killers were three guys from the very same group of friends that I grew up with. To put it all in perspective, not only was my brother dead, but the people who killed him were also considered my “brothers.” For the sake of actually being able to finish writing this, I wont go into detail about the emotional roller coaster that I went through because It is already hard enough as is telling this story.

Fast forward a few months, still not completely able to comprehend what had happened that summer, it was time to visit my favourite place on Earth, Camp Olympia. Without going into too much detail, Camp O, as we like to call it, hosted an annual leadership camp. It brought together a bunch of students from different walks of life and really challenged everyone to want to better themselves. It was through this camp that I made some life-long friends who every day challenge me to become better. It wasn’t the thought of making new friends that helped me to overcome the situation, instead it was the message being shared to us. Matthew5:16 — “Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” … Let your light shine. Those words have stuck with me till this day. In my darkest time, it showed me that there is no need to hide the light that is within you. It taught me to wear my heart on my sleeve, it taught me that happiness, true happiness, is only achieved once you try. From that day on, I’ve always been genuinely happy, and able to deal with situations that’ve seen me struggle.

To conclude, we all go through drastic times and we all handle things differently. You may not have the luxury of being able to go to a place like Camp O, or it might not be as easy to just one day get up and tell yourself you’re going to be happy no matter what. But, if there is one piece of advice I could leave this world, its this: Never stop letting your light shine, whatever that light may be.