Presenting the next unique story of our series #LifeatBSU, where guests share their stories and experiences at the British School of Ulaanbaatar. Today's guest, a recipient of High Commendation of Embassy of Canada’s annual essay competition, Year 12 Student Uyakhan Tamir, who talked about her experience meeting the Her Excellency Canadian Ambassador to Mongolia with us.
The Embassy of Canada announced their annual essay competition with the essay prompt of “ In your opinion, How can citizens of our countries contribute to further strengthening of the relations between Canada and Mongolia”. I saw the poster on Google classroom which Mr. Reed had posted and I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to challenge myself and I knew I had nothing to lose by joining so I entered the competition. What I wrote for my essay was not from the political, economical side however, more from the cultural side as I started my essay by saying : “Culture is what sets us apart from the majority and by studying, learning and appreciating one another’s uniqueness , the relationship between our countries would be like a tight knot - 2 strings attached together to form an indestructible bond, which is held together by trust.” After this, I explained my opinion on learning and experiencing each other’s culture and can further strengthen the relationship we already have.
The journey from school to the Canadian embassy was a rollercoaster of emotions. I was anxious at first, but then excitement rushed through me. What made me excited was to see how many and which schools the other winners come from. When I arrived at the destination, I was told to put my phone in a locker and enter a highly secured area. When I entered through that door, it was quiet. There were around 6 people in the room and the room was tense. As the Ambassador came into the room, there came a different wave of feeling entering the room with her. The tension started to die down and we all had the moment to introduce ourselves to the Ambassador. She congratulated us and gave us such a valuable time to talk to her. We all asked questions about the work related to her and questions about her in general. I was sitting there in awe of how she is such a great role model to many other girls like me.