Meet Pi Patel

     In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the protagonist is Pi Patel. He is an educated and determined middle aged man that grew up in India. He moved to Canada to attend the University of Toronto and double-major in religious studies and zoology. He is interested in animals because his father owned a zoo when he was younger and was exposed to all types of wildlife. Once he was all grown up, he went to the equatorial jungles of Brazil to study the three-toed sloth. I find this character very real because he is coming from a cultural background just like anyone else and moved to Canada to create his future. I can relate to this character because I love animals and they fascinate me. I also live in Canada so I can relate to him in that sense. Pi seems to be a sympathetic character to me because of how he talks about fathers close family friend, Mamaji. Mamaji was around all throughout Pi's childhood and Pi was even named after Mamaji's favourite swimming pool, Piscine Molitor. The way Pi reminisces on his memories of Mamaji shows that he is caring and appreciative of the people in his life who have made a difference. When he explains parts of his childhood, he seems very thankful that Mamaji was there for him. I think that as the story progresses Pi while encounter new adventures and situations as he seems like he has a curious personality. Hopefully he relates back to his family in India as well as I would love to learn more about their culture and his experiences growing up as a child there. Pi is an interesting character and I can't wait to hear more of his exciting stories that he has to tell.

Evil Anxiety

     Everyone faces difficulties throughout their lives. Sometimes they are harder than others and sometimes we choose not to face these problems at all. Dealing with my anxiety was a learning experience not only for myself but also for my friends and family. Many things were changing during this time in my life and figuring out how I was going to cope with all of them was the most difficult part of all. Often the greatest challenges we have to face are with ourselves.
     When I was about six years old, it all started. The feeling I would get of my stomach coming up my throat and turning multiple times into a big knot. My hands would tremble and my mind would drift off on these crazy ideas. None of this was a pleasant feeling. My mom would tell me things like "Oh your just anxious, don't worry it'll go away soon." Of course I wanted to believe her words but I knew that it wasn't planning on going away anytime soon. One night my friends from school were going to have a sleepover at one of their houses. It was my two best friends at the time, Taylor and Megan and I loved them both very much but the entire night I felt like something was off. After hours of watching movies, stuffing junk food into our mouths until we turned sick and talking about all the latest gossip, we decided it was time to head to bed. We all brushed our teeth, slipped into our pajamas and curled up into our sleeping bags. Once Taylor had fallen asleep for sure, I realized I wasn't feeling that tired. Megan talked with me for a little while but soon drowsed off herself. This is when I started to experience that awful feeling in my stomach. Something was wrong. My mind started trailing off and creating worries. I was so used to my mom tucking me in at night and having that feeling of comfort right there whenever I needed it. I thought to myself what if I never fall asleep? What if I'm up alone all night long? What am I going to do? Too many things were rushing through my mind at that moment. I felt a tear drop from the corner of my eye. I needed to go home right away where I would feel safe again. That's when I shook Megan awake to tell her and once she saw my red cheeks and glossy eyes, she knew something was wrong. Although I felt embarrassed to say it, I told her "I need to call my mom to come pick me up, I don't feel well." That was always my excuse even though I didn't feel sick. I went home and crawled into my bed while my mom tucked me in and said "Goodnight". I thought that everything would be alright in the morning but never once realized that this was my first time experiencing anxiety.
     Weeks went by and other sleepovers came my way. Every single time when we would all head to bed, I would end up calling my mom to come pick me up because I couldn't deal with what the anxiety would do to my emotions. One weekend my parents had a wedding they were going to attend in Victoria on Vancouver Island. They would be spending the night there and would be back the next day. Even though I was in my own house with my grandma who was watching over my brothers, cousins and myself, I still had feelings of anxiety. Having to deal with my emotions was something that none of my family could truly understand. They all thought I was making everything a bigger issue then it really was. I would end up crying myself to sleep because that was the only way I would become tired enough to be able to fall asleep and make my anxiety go away. Finally when my parents arrived home, the second stage of my anxiety kicked in. I needed to feel so comfortable and close to my parents in my own house that I started sleeping on their bedroom floor at night. At this point I was doing anything possible to escape those feelings of anxiety because of how strong they had become. I would pull out my little spongy foam mattress and a sleeping bag and go to sleep. This went on for about two months. Sometimes I would go to bed before them and they would be watching T.V. in the living room. I would put my sleeping bag in the doorway of their bedroom just so I could hear them and be sure they were there. Eventually my parents started getting annoyed with me sleeping on their floor every single night and knew that something had to change. I was forced to sleep in my own room when I wasn't emotionally ready yet so I started sneaking into their room before or after they went to sleep. My anxiety was taking over me and this wasn`t only hard on myself but also taking a tole on my friends and family.     
     After a little while my parents realized this wasn`t normal and that we needed to deal with this matter right away because it was only becoming worse and worse. It wasn`t just your typical case of being homesick, this was something much stronger that was starting to take over my life. My mom decided that she was going to send me to a counsellor who specialized in anxiety disorders. Her name was Danielle and she helped me realize my personal problem and what was triggering the anxiety. I learned how to manage and get rid of it anytime it came around. By imagining myself in a place where I felt comfortable and happy, I was able to make the feelings of the anxiety go away. She also taught me some other techniques that really made a difference. The things that were causing my anxiety were mainly to do with me being scared of something happening to my family even though deep down I knew that nothing was going to happen to them. My anxiety would take over my thoughts so that I wouldn`t be able to calm myself and I would basically have a melt down every time. It used to be very confusing to everyone because even I didn`t know why I would get so worked up. After my sessions with Danielle I slowly moved into sharing a room with my brother at night and then finally was able to sleep in my own bedroom again which was a major accomplishment. Whenever the feelings of anxiety would come back, I knew exactly how to deal with them without it overwhelming me. Before I knew it I was overcoming my fears and fighting off the anxiety like it was nothing! Not only did I grow as a person but I faced something that had been holding me back from living a normal life.
     Therefore my experience coping with anxiety has shaped me to be the person I am today. Not only did I do my best to continue living my life during this difficult time but I learned something I never knew about myself. Now I can help other people who are going through the same thing as I did and get them back to doing the things they love. Even though my anxiety still comes back at times, the important thing is that I now know how to conquer it. My greatest challenge I had to face was with myself and I`m more proud than anything that I could overcome it.