Hannah Reimer\u2019s journey into the Power and Place program<\/a> began with curiosity. As a first-year student at UFV, she decided to learn the Halq’em\u00e9ylem language, native to her area. This interest blossomed into a deep appreciation for the language and sparked her desire to learn more about Indigenous culture and reconciliation. Encouraged by her friend Meghan, Hannah enrolled in the Power and Place program, a decision for which she\u2019s incredibly grateful. Now minoring in Indigenous Studies<\/a>, Hannah has found a profound connection to reconciliation and the power of place and story.<\/p>\n One moment that stood out for Hannah was an activity where students had to choose from a list of prompts, complete the action, and share a related story.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to think of myself as a poetic person, and there was a day when we got to pick from a list of prompts, complete the action, and share a story that came to mind. I picked, \u201cwalk where you will become dust\u201d and was able to, for the first time, think about what that meant and share it with others. It was a beautiful moment for me, a quiet person, to feel validated in taking the time to share out my story and have others listen. I did not feel rushed, I felt at peace, which I have never felt before in a classroom. I realized that day the beauty of learning differently.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Completing the course has empowered Hannah to contribute to genuine reconciliation between Indigenous and settler communities. Through listening to elders, attending ceremonies, and participating in field trips, she gained knowledge and understanding that only experience can provide.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout those experiences, something just clicked, and now I view reconciliation between Indigenous and settler communities in a way I never would\u2019ve been able to before. It\u2019s not something I can explain or pass on myself, but I now know the tools to get there. If someone were to ask me how, I would say you can never have enough experience, and try to truly submerse yourself when gathering knowledge. I feel empowered to contribute to reconciliation because I\u2019ve allowed myself to become empowered through Power and Place. It\u2019s not a matter of taking an Indigenous studies course, writing a paper, and doing that ten more times. It\u2019s a matter of getting your mind and body involved.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hannah\u2019s advice to other students considering the Power and Place program is to be prepared to open up in unconventional ways.<\/p>\n \u201cBe prepared to open up in ways you are not used to doing in a classroom setting. The beauty of the Power and Place program is we learn collectively and individually, all primarily from the heart instead of the mind. It\u2019s a wonderful chance to explore deep into who you are, how you define meaning, and where your values are born. Through this course you will learn how to wake up parts of yourself you didn\u2019t know were asleep.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seeing with eyes, heart, and mind: Hannah Reimer\u2019s journey with Truth and Reconciliation Hannah Reimer\u2019s journey into the Power and Place program began with curiosity. As a first-year student at UFV, she decided to learn the Halq’em\u00e9ylem language, native to her area. This interest blossomed into a deep appreciation for the language and sparked her … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":1674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187,231],"tags":[226,227,218],"class_list":["post-1673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student","category-student-spotlight","tag-indigenous-studies","tag-power-and-place","tag-student-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1675,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673\/revisions\/1675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}