Today was OSC’s “Unity In Diversity Day”, also known as UN Day. UN Day is one of my favorite days, and it’s not just because of all the YUMMY food that the parents prepare for the multicultural buffet that I enjoy eating. I also love seeing how diverse OSC is and how proud everyone is of their cultural heritage.

I am Sri Lankan, although I was born in Canada so a lot of Canadian culture stuck with me during the first 6-7 years of my life, such as celebrating Thanksgiving in October or buying milk in bags instead of cartons. However, I was of Sri Lankan descent I always had a bit of Canadian in me, as it was where I spent nearly half my life. However, when I migrated to Sri Lanka it was a completely new experience for me but I adapted very quickly and it soon became a part of my identity.

This year I chose to represent Sri Lanka by wearing a Batik Sarong for the flag parade which highlights the diversity in our school afterwards, I ate SOO MANY different types of food from the food stands such as pierogi, ceviche, Gulab Jamun, and so much more. I think I finished the majority of the food that was brought.

As DP1 students, we were tasked with conducting a workshop for different grade levels in honour of UN Day. Our workshop focused on the UN’s chosen goal for the year, SDG-16, which emphasizes the importance of peace, justice, and equality in strong institutions. As a member of COMUN (Model United Nations), I was involved in organizing the workshops and developing interactive activities for each grade level. We chose to focus on SDG-16 this year, which I found to be a valuable experience as it allowed me to gain insight into the real-life problems of the world and how we, as the next generation, can work towards improving them.

Peter and I were among the many groups and the grade level we were assigned was the year 8 students. The day before UN Day, we prepared a presentation (shown below) to give the year 8’s a better understanding of what SDG-16 is.

During the workshop, we organized an activity where we divided the class into two groups. Each group was tasked with creating their organization and incorporating some of the values of SDG-16 into their poster. We encouraged them to apply the beliefs and objectives of the UN and SDG Goal 16. The workshop was a success since both groups presented very interesting institutions and effectively applied many of the beliefs and goals of SDG-16. As a result, the year 8 students gained a better understanding of what SDG-16 is.

Overall UN Day was a huge success and I enjoyed it!! We at COMUN got to give the school an idea of what we do, and all teachers and students were extremely happy with how the workshops turned out. Everyone got to eat so much good food which was one of the main reasons why I love UN day.