As the second installment in an ongoing series featuring students from multicultural backgrounds, senior Kennedy Robbins talks about what life in her home town of Windsor, Ontario, Canada is like. Robbins moved to Columbia at the beginning of her junior year but has maintained close ties to her native cultural traditions. During this year’s Global Village celebration, Robbins is working a Canada booth to share aspects of Canadian food and life with her fellow RBHS students.

Although American and world history classes may not spend much time studying Canadian history and culture, Robbins describes how the Canadian government and people are still working to apologize to the First Nations people — the country’s predominant indigenous group — for how Canada has historically treated them. She also shares how this topic is close to her heart because of her family’s ties to Chief Tecumseh.

While discussing this darker aspect of her country’s past, Robbins also speaks about her enjoyment of events such as Canada Day and her fascination with the winter celebration of Bonhomme Carnaval. Even though the U.S. and Canada share various cultural similarities, such as music and television taste, Robbins noted a few key differences including the varying degrees of normality surrounding political conversations and the ethnic and cultural diversity she witnessed in Windsor compared to that of Columbia.

This video provides an overview of numerous aspects of Canadian culture, as well as the pride Robbins takes in how accepting and diverse she says her country is.

How did Robbins’ story change your understanding of Canada? Let us know in the comments below.