Esther

Before her students ever walk into the classroom, Esther’s already thinking about how to make them feel seen. Working as a teacher in Edmonton, she knows that a good educator goes beyond the curriculum.

“I was very lucky in the sense that I grew up with a lot of immigrant families. So a lot of my classmates also grew up in families where their parents were coming over, and they were hustling to try and give themselves and their kids a better life. I was very fortunate in the sense that I had friends who were going through the same thing.”

But despite growing up alongside many immigrant peers, she never had any mentors or teachers who shared her background.

“I feel like it's very cliché to say now, but I feel like there wasn't a whole lot of representation growing up in a colored household, and there wasn't a whole lot of mentorship. It was a whole lot of me figuring it out alone and trying to connect with other peers who were also growing up in immigrant households–making those connections and sharing our stories.” 

“I think the ability to relate to other people who are going through the same thing was a little bit of my saving grace…my teachers, in so many different positions that were supposed to be treated as respectful authority figures, didn't look like me.”

The absence of representation shaped how Esther saw herself—and the teacher she wanted to become.

“I think my own experiences of being so different in certain circumstances made me want to choose a career that would allow me to give other young people who also come from immigrant backgrounds to have a better experience than I did. And I think being in that position now: going through university, studying about what that meant, and now being able to actually put that into practice, has been very rewarding. It's very cool.” 

Years later, that promise came full circle. As a teacher, she found herself face-to-face with a student whose journey she didn’t just witness but completely understood, allowing her to connect with them on a deeper level. 

“I had a Ukrainian refugee in my class, and having her there was very meaningful to me because I knew that she was coming from a place with a lot of problems. And then me being someone who could maybe relate to her better was a really good thing.” 

Esther’s perspective as both an educator and the child of former newcomers informs how she views the school system today. She believes the intentions are strong—but there’s room for deeper, targeted action.

“I can't speak for all school boards, but I know Edmonton Public has taken a very strong stance on being accepting of diversity and inclusion and all of those fancy words. And I think that's the first step, including those words and making those words, not taboo anymore. But I think that's maybe where we are limited a little bit. We say these things, ‘we wanna be inclusive and we wanna do all these things,’ but I think focusing on fostering programs that target kids who are coming from places where they don't understand language or they don't understand the culture should be the next step.”

During our interview, Esther also brought up the point that multiculturalism isn’t just about staying in touch with your own background–it's also about accepting the customs of Canada. She brought up the idea of different parenting styles as an example.

“Being raised by immigrant parents had a lot of quirks. They had to figure out how to parent in a way that maybe was different from the way that was done back home… The best advice would be to actually try and blend, because when you see parents who are just so stuck on wanting to keep the old ways, you’ll notice that the kids will really struggle. Whereas parents who are more open to learning how things are done here and seeing how parents here do things, and trying to find a good blend, is the best way to go.”

She still believes it’s the peer interactions—between students themselves—that are building spaces where real difference is made.

“If you walk into a high school now, you see all the different clubs, like hip hop groups and Bollywood dance groups. You see these people who are encouraging, validating, and teaching each other about their cultures.”

Esther shared that her personal journey reflected her observations. Rather than learning to embrace her cultural identity through a class or a lecture, it was something else entirely that reshaped her outlook—fashion.

“The beauty standard when I was growing up here in Edmonton, Alberta, was light skin–very pale light skin. Those were the beauty standards that we saw in TV shows and people in positions of power. I think it was really hard to kind of accept my own differences. Like, it's so silly, but straight hair, right? A lot of brown girls don't have straight hair–it's very curly. And so, I’ve always wanted my hair to be straight because that's what was deemed as pretty or beautiful.”

Over time, she began to reclaim those differences that she once wished away. For Esther, high school graduation day became a symbolic moment—a statement to herself and to others about who she was.

“But I think it took growing up to realize how important tradition is, and I find myself going back to it a lot. I love wearing my traditional clothing. When I graduated from middle school to grade nine, I was like, gung ho, I need to wear a Western gown. And then by the time I got to grade 12 graduation, I was like, no. I'm gonna wear my traditional clothing. I'm gonna wear a lehenga. I wanna look like a proper Indian girl, a proper Dehsi girl. I embraced it more. And when I was able to embrace my Western side and my Indian side, I felt a lot more comfortable in my own skin.”

“It took a long time to figure out that my differences are what made me who I am. And my history and who my grandparents were and who my parents were–those people make up who I am. And, as much as I didn't feel great growing up, I realize now as an adult that that part of who I am is so important.”

Then, in her first year of university, an unexpected opportunity deepened that pride: someone reached out and asked if she’d model for a South Asian fashion campaign.

“I started that in my first year of university, and the most recent one was last year. It honestly started as someone just reaching out like, ‘hey! I need a model for this thing. Would you be interested?’ And, I wasn't sure what it entailed, but I understood that it was for Indian clothing and Indian culture advertising–those kinds of things. As shallow modelling can seem, doing that really made me embrace my culture even more because I got to see different clothing and all the different jewelry–I got to see how beautiful Indian culture is.”

“The work not only enriched Esther’s personal relationship with her identity, but it also connected her with other immigrants—photographers, makeup artists, henna designers—each building their own path in Canada.”

“The opportunity to advertise it to people in my community was such a cool blessing…Indian vendors too: the photographers, the makeup artists, the henna artists. So it was a cool way to get their names out. People who are also immigrants who came here.”

That confidence continued to grow into university, but so did the awareness that newcomers still face hostility.

“When I was in uni, there were multiple instances that I had heard and seen reports of international students being targeted specifically in places like LRT stations, with stabbings happening. It was very clear that the targeted attacks were aimed at students who weren't from here, who were international students. That's definitely still very prevalent here, and it's really sad.”

“I think a lot of the rhetoric behind that has been that these international students aren't trying to integrate into Canada at all, and that they sort of exploit Canada's generosity. I think that's a lot of ignorance. People who think that way are very ignorant and very hateful. People come here for opportunities for a better life, and I don't think that's exploiting or taking advantage. I think [immigrants] came here because they wanna work hard, and they wanna contribute to society, and that's what they do. And for people to say that they're abusing Canada's generosity is just not an educated response.”

For Esther, that willingness to blend traditions is just another form of teaching and learning—something she believes everyone can practice. Her challenge to those who repeat stereotypes is simple: treat yourself like a student.

“The answer is simply to read and research. Form opinions based on research and statistics… I don’t think my parents or anybody else’s parents who immigrated here came here under the impression that they were gonna take advantage of Canada’s generosity.”