Hello, Hadhi, Zdravo and Welcome,
Before I tell you all about myself and give you a glimpse of where I came from, I would like to acknowledge that I am situated on the unceded, ancestral land of the Lheidli T’enneh, where I graciously get to learn, live, and hopefully in the future, teach.
My name is Monika Todorovska or, as my students like to call me, Miss T. I moved to Canada when I was 5 years old from a tiny, beautiful country called Macedonia. This country is my home and the place where my identity began.
Moving across the world at such a young age was an experience that I will never forget. The courage that my parents had to pack up their life and move to a country that was completely unfamiliar to them for the benefit of my sister and I was extremely honourable. Because of their sacrifice, my sister and I got the opportunity to get a post-secondary education, something we wouldn’t have been able to do back home. My parents are the reason I had the courage to apply for the education program. They were encouraging, supportive, and loving during my process of trying to find myself and figure out a career choice that would be fitting for me.
For years, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I explored a major in Psychology, oh boy was that a mistake. After that, I took a year off because I became so overwhelmed and began struggling with extreme anxiety and depression. I never thought I would crawl out of that hole but when I began working in the classroom as an EA, and spent my hours with students, that anxiety and depression disappeared. During my time in elementary schools, I worked towards getting my Bachelors in English. But I got impatient. I longed to get into the classroom as a teacher and wanted to impact students’ lives for the rest of my life. So, the moment I reached 90 credits of my Bachelor of Arts in English, I applied for the teaching program and with some luck and a lot of hard work, here I am, living the dream. Without the help and support of my parents and sister, I would not be where I am today.
Woohoo, that was a lot of serious stuff. Let’s get into the rainbows and sunshine. As you know, I’m Monika, and no not the cool one from the tv show Friends. I love animals of all kinds; I mean as long as they have four legs. I can speak 2 languages and comprehend 5 which makes my brain kind of full but that’s how I like it. I am a dog mom to a little rascal named Harley. She may be a handful, but she saved me from a pretty dark place, and she lights up my life. I cannot wait to begin my journey as an educator and am beyond ready to learn how to create a safe space for the children that don’t necessarily have one. This is a very exciting time in my life and I am excited to share it with all of you.
