Blog Posts in “Entrepreneurship”

Saudades is a special Portuguese word that, according to Google, means a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia—characteristic of the Brazilian temperament. When the last moving truck left for our new home, Moira and I both had strong saudades. It was time to say goodbye to a home we had lived in for the last 32 years, from the time we had arrived in Canada.

Upon first arriving in Canada, we were hit with culture shock, having spent the last 5 years living in Rio de Janeiro. The climate there was hot and humid, with temperatures regularly in the 90s. The culture and lifestyle were totally different too. When we left Brazil, we experienced saudades for…

Christmas in our home, like in most homes, was a very magic and happy time of the year. It was a time filled with rituals which were anticipated well in advance of Christmas day. Yet, time truly rolled by very slowly when you were a young person waiting in excitement for the big day itself.

There was the preparation of every room in the house with decorations neatly stored in boxes put away neatly from the previous year. Selecting and decorating the Christmas tree taken from the garden was a big deal. As part of decorating the tree we used cotton wool to simulate snow, which of course…

A trusted teacher’s positive expectations about you, at just the right time, can often be the catalyst that sets you free to a higher trajectory.

I had just turned 17 when I arrived back at Churchill, a well-known senior public school. It was at a low point in my academic life. I had just transferred from St. George's College, a private school where I had ignominiously failed all my school leaving exams. I felt apprehensive and beaten up,…