A Little History

A family skit prior to the addition of any brothers.

I thought that maybe I should start with a bit of my life and what has led me to pursue this career path.

My name is Katiana.  I was born in Germany and my family and I lived there until I was four years old.  We then moved to Ontario, and I continue to live in the small town I grew up in.  I have three younger brothers who are 2, 4, and 6 years younger than me, a large and friendly blond dog, a persnickety tortoiseshell cat, and five goldfish that currently inhabit a rain barrel in our basement (until spring, when they get to go outside again!).  My mother and father have worked in Christian ministry throughout my life - as bible school teachers, a pastoral couple at a small church, and now work in a larger church as Pastors of Adult Ministries.

Throughout my life, I have been a bookworm and very artistic.  I completed my Royal Conservatory Grade 8 violin practical exams, as well as the Grade 2 theory exam.  I also enjoyed the arts and languages programs at my high school, and took all the Visual Arts, Strings Orchestra, German, French, and Spanish courses that were offered.  I was on the honour roll every year of middle school and high school.

I have worked as a babysitter, live-in nanny, library page, private computer tutor, Worship Administrative Assistant at my church, and am currently working as a lifeguard, swimming instructor, and in a supervisory role creating staff trainings at the local pool and as the Plan to Protect (abuse prevention program) assistant at my church.

My faith has always played a large role in my life.  When I was sixteen, my mother and I went to Rwanda with a team from our church, to support a missionary couple in Rwanda, and spend three weeks doing humanitarian aid work.  This changed my life.  When I saw the people who lived in the slums and villages of Rwanda and Ethiopia, it made me want to do more to help them find a better future.  When I returned, I organized and promoted an event in my community for a program called the JustUS Project, which works to provide support for people in third-world countries, using the Millennium Development Goals.  My university program interests changed from arts and music to a focus on humanitarian aid.  I investigated the programs in Ottawa and Guelph, but ultimately felt that the program at Waterloo held the most potential of giving me an adequate and applicable skill set for my future career.

However, before I went to university, I spent an extra part-time year at high school, and worked to save up some money.  In the fall of 2009, I flew to Germany and began attending Bodenseehof, the bible school that my parents met and taught at, on the shores of Lake Constance.  I spent six months there, learning a lot more about my faith, my own resilience and capabilities, and making friends that are closer to me, in some ways, than my own family.  While at bible school, I had the opportunity to be a part of a band that performed at local churches and schools. I also assisted in leading day and overnight camps for children and youth at the bible school, at churches in Germany, and at other conference centers, some of which involved teaching English as a second language.  At the end of the six months, I spent a month backpacking around Eastern and Central Europe with one of my friends.  That was also an amazing and eye-opening experience, and I would love to go back to live and work in Romania, Bulgaria, or Greece with an NGO one day.  Following that, I went to England to continue with my schooling by attending an affiliated bible school for the two-month spring term.  I returned home in June of 2010.

I began attending the University of Waterloo in the fall of 2010, and am working to complete a Bachelor of International Development.  I am currently in my third year, and hope to spend my fourth year on field placement in a country in Africa, ideally working primarily with orphans, but am also open to opportunities to work with refugees, in micro-finance, with struggling families... OK, I guess as long as it is development work focused on the people, I'm hooked!

Anyhow - that's a little bit more about me, so you know where I am coming from!

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The 'backyard' of my first home, Fischbach, Germany.