25 year old Vancouver Hip Hop artist/Rapper, DaamCP, tell his story about falling in love with music and working from the streets to performing at festivals!

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Brandon Watt tells his story about how he found his love for music and the rollercoaster he’s been on to get to where he is today.

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Idaho Steelhead, Colton Kehler, tell his story of how he developed his love for hockey and his journey through junior hockey to playing pro overseas.

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https://soundcloud.com/evolutionpodcastnetwork/making-contact-the-pursuit-for-pro?si=2a85a9f849cb4726b5b7014a6d3fefe6&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Alex Higden shares his story on this episode of Making Contact where he takes us back to when he suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury and what came after going forward.

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Check out the Making Contact podcast out now!

High School… a place full of mixed emotions, a variety of different friend groups, and students trying to figure out what kind of person they are and what their next step is going to be. Every year in high school there is a new kind of feeling going into it. Grade 8/9, the first year is the biggest hill to climb. Right after being at the top of the totem pole you’re immediately shot down to the bottom, ground zero. Grade 10, you’ve gotten into a groove and now have an idea of how to attack the year. You’re not at the bottom but there is still a ton of growing to do and the level of education ramps up. Grade 11 comes and now you’re more confident than ever. You’re so close to the end and have now figured out your spot, where you fit in most. You got your clique and have a better understanding of what you want to do in post secondary, you’re developing a better relationships with teachers and everything just seems fun. Now onto Grade 12…. where the most fun begins.

Grade 12 was by far my favourite year of high school. Freedom is on the horizon where you can decide your next steps. You’ve waited multiple years for this point and its now coming to fruition. Starting my grade 12 year, I would be lying to say that I wasn’t overwhelmed and a little bit anxious. Like thinking in a matter of 10 months I would be out of high school and closer to the real world. It was nothing short of absurd. But I had my friends and knew I wasn’t in the only position. I had my older sisters who have all been there before so I had advice to fall back on. The first day came and the energy was nothing I’d ever seen before, everyone has changed over the summer, friends have full on beards now, everyone has a tan, MY GOODNESS BRANDEN’S GROWN 5 INCHES?! It was crazy. But those are some of the best conversations had, catching up with some of your friends that you didn’t get to see over summer vacation. With morning of the first day over and done with, time to get down to the nitty gritty!

Grade 12 was full of ups and downs but the ups were higher than the downs were deeper. Yes midterms, finals, projects, and teachers could have been the ticket to your downfall but it was the extracurricular’s that really made the year special. Grade 12 had this entirely new vibe to it, because it made us feel like royalty. Our relationships with teachers were completely different than years past. It almost seemed like they were graduating as well. But I want to bring my grade 12 year to life because there was a lot within my grade and group of friends that happened that were really memorable.

Most of the fun happened during the latter half of the year because the weather outside dictated the atmosphere during school hours. Teachers became a lot more relaxed, plans were soaring around the school of what everyone was doing, and during lunch and between classes the parking lots would fill and everyone would hangout and have a grand ol’ time. There would always be the “truck guys” where everyone resorted too, for some reason it was the unwritten rule that those specific guys would be responsible for hosting the lunch party. People would gather around with McDonals, Tim Horton’s, Wendy’s, pizza, and all sorts of food and drinks and blast the newest album that just came out. It would be approaching 30 degrees and the thought of going to the last class of the day was nearly bringing the mood down.

Despite the mood being killed by block D and E, all it would take is someone to yell…. “DOCKS AFTER SCHOOL” and everyone would erupt. The docks and/or the beach would be the spot near the summer to have our fun. It was always the vibe and the spot to be. Plenty of platforms for people to hangout, and jumping into the lake was perfect for the weather at hand. It brought a lot of people together and would a ton of fun. The music would be blasting, someone yelling that they lost their phone, and banter and laughs going back and forth… or arguments. There would always be arguments, but ones that didn’t NEED to happen, like who’s the GOAT, Lebron or Michael? Once it was time to leave, reality started to set in. Having to do that assignment due tomorrow would suck and you’d always be too tired to do it, but it was never a dull moment having those after school meet ups at our favourite spot.

As it got closer to the end, everyones mindset of “I can’t wait to get out of this place” started changing  to “man I would do anything to stay in high school”. Its a place where you could just be away from your parents and enjoy being with friends. Got to go to soccer, rugby, or football practice after, compete in intrumerals where you would literally go toe to toe with teachers. The jam packed fun and memories were everlasting and definitely a time and place I took for granted. When the final days came around, reality was setting in that this is it. The final days of being with your favourite teachers daily, some of your friends are going abroad, and the future for yourself is even uncertain. The place that changed you and made you more wiser, confident, and mature. It paved the way of many paths you can down for you to settle into a career. But nothing capped off the high school experience than…. a water balloon fight. The entire grade 12 class gathered in the court yard and had a massive water balloon fight and it was nothing short of spectacular. So much fun and I really think it made the group closer, a beautiful way to end it off.

Commencement was a night where it was super exciting. All the stress and anxiety that high school brought to some people was finally coming to an end. But to everyone it was a super proud moment, a time in your life where it got really hard and where you thought you couldn’t make it, but walking across that staged was a sign that you did it!

Now as our Valedictorian goes through his speech the moment is coming to an end, it brought the person to your right and left closer because everyone went through very similar battles. People are crying, laughing, cheering, and yelling, praising the leader of our class as he goes through the memories we all made. We get to the end and throw our caps in the air, we fricken did it. What a moment.

High school is always going to hold a special place in my heart, imade me who I was today and matured me to be better. As Drake wisely said “I wouldn’t go back to change sh*t, I would go back just to feel the same thing twice”. That’s me with high school and grade 12 especially.

What a time to be alive.

Summer is just around the corner and it’s now the time where kids memories are made. Families going on vacations, extravagant birthday parties being hosted, and families  packing up the minivan about to hit the road up to their cabin or favourite camping spot. It’s almost the same as the night before Christmas, it’s hard to sleep because of the pure excitement of a trip. I want to paint the picture of what Lefebvre family camping trips looked like and how we made the most of my parents holidays and the summer before the school year started.

It was always an annual thing, “okay where do you guys want to go this year?” brainstorming ideas on where we wanted to stay. What does each campsite offer for us so that we can enjoy our time to the fullest? The Okanagan was always the place to be. Camping along the lakeside with the hot, dry sun just made the experience so much better. My sisters and I always got excited for the road trips specifically. We didn’t have phones at this time because we were in our early teens if not younger, so we’d load up our iPods with HUNDREDS of songs to prep for the 4 hour drive. Blasting Flo Rida, Lady Gaga, AC/DC (cause you always got to keep father happy), and tons more. It was actually really funny because with the iPod on shuffle we were playing the game I Spy, while listening to amazing music, the wind just blasting the seatbelts and our hair going crazy but it was when we entered the small town Hedley that on shuffle the band Hedley started playing! It was one of the more crazier things I’ve ever experienced. Nowadays there’s the conspiracy on whether or not were living in a simulation, that was one of the early experiences of that. MAYBE THAT WAS THE FIRST ENCOUNTER OF A SIMULATION!!!! Never thought about that till now…. Interestinnnggggg. But its moments like that where road trips before the trip itself even started was an unbelievably fun time.

Once we got to our campsites it was always the dreadful task of unloading the car. But my parents always came in clutch because they told us “go explore and check out the site” and then they would unload the vehicle and set everything up. Were we spoiled? or was it their subtle way of calling us useless? We were never spoiled in any other aspect so maybe they felt better off not having us touch anything. Damn, now I’m kind of offended… AHHH we were kids whatever. Exploring the site was always a fun and interesting time. It was almost like were were scouting out the competition, like who could we beat at kick the can? Or even just seeing how other families set up their sites. But we would usually go to the beach or check out a town near by while mom and dad set up the site. It was better that way because my mom is super picky and if a certain lantern was out of place she’s turning the whole thing upside down. Sorry mom, I love you! I think the only person who was losing in this scenario was my dad. Poor guy had to hear us kids annoying the life out of him for a 4 hour drive and now he has to be bossed around by his wife on how the site needs to be set up. No wonder he’s gotten crankier over the years. But he wasn’t mad whatsoever because it was all worth it with the scenery surrounding us. Campsite on or close by the lake, the sun just beaming down on us, and the sound of music and the water crashing along the shore… It was perfect.

Once we all got settled in was when the fun and relaxation really started. Where typically stayed in Penticton there was endless amounts of activities to do near by from go karting, to golf, and shopping! The beach was right off the campsite and there was a really beautiful canal that families would float down as well. Everyone brings a bag full of drinks and their tube, tie them all together with rope and off you went! Those are some of the moments I’m talking about, the laughs and relaxation with friends. The kids would have their Coca-Cola’s in their cupholder and would put on their goggles to swim down the canal and “look for gold” while the parents just minded their business. It was a great opportunity to take advantage of the vacation and the nice warm sun.

Moments away from the site and the beach were never a dull moment. But what made it even better is that hikes and go karting weren’t more than a 10 minute walk from our site! The family would all band together and hike on up to the local track and suit up for go karting, it really bonded everyone together and got laughs and smiles out of everyone. I myself would go golfing with my dad and it would be so much fun but man did you ever need LITRES of water if you wanted to get through the round holy moly. But a really funny memory was on the way back from golfing my dad and I accidentally ran over a snake and sadly killed it. But that wasn’t enough for us to leave it so we put it in the trunk and when we got back to the site we asked my sister to grab something out of the trunk and the first thing she saw was the snake! Without a doubt the loudest scream I’ve ever heard and it was a memory of a lifetime. Its instances like those that makes you closer with your family more and more. Yea obviously more often than not a family is always going to be close but nothing beats a close family with memories on top of memories to look back on.

Camping in the summer is always going to be core memories I’ll hold onto forever. Everything from the road trips, the jam packed car BLASTING Marianas Trench, the arguments on who won during kick the can, barbecuing with the family, tanning and throwing the football at the beach, and winding down with a great game of crib to finish off the night.

Nothing will ever be able to replace that and I think that’s what makes a family vacation or trip so special. Hug your loved ones and make it a priority to create a memory from adventuring on a year to year basis.