Why my first stethoscope defines Canada — and all its possibilities — for me
Karen Bai is pursuing a career in medicine that she never thought possible.
As part of CBC's What's Your Story campaign, we're asking Canadians to tell us about the one object they would submit to a collection of national treasures, objects that contain the strongest feelings, personal histories and vivid memories of our diverse population. For Karen Bai, it's her first stethoscope.
This is my first stethoscope. It defines Canada for me because it represents my rebirth, my medical school journey and how the impossible became possible.
I was born in a small town in northern China, where girls were viewed as less valuable than boys. As a child, my father told me that I would never amount to anything, that I was always going to be a second-class citizen to men.
My family immigrated to Canada in '98. Mother and I quickly fell in love with our new home and embraced a new set of Canadian values.
We learned the importance of diversity and tolerance, and we were respected and treated as equal by other members of the community. This gave my mother the confidence to leave my misogynist father, who held on tightly to his antiquated views.
In Canada, I have been reborn.- Karen Bai
This gave me the courage to rise above the lies about the inferiority of women I've been fed since I was a child and to pursue my dream of becoming a physician.
Canada has been very generous to my mother and me. Student loan programs and job training programs offered by the government allowed my mom to go back to school, find a job and raise me by herself. Like many children in Canada, I have blessed with free access to education and cared for by the universal health care system.
I never thought I would be where I am today — a first-year medical school student at Stony Brook University in New York. When I told my father more than a decade ago that I wanted to become a doctor, he laughed and said that it was "a man's job" and that I would never be "smart enough" for anything. But here I am today, with a Master's degree from the University of Toronto and on my way to becoming a physician.
In Canada, I have been reborn.
What's your story?
What defines Canada for you? Is there a time that you were proud to be Canadian, or perhaps a time you felt disappointed? Is there a place, person, or event in your life that sums up what being Canadian is to you? Email us your story at 2017@cbc.ca.