Molly Prendergast

I was born in Toronto, Canada, where I lived the first eighteen years of my life. Though I lived in the same room in the same apartment for those eighteen years, the world around me changed so much that I felt that I had lived in many more places. During the summer before my first year at university I had the amazing opportunity to travel by canoe on the Ogilvie, Miner, Porcupine, Bell, Rat, Peel, and the Mackenzie Rivers over the course of 53 days, an experience that was definitely 'character building', to say the least. Once I returned home, I was ready for change, and the meaning of 'home' has since become quite a temporary concept.

My love for the thrill and peace of wilderness tripping led me to work with an exceptional tripping company, whom I have now worked with for the past three summers, giving me the rare opportunity to guide others through the beautiful northern Canadian wilderness. Meanwhile, I am in my last year of studies at the University of Ottawa, where I will be graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics and Human Geography - at least, that's the plan.

My academic career has been just as exciting and fast flowing as my guiding career. For my third year I chose to do a ten month exchange, in which I became a temporary student at the University of Bergen in Norway. This was another life changing experience that I was extremely lucky to have, and here was where I met some of the best friends I still have to this day. My time in Bergen was spent wisely, and it doubled as my base to travel around much of Europe where I was exposed to massive amounts of culture, both familiar and foreign, and I loved every minute of it!

So far, in my first 22 years of life I have been to some amazing places where I have met some pretty amazing people. Nowadays I can see the light at the end of the academic tunnel, for now anyway, so I work hard here at U of O. I try my best to appreciate the quiet and long hours spent in the library, since I know they are finite, and while I sit and study, I wait to see which channels my life will flow through next!