Happy Thanksgiving from YCR!

I grew up among the dense, rowdy, and bustling streets of Saigon. For 16 years, my life was a blur – going from school to extracurriculars, enjoying a delicious bowl of hủ tiếu at my grandma’s restaurant, taking a break from the heat in the air conditioning.

I never stopped to think what made it all possible. Cars and appliances might as well have run on pixie dust. All the ingredients for the food I loved magically showed up at markets. I assumed the latest smartphones and computers all just came from the neighbourhood electronics store.

New Beginnings in Canada

At 16, I moved to Canada. I took in the rugged peaks, crisp water, and fresh air.

After finishing high school, I was accepted into the engineering program at the University of British Columbia. I wanted to be a part of the world of tomorrow, with its flashy electric vehicles, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and space travel.

Programs like computer science and physics caught my eye, but I did notice a few odd programs as well: land and food systems, forestry, and mining (people still did this?!). They seemed antiquated—artifacts from a bygone era. The only mining I knew was from Minecraft. I had little interest in trudging around in the mud or digging up rocks.

Or so I thought.

After a series of poor academic decisions (hey, we’re all guilty) and some soul-searching, I found myself in the mining engineering program at UBC. After spending a year or so trying to switch programs, I begrudgingly decided to stick it out in the mining engineering program… and I’m so glad I did.

This is when I started to become more aware of the critical role that resources play in the world.

Learning to Appreciate Natural Resources

It never occurred to me that each grain of rice had been planted, grown, tended to, harvested. Each screw, bolt, or spring had been mined, milled, poured, shaped. Each drop of gasoline extracted, heated, separated, cracked. After all of that, everything would have to be trucked, shipped, and flown. Transported in some way for me to use.

There are no supernatural forces at play, despite what my younger self believed.

Canada relies heavily on its resources sectors. From far flung mines and oil patches to endless farms, they keep lights on, vehicles fuelled, and food on the table.

Despite their importance, it is easy for those of us who live in urban areas (more than 4 of 5 Canadians) to take these industries for granted. Natural Resources Canada has noted that one of the barriers to growing the natural resources sector is a ‘lack of awareness … and public confidence.’ But we shouldn’t take these sectors for granted – they account for a massive part of our economy and prosperity.

This Thanksgiving, I’m immensely thankful for workers in the resources sector for making the vibrant world that I live in possible.

I’m thankful for the men and women toiling in the oil sands, maintaining pipelines, and driving haul trucks and tractors.

I’m thankful for the men and women working deep underground in Northwest BC, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, and on the frozen tundra of the Northwest Territories.

I’m thankful to all the workers in the natural resources sector for making cold Canadian winters warmer, and my ping speeds faster.

Resources for Tomorrow

After coming to appreciate the people and industries that support the Canada of today, my interest in the world of tomorrow has not gone away.

If anything, I’m more convinced than ever of the value of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence, renewable energy, hydroponics, and space travel. I now appreciate that it’s these “antiquated” industries (oil and gas development, mining, and other resource sectors) that will make all that possible.

Resources will have just as an important of a role to play in building the world of tomorrow as they do for the world of today. This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for that. And, as a young person employed in the resource space – I’m thankful that I have a meaningful role to play now and in the future.