Heather Bae

Hello! I go by Heather (any pronouns work for me), and I am currently studying in the Social Service Worker program at George Brown Polytechnic. I'm excited to complete my placement with Unsinkable, as I'm deeply interested in mental health and love the art!

Having lived through different systems and difficult moments myself, I know how meaningful it can be when someone simply reaches out and offers support. Those experiences inspired me to study Social Service Work and join a community where I can learn, support others, and give back the way others once did for me.

I am currently obsessed with journaling and stationery. Thrift and collect odd items, as I am a well-known maximalist. And occasionally play video games and draw.

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

- Albert Camus

Burlington sits on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This region is also connected to the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement among Indigenous Nations to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Burlington falls under Treaty 3 ¾ (1795) and the Brant Tract Treaty No. 8 (1797), referring to the same land transaction at different stages.

As an immigrant settler, I hope to grow into my responsibilities as a treaty person — someone who acknowledges the relationship with the land and its original caretakers, advocates, and strives for truth and reconciliation.

I remember those who came here involuntarily, as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery, from the transcontinental railroad to current ongoing systemic inequality towards indigenous people. I also recognize the history of colonization and genocide against Indigenous

peoples, as well as the exploitation of racialized people whose labour helped build this country on stolen land. I will not stay silent in the face of genocide and violent oppression — whether it happens on this land or anywhere else in the world.

Andromeda - Weyes Blood

Back Together - Hardsould, Ron Carroll

Vissi d'arte - Act 2 of Tosca, Giacomo Puccini