Tianna Bruinsma from Canada thrives to experience new things and challenges in life. Moving to Lithuania has empowered Tianna to learn about new cultures and expand her worldview. Believing in self-development and creativity helped Tianna see beauty in small details and understand creativity from a different angle.

Canada – I think about home, my family, freedom, opportunity and adventure. The ability to build relationships with people that are very different from you in various aspects. Building diverse friendships is a really big advantage of our country because we are free to say whatever we want, develop our own lifestyles, and live however we want. I also think of people who know that if you want to reach your goals, you have to work very hard, build connections with people, and branch out of your comfort zone.

Change – I am always searching for new opportunities and new challenges, and that is why I came to Lithuania in the first place. I wanted to experience something new, and there is something so beautiful about that aspect of change. When you are leaving something behind, you are developing yourself in new ways, meeting new people, and you are opening a door for yourself, even though you might not know what is behind that door.

Worldview – it has been difficult for me to grasp what it actually means. I think it is how you interpret the world around and how you perceive other people’s lifestyles. I have lived in very different cultures from my own and little pieces of those cultures are connected to my worldview now. It is important to be open-minded towards other worldviews. You will end up living with more harmony, if you are able to put away your presuppositions about other people and about your own worldview.

Experience - is important for your self-development and it helps us reach our goals. It is what we need to gain new skills, new knowledge, and new understanding. We gain experience by putting ourselves through things that are sometimes difficult or other times exciting and fun. Either way it is going to build your character and it will help you make next steps in your life. I think we should really be pushing ourselves to experience new things whenever they come our way.

Creativity – this is really broad for me. People express their creativity in many ways, whether it is art, studying, writing a paper, becoming a leader, a professor, or a surgeon. Growing up, art played a big role in my life. I loved to spend time crafting, painting, and working with my visual imagination. It helped me to develop my imagination, and my motivation to create, although I do not really have time to do any of this now. It has also helped me to process things in new ways and see beauty in details.

Liberal – it sounds really appealing, especially to young people. They want freedom of choice, and a liberal society. There is a constant battle between the older and younger generations. The older generation wants conservative values, the younger generation wants liberal values, and there is this clash. It is important to keep in mind the older generation’s values; we cannot just put them aside.