We learn a lot on a journey. The journey from birth to old age. From student to established leader. From the start of Nature Labs to where you are today. And, of course, from the unexpected, unlikely journey of two grizzly bear siblings.

“There are lots of lessons I’ve learned. Tons and tons of lessons.” – Dawna Friesen | TV News Anchor

“You guys, you learn a lot between 15 and 29. Let me tell you that.” – Chloe Dragon Smith | Indigenous Land Use Advocate 

“You wish you knew when you were 15 what you know when you’re 60.” – Harvey Locke | Biodiversity Advocate

When we start, we might have a destination in mind, but it never turns out exactly to plan. And that’s okay.

“It’s okay to fail. And it’s okay to be who you are.” – Camilla d’Errico | Artist

“You don’t have to be perfect. So, follow your path and trust that instinct.” – Nikki Sanchez | Indigenous Media Maker 

“Things will work out. Life will be ups and downs. Life will be a challenge. We all face it, but you can come through it alright.” – Jim Bottomley | Futurist 

“Everyone’s journey has a purpose and sometimes we don’t know exactly what that is as we go along. Things will move and shift. Take the pieces that you learn and keep moving forward with it.” – Brock Endean | Youth Leader & Community Builder 

“I was sort of going in a different path of learning about the world, but it didn’t make sense to a lot of people. And I think I would tell my 15-year-old self to just trust in that, ask those questions. It doesn’t matter what any path looks like, as long as you’re learning and growing.” – Salimah Ebrahim | Journalist & Entrepreneur  

“There will be times where you question what you’re doing and there’ll be times where you question if you’ve chosen the right path or if you’re doing the right thing because it will be very difficult. And I think a lot of that confusion comes from societal pressures we have, expectations about different benchmarks in life. But do what you’re truly passionate about and believe in it and it will work out in the end.” – Kerrie Blaise | Environmental Lawyer 

“It’ll all work out. And you’ll tell some interesting stories while you’re here.” – Salimah Ebrahim | Journalist & Entrepreneur

“I was a small kid in Bombay in a 600 square foot apartment. To think today I would be running the strategy group of a major financial corporation in North America, it would have been unforeseen forty years ago, fifty years ago. To be participating in a not-for-profit like the Jane Goodall Institute and actually interacting with somebody like Jane Goodall, who for me was just a person on the National Geographic cover forty years ago, was unforeseen. So, I would say dream big. And just make sure you have the commitment to follow your dream.” – Mohnish Kamat | Financial Executive

You’ve heard me say again and again: Every dream matters. Every action counts. Every journey teaches.

But also remember this: Every curiosity we explore opens the door to new possibilities. How so? Writer Ian Brown explains.

“So many of us grow up in circumstances where we’re told, ‘you can’t do what you care about. You won’t make any money. It’s not important. I don’t agree with it. It doesn’t reflect well on me’. This happens in subtle ways, all over the place, all of the time. You have to resist that.

“Now genius – and I’m not familiar with genius, but in my limited experience of it in other people – genius is always about confidence. And confidence comes from trying. It doesn’t come from succeeding. It certainly doesn’t come from being afraid to fail. It just comes from, ‘that’s interesting. I think I’ll do that’.”

“I was listening to an interview with JD Roberts – he’s a rockabilly guy and he was a punk rocker. And he lived in Oklahoma, miles from everywhere, and the interviewer said to him, ‘how did you get interested in music?’ And he said, ‘the thing was that I lived like three hours from everywhere, so it was really hard to get magazines, records, but my brothers would listen to Cream and Hendrix’. And he said, ‘so I had their magazines and I noticed that they all said they were interested in rockabilly. So, I sent away for some rockabilly, and those guys were interested in this’. This guy pursued his interest and what was remarkable about him was that he pursued what interested him because it was all he had. It was the only way he could find anything interesting to do.

“Most of us live in a world that’s filled with competing demands on our time, competing agendas that other people have for us. It’s an act of courage just to stay true to what you sense is important – consciously, unconsciously.

“We’re not taught to pay attention to the mystery of our own desires. And I think the mystery of our own desires always takes us back to universal things, to global things, to the smallest detail of behaviour and character. It’s the thing that everybody is interested in. It’s weird that the most private detail will be the most universal thing.

“But what that says is that we’re all the same. And what that says is that we’re all equal.

“And if you can teach yourself that – remind yourself that, figure out a way to remind yourself that, collect in your daily acquaintance through reading a bunch of heroes who have done it and stick with them – then you can do it.

“It’s very hard, I mean the whole society, the whole system pushes against it, because it wants us to behave in a corporate way. It wants us to behave as consumers. It wants us to behave as capitalists, as materialists. But if you can resist that and stick to what you know to be true, even if it’s shopping, the universal, the lasting, the things that have been with mankind all along, those will out. And that and the few times it happens in a lifetime, when it happens, it just reaffirms your faith in open ended human curiosity, principled curiosity.

“This actually interests me for reasons I don’t even understand and maybe I’ll never understand. But it interests me. As opposed to, ‘I can make a career out of that. I can get ahead with that. I can buy an extra car doing that’.”

“I’m not saying buying the extra car or getting ahead – there’s nothing wrong with that – but you’ll get there faster if you pay attention to what’s really true in you as opposed to what is not.”

Staying true to who we are does matter and it is an act of courage.

But so too is taking the time to know what is true to us – what inspires us, what excites us, what drives our passion.

I sort of wish that somebody would have pulled me off to the side and said, ‘what do you love? What do you enjoy? What is one thing that you want to wake up and do in the morning? Once you’re out of school and you go through college or university or whatever, you’re going to work a job and you’re going to wake up and do that job every day. You want to enjoy it. I sort of wish that maybe somebody kicked me in the butt and said, ‘focus on something you love and make a life out of it. You want to enjoy your job because you spend a lot of your life doing it’. And I’m lucky, I love my job.” – Elliott Ingles | Area Supervisor, Mount Robson Provincial Park 

“I wish I knew when I was 15 years old, the incredible opportunities that are available to people if they really put their mind to it.” – Hal Kvisle | Business Leader

“Think about the contribution that you want to make and think about something in the world that you care about that interests you, that you can actually help do something about. I think you need to follow your passion, but you need to be really open to ways of following your passion that are not a straight line. That’s what I would tell my 15-year-old self.” – Sandra Odendahl | Financial Executive & Engineer 

“Keep your eyes open for opportunities, understand what you’re interested in, understand, as you go on, what you’re good at, and what you like doing.” – Sean Mullin | Economist

“You don’t have to fit into a box. Decide how you want to make your impact and go for it.” – Laura Kennedy | Biologist

“There’s lots of people out there that want to help you succeed and if you have ideas, you can just start anywhere.” – Chloe Dragon Smith | Indigenous Land Use Advocate

 “Everything you do directs your life, in small ways and in larger ways. You have to get involved. You have to be passionate about what it is you’re doing, regardless of what it is you’re doing. And that all comes back to understanding who you are. What can you do; what can you accomplish? Because if you understand who you are, you’re more apt to be able to accomplish great things.” – Donn Lovett | Political Organizer 

“Genuine passion is something that can’t go unnoticed.”- James Michels | Artist

Choose to be noticed. Choose to be happy. Choose to leave a mark.

“Trust in the power of your voice.” – Angela Waldie | Poet & Professor

“I think it’s across the board: If you have a vested interest in something, it’s kind of important to keep it around.” – Quinn Scott | Fisher

“I wish that I knew how interconnected all of our decisions are on species and how easy it is to start thinking about more than just us.” – Sarah Ramirez | Biologist

“I probably didn’t realize the importance of what I was doing.” – Clive Jackson | Journalist

 “There’s nothing wrong with being naive about something when you’re young because it doesn’t stop you from pursuing something you believe in.” – Mike Farnworth | BC Deputy Premier

“It sounds really silly, but I’d tell myself not to lose hope. Do what you can do for the environment. Do what you can do to be a role model and to be somebody who can encourage people of opposite minds to come to the table. And then maybe, just maybe, you won’t be so pessimistic.” – Josh Hall | Rural Journalist

“I wish that I had known that I have a little piece of responsibility to say: Why? What if? Why not? – Rick Antonson | Author & Tourism Advocate

“Get out there and try to be that little thought bubble or drop in the bucket because together we can definitely make a difference.” – Garrick Ng | Storyteller & Entrepreneur

But as you now know, asking hard questions and trying to better our world isn’t easy.

The hill ahead almost always feels daunting. Life can be daunting. Today and tomorrow.

This world isn’t easy. This life won’t get easier.

But it can be better.

“I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to tell that story. We need to just spend more time being out there. I think that you need to make sure that you feed your inner soul. And for a period of time in my life I think I just worked too hard on my job. I needed to keep that perspective and I try to maintain that balance today.” – Brian Keating | Storyteller & Naturalist

 “The world is a big place and there’s a lot of beauty in it. And, sure, my life might be great. But imagine what else is out there. slow down and enjoy being out there.” – Terrence Jackson | Photographer 

“Slow down and enjoy being young.” – Shianne McKay | Indigenous Community Builder

“Just slow down a bit and really appreciate everyone who supports you along the way. Really appreciate all the incredible opportunities that come from giving back to your community. Really value the journey. We don’t need to be in a rush. We’re human. And we can hustle, but we also need to make sure we’re well. That would be the thing I would say is that if I had learned earlier – that I am enough and what I can accomplish in a day, while being healthy and being true to who I am is enough – then it would have made my journey more sustainable. And I think I would have had more of an impact sooner. So, I think as activists, as innovators, we need to remember that we are enough and that if we’re doing good things in the world, and trying our best that, is enough.” – Ilona Dougherty | Youth Researcher & Advocate

“15 is such a tiny, inconsequential phase in your life and yet it feels like everything. It feels so heavy and so weighty. And what you need to know at 15 is that whatever you’re going through, good or bad, you’re actually going to move past it. So, keep an eye down the road and don’t let what you’re going through become something that holds you back or defines you. You know, I was bullied a lot as a kid. So, 15 was a tough time because you really felt like that was going to be the rest of your life. What does that do? It can change your personality and change how you approach people. It can change how you interact with them, whether you trust them, that kind of thing. If I had known at 15 that this was going to be two more years and then things were going to change very much, maybe some of those things wouldn’t have weighed so heavily. Every kid is going through version of that. But it’s very transitory and it doesn’t last, so enjoy the good times, but if you’re going through the bad times, just know incredibly that it doesn’t last.” – Shachi Kurl | Pollster 

“At the end of the day, when things get hard, maybe evaluate, ‘is this really what I want to do, is this where I want to go?’ But if it is, don’t let people dissuade you because they say, ‘oh you’re not good enough’.” – Victoria Lukasik | Biologist

“Be strong. There are going to be challenges along the path. But to keep moving forward, to build networks of supporters and advisors who can help support the mission and the journey. But to keep trying.” – Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko | Youth Leader & Scientist

“And to really work hard. And to not give up.” – Michelle Valberg | Photographer

“Don’t give up.” – Victoria Lukasik | Biologist 

“Never give up. Keep trying.” – Paula Huddy | Educator

And that’s critical to remember.

We never know what setbacks we’ll face tomorrow, nor the lessons we might learn. There’s no such thing as a crystal ball. 

We simply can’t know what we don’t know we don’t know – and we can’t understand the lessons of lived experiences we’ve yet to have.

But we can be better prepared.

“I was told I could be the top student in the school once and I laughed because I said, well, I don’t want to be. 51 is a pass. I don’t need anything higher than that. That was my attitude in school. What I’ve learned is that young people have to realize the value of their education. They have to realize where it can take them. Get an assignment where you can take something on that means something to you, do an assignment on something that’s important to you. You’ll find you get further; you expand more and you really become something.” – Bruce Wilkinson | Community Builder

“Stay curious and be persistent.” – Andria Dawson | Mathematical Ecologist

“Accept everything that’s on your path. Sometimes you feel you just wasted a day. You had this person who frustrated you. But actually, there’s a reason. And I wish I would have acknowledged that earlier.” – Marie-Eve Marchand | Social Innovator

“Find your allies.” – Diz Glithero | Ocean Advocate

“I wish I had been better at asking people for help.” – Isabella O’Brien | Scientist

“Over time, what I have learned, is how valuable it can be to sit back and take the time to evaluate what other people have said or what a situation is looking like and be very thoughtful and strategic. And you can only do that from a place of patience, in my mind.” – Jon Mobeck | Conservationist

“Every big movement has taken a long time, a really long time. So, even if you’re taking some steps back, those steps forward over a really long time? The few people that you do impact, that is going to make a difference even if it doesn’t seem like it.” – Story Warren | Youth Leader & Scientist 

“You’re not going to start out perfect and you’re not going to finish right away and it’s all part of your larger life’s journey.” – Maggie MacDonald | Artist & Activist

“Sometimes we overthink things and it’s just that simple.” – Joe Urie | Indigenous Tourism Advocate

“As I grow older, I see that things aren’t as simple as I used to think they were.” – Sam Sullivan | Former Mayor of Vancouver 

“What I’ve learned over time is that sometimes there’s a common-sense compromise and sometimes you got to make a hard choice.” – Cyril Kormos | Forest Researcher & Advocate 

“I wish I had known how to listen when I was 15.” – Sandra Nelson | Biologist

“Have humility and listen to the perspectives of other people.” – David Cooper | United Nations

“One situation can be seen, understood, analyzed in as many different ways as people are looking at it. And that there they all have the same value and importance.” – Louis-René Sénéchal | Parks Canada

“Humans can be just as creative as they are destructive. And I think when you start to engage in conversations with other parties or other individuals in the system, you don’t necessarily agree with them, but at least you can have a compassionate dialogue. Try to understand where they’re coming from. Because that’s the best way to make these changes: understanding and education.” – Takoda Coen | Youth Leader & Farmer

“The best skill a person can have – the best skill students can have – is knowing how to get along with people. That will easily extend knowing how to get along with that buffalo out there.” – Dr. Leroy Little Bear | Indigenous Rights Leader

When we take that advice to heart, we can, to the best of our abilities, use the lessons learned by others to help us be more open, have more impact and navigate our path with grace and humility.

And we can have a head start on imagining and realizing a better balance between people and nature.

You see, this is your moment.

All of this? It’s not just about being prepared for tomorrow; it’s also about being ready for today.

And you can make an even bigger mark tomorrow by starting today.

“Take more risks. Honestly? When I was young, I was a little bit more timid – quite a bit more timid, actually. I was quite shy. And it took me quite a long time to develop self-confidence. I’d say be a little braver, take some risks and step out a bit more, speak up more.” – Hon. Janet Austin | Former BC Lieutenant Governor

“I wish at 15 I didn’t care what people thought about me. I just wish I would have been dumber sooner (so not to care what people thought). If I was, I would have asked dumber questions sooner.” – Mark Miller | TV Producer

“I wish I didn’t try so hard to conform to what other people expected of me.” – Donna Kennedy-Glans | Author & Former Cabinet Minister

 “It’s going to sound harsh when I say it: No one really cares about you. We spend so much of our time, especially as teenagers, worrying about what other people think about us, worrying that that person is gossiping about us. And, for the most part, we’re not even on their radar. Even if someone’s bugging you or pestering you, it’s just them expressing some other deep emotional issue that they have. Really, don’t worry about everybody else. Worry about your true relationships in life: Your family, your friends, confidants, people who can connect with you genuinely. And when you meet someone randomly on a on a bus, or on the street, and you’re like, ‘there’s something here’, explore it. Get to know it. There’s spark in human connection all over the world and every place, whether it’s a small town or a big city. So, don’t worry so much what other people you think are thinking about.” – Paul McIntyre-Royston | Fundraiser

“Don’t doubt yourself. If you have something that you really believe in, you’re right. So go for it.” – Mary Young Leckie | Movie Producer 

“It can be done. You can do it.” – Ian Waddell | Former Cabinet Minister

It’s why we asked 100 citizens – of different ages, from different walks of life – to share with us that one thing they know now that they wish they knew at 15.

And the answers were as diverse as the people we asked. We had the whimsical:

“‘Chill with the hair gel and quit skipping math class.’ But I know he wouldn’t listen.” – Michael Kennedy | Management Consultant

And we had the esoteric:

“I wish I had known more about the whole psychology of implicit attitudes and cognitive bias confirmation and how hard it is to break through people’s deep visceral sense of who gets to do a job in society. On the other hand, if I’d known that, it might have scared me off.” – Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell | Former Prime Minister

But whether the answer came from a young business leader or a reflective former prime minister, each answer we received has value. Just ask journalist Stu McNish.

“Everything matters, including me. I wasn’t so sure that I did when I was 15. But we all matter. No one person more than anyone else. You can’t look at another person and say, ‘oh, well you have this position in society or you have all that money. So, therefore, you matter more’. I’ve actually come to appreciate now, that’s not what matters. What matters is what is the consequence or the response to a decision that you make. So, Viktor Frankl, in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, says that absolutely every decision matters because it becomes a grain of sand that gets added to the monument of your life. And, so, I wish that I had understood that more when I was 15, because then I might have made decisions that would have had more perspective. I was running around just being like, ‘wow, aren’t I lucky to be alive? Isn’t this fun?’ But if I had known that, I might have made better decisions.”

That reflection and everything you’ve been taught during this course?

Whether it seems relevant or not; whether it reflects your passion or not; whether it relates to a subject you’re good at it or not, whether it supports your worldview or not: It’s knowledge that just might be the difference between having a simple career or living a life of meaning; hoping for change or realizing it.

“Your job is actually to test your relationship with others and to test your own personal capacities. And you shouldn’t be wise at 15. You should be adventurous and you should be brave. But I think you always needed to be compassionate. And I think you always need to think about your impact on others, even as you test your own strength and force and individuality. We’re in this together. And remember that as a young person, even as you’re going out and testing your strength and being competitive. That’s okay. Just have compassion for others.” – Harvey Locke | Biodiversity Advocate

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are less than them, that you are not worthy, that you can’t make a difference in this world. And if you come from humble beginnings, if you don’t speak the language perfectly, if you don’t come from the right background, if you haven’t gone to the right schools, don’t let that deter you. Just believe in yourself and stick with what you’re doing. And find people who will support you because they are out there.” – Dawna Friesen | TV News Anchor

“85% of people are good. And you will encounter the 15% who will disappoint you profoundly and break your heart every day and confirm all your worst suspicions about humanity. But what are you going to do? Are you going to honor that 15% and elevate them to your focus? ‘I’m going to guard against that 15% with everything I do. I’m going to be defensive and angry looking for the bad side.’ Or are you going to going to embrace the 85% of people? ‘It’s going to be beautiful. It’s going to be a wonderful journey. ‘I’m going to make a couple of mistakes. I’m going to get burned occasionally because I’m going to encounter somebody from that 15%. But my heart is open, my brain is open, the world is wonderful and I want to be part of it.’ Which would you rather do?” Harvey Locke | Biodiversity Advocate

“It’s all pretty wonderful and it’s all connected. And don’t ever forget that.” – Dr. Kerry Bowman | Ethicist