I received a craft kit for my birthday, with a blank board game box and instructions to “make it your own.” As first-generation immigrants, our lives resemble a board game, with its setbacks but with its prizes. Faith, luck, or just the passage of time guides our way to the finish line. This is the idea I chose to execute.
When creating it, I added numerous personal details to the board game. We
immigrated from Moscow, so the cover features Red Square and other Moscow landmarks.
In immigration, every single path is unique. As a family, our unique paths intersect and exist on the same board; however, our challenges differ.
The game itself is a collection of our challenges that set us back, memorable events, and rewards that pushed us forward. The main characters are my sister, my mom, my cat and me. This is the story of our lives in Canada, told through a board game.
One of the challenges that affected us all was French school. That’s why, inspired by Monopoly, it served the purpose of a jail. Once we arrived in Canada, a new bill had just been passed, and we were supposed to attend a French school. A school that didn’t have any integration programs, or d’accueil classes. My sister and I were stuck there, barely learning anything. It lasted two years until my mother was able to enroll us in an English school, which is a reward square in the game.
The rest is in the game. When words are not enough to convey the story, you find a different way. And I share this story with you.
Daria Kulagina