Six hundred seventy five miles northeast of Saint Louis, a city of 2.5 million people, is Toronto, Canada, a place Nick Lin called home for eight years.

Nick was born in Miami, Fla., and raised by his grandparents while his mother worked. In 2004, he moved to Toronto with his mother and stepfather, who accepted a job there.

“Some of the best memories I had in Canada were when my friends and I used to ripstick and longboard on this steep hill in this water filtration plant down the street from my house,” Nick said. “It was next to the beach so going there was also always fun.”

Nick lived in both Scarborough and Oakville, which are cities within Toronto. Scarborough was more beach affiliated whereas Oakville was more urban. Though the two were different Nick found comfort with the transportation services the two cities offered.

“The transit in Canada was phenomenal. I loved it,” Nick said. “I had this student pass that allowed me to ride the train as many times as I wanted and allowed me to go anywhere I wanted.”

Nick remembered his step dad saying he had a business meeting in St. Louis when he actually had gone for an interview instead. The interview was a success and in fall of 2012, Nick and his family moved from Oakville, Canada to Kirkwood. Although Nick found the move surprising, switching high schools was nothing new to him.

“I found it harder and harder to make friends everytime I switched schools because I had to start over again,” Nick said. “It was a tedious process of figuring out who I should be around.”

When Nick first arrived at KHS he remembers sitting at a new table almost every day at lunch trying to find a group of friends he connected with. Nick’s first friendship developed with Jack Jaeger, junior, whom Nick had two classes with his sophomore year.

“I didn’t realize him until one day our French teacher hit him in the head with a plastic flamingo,” Jack said. “He didn’t stand out much and was very quiet so it was not until I realized I had another class with him that we started talking.”

Nick remembers Jack as a big part of why he became more active at KHS. Nick played ultimate frisbee and ran cross country along with Jack. Nick has seen himself become more professional and serious since moving to Kirkwood two years ago.

“I’d say even though I was born in America, I am truly Canadian,” Nick said.