We would love to hear about how Sydney changed your life, or what you miss about her.
Leave your story, or read what others have said, below:
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Sydney was a great positive influence in my life over the past two years when I got to know her. Her passing a week after I last saw and said goodbye to her last was devastating.
We had a thing going on where I would share music that I felt connected with her, to much success. Now the song I think of when I think of Sydney is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kaUvGSLMew
Miss you Sydney, RIP.
– Avery
I started going to UBCO in September of 2016 and Sydney was assigned to me as a peer mentor. Being from Manitoba and moving three provinces away to British Columbia, I remember I was very scared and nervous. Talking to Sydney seemed to relieve all of that stress with the love and kindness that she possessed.
Sydney was one of the peer mentors that took me and a group of other people on a tour through UBCO and later invited us to a game night with other students. I almost didn’t go to this game night that was hosted by the peer mentors but I remembered Sydney, a familiar face, would be there so I changed my mind and went. Sydney made me feel so welcomed and included.
I’ll always remember Sydney as being a very kindhearted beautiful girl, inside and out. Rest in paradise Sydney.
– Karley Woods
Sydney, I can’t express the sadness it brought to me and my family when I heard of your sudden passing. Thank you for all the years we played soccer together.
– Hillary & Kenny Fisher
There are so many things I want to say. Sydney and I did not know each other well. Yet we never worked hard to chat. Our last exchange was over email. I told her about the uncertainty of our future plans, and she wrote back about how exciting that was. She wrote this even while possibly hoping for more certainty in her life and more certainty in ours. The generosity and care of that short email will stay with me forever as the last words she shared with me.
Thank you for the too brief and beautiful memories. You are leaving an amazing impression and legacy for such a relatively short life. I imagine you have already made heaven or someplace like it into a kinder, more thoughtful, and more generous place.
– Amy Levine
I still remember the day we met quite well. It was very early in first year and Nicola 4 went on a hike, the only two friends I had at that point went on a different trail and I found myself around a bunch of people I didn’t know. You and David Cheng were the only people that talked to me on that hike. It might have been a small gesture for you at the time, but I always appreciated it and I think I never properly thanked you for it.
Everything that happened after that seems like both a mere blink of an eye and a very long time. How that is possible I do not know; all the moments we shared seem to blur together, yet when I think hard enough, I can remember so many things in great detail.
What I do know is that I count myself extremely lucky in having been part of your life; that despite all the pain I’ve felt since your death, no one can ever take away the moments that we shared together. I gained from you more that I could’ve asked for, more than I could’ve expected, and more than I deserved. I am forever grateful for that. I have found comfort in knowing that you made a positive impact in so many people around you.
You left the world a better place that you found it. But for the same reason, I can’t shake the feeling that the world is at a loss without you. That, with 7 billion people on this planet, the world is a little darker now that you, specifically you, are not here anymore.
I regret not letting you know how much I cared about you or how much you meant to me. Love you always,
– David Toro
I met Sydney when I entered Grade 8 at Queen Margaret’s School. She was told two years older than me and friends with my friends, and she always struck me as a natural leader. When I started playing in the band, she always was there early and joking around with me. When we played soccer together, Syd was always the one to encourage us, to pick us back up, to push us to do better.
Sydney was an amazingly kind, empathetic and amazing woman, and the world is less beautiful without her in it. My prayers go out to her family and friends.
– Kate Lischeron
Sydney was a regular visitor to a program I run at UBC Okanagan called “B.A.R.K.” – a program where we bring therapy dogs to campus to help students reduce stress. Sessions are held on Friday afternoons and we do our best to create a family-like atmosphere.
Sydney often brought others with her to the drop-in sessions or encouraged others to attend. Her favorite dog was Daisy, the most loveable Beagle you could ever meet. Sydney often joked of “dognapping” Daisy.
Sydney had many friends in B.A.R.K. and will be missed. We’d like to acknowledge Sydney in the lab somehow (in a subtle way as a reminder that we never know the struggles of others). If you’ve ideas on this, please let us know.
In shared sorrow,
– The B.A.R.K. Family
Building Academic Retention through K9s
University of British Columbia, Okanagan
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Sydney Bednarik Mental Health Foundation 