Home Community: Winnipeg, MB
Cultural Identity: Franco-Métis
Current Position: Student
Roles/Responsibilities: At my university, I am the Indigenous representative on the student council. This position allows me to be the voice for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis students. I organize events to share our beautiful culture and to create a welcoming environment for our Indigenous students. The position has also opened many doors for me, I now sit on various committees and represent to entire student population.
What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?
I genuinely did not see my field of study as an option when I was in high school. For me, pursuing medicine was a fantasy and extremely far-fetched, to the point that I chose to study business instead because it seemed more doable. I overcame this by realizing that I was not studying what I truly was passionate about. That’s when I changed my mind set and decided that I was going to become a doctor no matter what it took and how long it took.
What or who inspired you to really go after the profession you are in now?
After making a few trips up North to coach volleyball camps, it became evident to me the severe lack of medical care available to the Northern communities. This is a major driving force for me to go to medical school. I want to do my part to help fill that void and I use this as motivation daily.
What critical choices or decisions did you make that helped you get where you are today?
My biggest choice was to completely change fields of study after committing to business school. Even though that change was terrifying, I needed to pursue what I was most interested in and most passionate about, no matter how impossible that seemed. What seemed like the biggest decision of my life at the time, turned out to be the best one.