Cassandra D. Kowalchuk
Hometown: Canora, SK
Band: White Bear First Nation, SK
Program: Geomatics and Surveying Engineering Technology – Diploma
Cassandra describes her successful educational career as a joint effort and the result of supportive classmates and dedicated instructors.
"I was missing essential courses, yet still being welcomed by the department head and by advisors," she says. "They steered me in the right direction to get the credits I needed in order to move forward and they made sure I had what I needed to succeed."
Her journey to Sask Polytech meant she had to make some tough changes in her life.
"I began studying Geomatics on a whim. I broke off toxic relationships. I moved. I worked part time to pay for tutors. I took evening courses. I changed everything I knew ... I began appreciating all of the challenges in life, accepting them as reasons to find success."
Cassandra says she was able to achieve her educational goals because of the support and assistance she got from the Indigenous Student Success Strategy.
Now having graduated from BCIT with a Bachelor of Technology in Geomatics, Cassandra is looking forward to opportunities to develop a rewarding career. She attributes a lot of her success to her time spent at Sask Polytech.
"I felt like a contributor, a colleague; not just a number," she says. "I wasn't just a student in the register, I was a person, a part of a collaboration of knowledge. I felt valued."