Hometown: Kisbey, SK
Band: Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation
Program: Business diploma (Accountancy)
Kathleen, a First Nations woman, is forging a new path in life. Having heard about Sask Polytech through education grants for residential school survivors, she enrolled in the Business diploma program.
“It was hard being far from home,” she says. “I overcame obstacles by taking part in events and ceremonies on campus. For support I reached out to the Indigenous student advisor and Learning Services, visited the Indigenous Students’ Centre and applied for scholarships.”
She was still adjusting to student life when she attended her first pipe ceremony at Sask Polytech. “Dickie Yuzicapi was the pipe carrier,” she remembers. “The experience grounded me at a time when I was being bombarded with new information, expectations, a new city and I knew no one. It helped me settle and allowed me to move forward.”
“I have made many friends that I would never have had the opportunity to meet had I not attended Sask Polytech. I am friends with Indigenous, international and non-Indigenous students,” she says.
She also shares words of encouragement borne out of her own experience. “Reach out to supports early on, don’t wait and don’t let your pride get in the way of your success. There is a big world beyond where you are now. Don’t settle.”