Congratulations to Courtney, who graduated from the Neil Squire Society’s (new window) Employ-Ability Program in June 2013 and has just begun the Aboriginal Pre-Health Program (new window) at Simon Fraser University (new window).

Courtney enjoyed a long, successful career as a Hairstylist in some of the posh, high end salons in Vancouver. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with a form of arthritis (new window) that would no longer allow her to physically continue working full time at something she had always loved.

Not one to take things as they are, she used the same great attitude and skills that made her successful as a Hairstylist and began looking into ways to alleviate some of her symptoms by researching and incorporating a natural health diet as opposed to taking strong drugs. It not only helped Courtney’s symptoms, it seemed to have triggered an interest in health and how one could heal themselves through a clean, natural diet.

Along the way, she happened to come across the Employ-Ability Program at the Neil Squire Society. A Program which would allow her the time to better understand how the skills that had made her so successful in the past could be transferred to many other careers. Courtney found a couple of different careers that she was interested in: tourism, event planning and nutrition. Given her own success with increased heath due to a change in her diet, at the end of the day everything seemed to point to the health sector.

The Aboriginal Pre-Health Program will give Courtney a solid foundation of academic and personal skills to prepare for further education, a better idea of which health modality she would like to specialize in, support from Aboriginal Elders and student mentors, along with other selected topics in Aboriginal health, which she is interested in.

Courtney was a spunky addition to our Employ-Ability class, and we have no doubt that this young woman is on her way!