Lubna graduated as Valedictorian of Lord Beaverbrook High School in Spring 2024 and is headed to McMaster University this fall as a Loran Scholar. This feat is remarkable in itself, made more remarkable by the hardships Lubna and her family overcame during her high school years, including poverty and homelessness. Thanks to All In for Youth and support from the Success Coach initiative, Lubna got the emotional and financial support she needed to graduate in a good way and pursue her dreams of becoming a medical doctor.

“When your entire family is in that situation, it’s hard to find an anchor in the heart, and when everybody’s experiencing that same difficulty, it’s like trying to find a lifeboat when everybody’s drowning. But my Success Coach’s office became my lifeboat.”

My story starts with my mom. She was a single mother raising three of us alone. I always looked up to her; she was my rock and my inspiration. She taught me to strive to be the best version of myself and to positively impact the world, no matter what challenges we face.

One day, everything changed. I went to school like always and I got a call from my sister. The police were at our house, our landlord was there—everyone was there to evict us. I remember hearing my mom crying on the phone, apologizing to me. It was heartbreaking.

We were walking down the street with our duffel bags, sitting in coffee shops, not knowing our next move. It was incredibly hard for my family and those memories are painful to revisit.

Eventually, we found a shelter, where we stayed for about a year. We struggled to find a way to go from subsidized housing into to a very expensive rental market. In grade 10, I spent an hour and a half to two hours commuting daily because didn’t want to switch schools. I was enjoying my time at Beaverbrook too much to leave.

My All In for Youth Success Coach helped me understand that it’s OK to ask for help and support and that it’s OK not to be OK. Before, I lived a very closed-off life, constantly putting on a facade that everything was fine. Her office became a safe space where I could talk about my emotions and feel like a person rather than a case in a shelter.

One of the big ways All In for Youth helped was when I discussed my worries about taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses with my Success Coach. The financial burden of the exams was a concern because I didn’t want to put extra pressure on my family. She listened and found bursaries I could access, offering financial support to take the exams without adding to our family’s financial strain. At the end of high school, I was proud to be the first Muslim Hijabi girl to give the valedictorian speech at Lord Beaverbrook. It was an honour to represent my graduating class and to advocate for diversity. I wanted to show other students like me that their dreams are achievable, no matter how different they might feel.

I’m a Loran Scholar of the 2024 class and will attend McMaster University in the fall to study health sciences. After completing my undergraduate program, I plan to pursue a career in medicine. Looking back, I’m still amazed at how I managed to get through it all. Thanks to All In for Youth, I developed a stronger sense of self, learned to express my emotions and built a better life for myself with the support of my success coach, family and trusted teachers.

In the 2022-23 school year, 2,281 youth received support from 14 Success Coaches in 47 senior and junior high schools across Calgary. This included mental health referrals, food security support and other outreach. All In for Youth and its support for students like Lubna are made possible by community members like you.