Help Kennedy finish PT School

Story

The opportunity to pursue a higher education and build a future and career of your choosing is an ideal held dearly by many Canadians. However, the path to that ideal is often riddled with obstacles, compromises, and challenges difficult to navigate. For many, the solution to the high cost of education is living at home while you finish school, getting student loans or a line of credit, or working a part-time job while trying to maintain good grades. But what happens when these solutions fall short, or don’t exist at all?Kennedy is a healthcare student currently completing her master’s degree in rehabilitative medicine at the University of Alberta. Included in Kennedy’s many achievements in life is getting into one of the most competitive programs in the University, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Kennedy has been living independently since she was fourteen-years-old, paying for rent and all other living expenses on her own. After working throughout high school to support herself, she graduated and began her post-secondary journey. While a full-time student, Kennedy worked up to three jobs simultaneously to make ends meet; this included working as an apprentice mechanic, where she was involved in a severe workplace accident leading to hospitalization and long-lasting mental health conditions. Despite all of the adversity and seemingly insurmountable challenges Kennedy faced, she finished her undergraduate degree with a 4.0 – a perfect GPA.Unfortunately for Kennedy, with just a little over one year left in her journey to pursue her dreams and help others, she may be at the end of the road. She has reached the lifetime limit of student loans and, despite a formal appeal of this decision, does not qualify for additional funds. She has reached out to the University, who is unable to help her except to offer Voluntary Withdrawal from the program. Additionally, her circumstances do not provide her with eligibility for temporary academic leave: meaning she is unable to take a year off and work to save up the necessary funds. She has applied for several scholarships, but to no avail. In addition, three banks have rejected her for a line of credit, citing her student debt as cause; without a co-signer, she is unable to proceed. While acquiring a co-signer may be simple for many people, Kennedy’s past and family history mean this is not an option available to her.Despite her years of perseverance, dedication, and hard work, the systems in place to help students have fallen short for Kennedy. Without financial help, she will not be able to continue in the program. Losing Kennedy from the healthcare system would be not only a great injustice to a woman who has gone so far with so little, but to the thousands of lives she is yet to change through her work. Any amount you can donate will bring her one step closer to achieving her dream and to changing the future of our healthcare system for the better.