By Caitlin Brezinski

Scholarship helps student balance illness and school

Oct 2, 2014 | 10:32 AM

This school year has been made easier for a Prince Albert student living with Crohn’s disease. 

Freda Sakebow, who is working towards a masters of indigenous social work at the First Nations University of Canada, recently received a $5,000 scholarship through the AbbVie scholarship program.

The program, along with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, helps students living with the disease by providing financial support for their education.   

Sakebow said she came across the program by doing an online search and found out about receiving the scholarship through a phone call.

“It was amazing, it just totally caught me off guard,” she said.

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She said she found out she had Crohn’s disease about seven years ago and her initial reaction was one of shock.

“I had never heard of Crohn’s and then even after being diagnosed and having discussions with specialists, they said it’s rare for First Nations people to get Crohn’s,” she said.

Sakebow said living with Crohn’s disease has been a challenge for her, especially while balancing her education and job.

“It’s extremely frustrating and in the beginning, very … painful and tiring.  Having Crohn’s is tiring in itself,” she said.

Since receiving the scholarship, she said she has been less stressed in her daily life.

“I’m not so pressured to take on extra contracts and earn that extra money to pay for my tuition. So … I can breathe clearly, I can breathe better knowing that I don’t have a financial overcost,” she said.

Since being diagnosed with Crohn’s, Sakebow said she has become more disciplined in her life and her choices.

“I hope that … a healthy lifestyle is contagious to my family members, to my community, and the work that I do,” she said.

Sakebow is happy to have received the scholarship.

“I’m just extremely grateful to be chosen.  I’m very grateful, that I cannot express enough,” she said.

Sakebow said it’s important for people to realize First Nations students have to pay for their post-secondary education because people often tend to assume otherwise.

“I’m just struggling to pay for my education just like everyone else,” she said.

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