Sask Polytech grad Laiken Beliveau received the ‘Outstanding Citizenship’ award. (Submitted photo/Sask Polytech)

By paNOW Staff

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May 30, 2024 | 9:33 PM

If you told Laiken Belliveau four or five years ago that one day she’d be accepting her Sask Polytech diploma after graduating from the Mental Health and Addictions Counsellor program, she never would have believed you.

At that time, Belliveau was in the depths of addiction herself.

It was only after meeting an addictions counselor who had experienced similar struggles that she realized her own strength.

“He just personally changed my life. That’s something that has always been very inspiring to me because I just feel like there’s a lot of good that can come from the bad that I experienced.”

Belliveau is now four years sober and openly shares her journey of addiction and recovery to educate peers and help those in need – just like her counselor had done for her. She’s been an active participant in the Bell Let’s Talk events on campus both this year and last.

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“I just really want to spread kindness and just honest knowledge about addiction and mental health in general,” Belliveau said.

Not only did Belliveau become a Mental Health and Addictions Counsellor, she also received the Outstanding Citizenship Award at the Sask Polytech convocation in Prince Albert Thursday afternoon.

“It just symbolizes a certain level of personal achievement for me,” she said. “To be recognized for something like this…I’m a recovering addict myself, so to go from that to being in school and being successful to getting an award like this, it just shows the power of perseverance and resilience and the strengths that everyone possesses but don’t realize in some dark moments.”

Belliveau is currently completing her practicum and has a casual job working at the Saskatoon Tribal Council Health Centre as an outreach worker. Eventually, she’d like to find full-time employment and also continue to do school part-time.

Sask Polytech Prince Albert convocation at the Art Hauser Centre on Thursday, May 30. (Submitted photo/Sask Polytech)

More than 900 students were invited to attend the 2024 Sask Polytech Prince Albert campus convocation. Sask Polytech currently has a 95 per cent graduate employment rate and 92 per cent Indigenous graduate employment rate. It offers courses on everything from esthetician services to veterinary technology and chemical engineering.

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panow@pattisonmedia.com