This is the nineteenth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Jillian McCue

I first met Jillian in April 2013. During the election campaign a number of meet and greets were hosted throughout the riding. On this particular evening, we rented the Saanich Fusion clubhouse on Tyndall Road to provide a venue for Gordon Head residents to raise and discuss issues of their choice. Mid way through the evening, a nine-year-old girl entered the clubhouse and asked me if I could ask the audience to sign her petition. I had no idea who she was and I was of course a little leery so I asked the young girl what it was for. She explained that she wanted to petition Saanich to allow miniature goats in back yards like in Seattle. I was impressed by her passion and commitment and offered Jillian McCue the floor to pitch her cause to the crowd. By the time that she was done, every single person in the room had signed the petition. I had no idea that two years later this remarkable young girl would likely realize her dream. After presenting to Saanich Council and subsequently three of its advisory committees, last week Saanich’s Environment and Natural Areas Advisory Committee, chaired by Councillor Dean Murdock, recommended that a feasibility study be conducted and that a pilot project be set up in Jillian’s back yard!

Jillian is a Grade 6 student at Gordon Head Middle School. She is the youngest of 5 children in her family, with three older brothers and one older sister. Jillian has loved playing soccer since age 7 and will be playing in the Under 13 (Gold) division in the fall – the first year playing on the full size field. She also loves gymnastics and cross-country running.

Jillian is an 11 year old who has for over two years now embarked on a mission. Few youth her age are as engaged as Jillian is in her community and especially in municipal politics. She became keenly interested in miniature goats as pets at the age of nine after she was introduced to two backyard-dwelling goats that belonged to family friends who lived in San Bernardino, California. Jillian, who appropriately was born in the Year of the Goat, took an instant liking to the goats and thought it would be wonderful to have a goat or two in her own back yard. Discovering that Saanich municipal by-laws did not permit the keeping of goats in urban areas, Jillian set out to change that.

Jillian did her homework and undertook her own research. She learned that Seattle City Council had approved keeping miniature goats as pets in 2007. An article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted that “female and neutered goats do not generate significant odors”. Wanting to test this for herself, Jillian embarked upon her own scientific research with the “Goat Poo Smell Study”. The driving questions for her research were:

1) Do Victoria residents find that dog poo is more smelly than miniature goat poo?
2) How much more or less smelly is dog poo than miniature goat poo?

and her hypothesis was that goat poo did not smell as bad as dog poo.

Participants in the study (32 in total) rated from 1 to 5 (a Likert Scale) the smelliness of two bags (bag A or bag B) of unidentified droppings (one was from a dog; the other from a goat). Her survey data confirmed her hypothesis. On average, dog droppings smelled twice as bad as goat droppings. The survey was done at an ideal location – Beacon Hill Petting Zoo, a place Jillian loves to visit and play with the miniature goats.

Armed with her research study, a pro-goat petition signed by 132 people in her neighbourhood (including me from that April 2012 event) and a well put together powerpoint presentation that demonstrated her knowledge about goats, Jillian headed to a Saanich Council meeting in May of this year. Her thoroughly researched and powerful presentation addressed the common misconceptions concerning miniature goats; it also detailed the positive aspects of having backyard goats in urban areas. Jillian easily handled questions posed to her by Councillors after her presentation. After further deliberations,  Saanich Council referred the matter to three committees. Jillian had her work cut out for her in the lead up to the three additional presentations she gave in June.

Two years after undertaking this mission, Jillian has learned a tremendous amount about goats and municipal politics. She has met with elected politicians, learned how to execute a petition, conducted research, learned to give persuasive presentations to council and committees and garnered considerable media attention. Television, radio and newspapers all picked up the story, including CTV (twice), CHEK (twice), CBC, CFAX, Ocean 98.5, Times-Colonist and Saanich News. Having to give ten media interviews following an appearance before Saanich Council would be a daunting task for most adults, let alone an 11 year old, but Jillian handled it like a pro. She won’t give up and pledges to persevere with the hope for a positive outcome from Saanich at an upcoming Council meeting.

We were not surprised when Jillian told us she “always puts her hand up in class” and “likes public speaking and talking to adults”. Apparently, it takes her a long time to deliver papers on her paper route because she frequently stops and talks to people in their gardens along the way.

Jillian’s numerous other activities including babysitting (she has completed the babysitter training course), volunteering her time to help serve homeless people in the community and participating in fundraising events for Hospice and the Cancer Society. In one cancer campaign she shaved her head and raised over $1,000.00 by going door to door in her neighbourhood. Shortly after shaving her head, she was in the city finals for cross country and was mistaken for a boy and placed in the wrong chute – placing her in 58^th place when she actually came in 2^nd in her girl’s age category race. As the photo to the left illustrates, this was somewhat confusing for Jillian when she received her 58th place participation paper (instead of a 2nd place ribbon), but it all got worked out and, once again, she handled herself with maturity (and good humour).

Jillian loves to create videos and continues to develop her video-editing skills. She has her own website and YouTube channel where, for example, you can see her present an instructional video on how to bake Apple Crisp or her Easy Chocolate Cake. Jillian loves cooking and I must say, she is a great cook! When she heard about me breaking my nose (by walking into a glass window while texting!) she dropped by my house with some of Jillian’s home-baked chocolate cupcakes. Yum!

I guess that’s what’s special about Jillian. She is mature beyond her years. She is thoughtful and compassionate. She is determined and confident. And, she is just a wonderful kid. When asked what her dream job would be in the future, she almost immediately responded (in order) “a soccer player, Prime Minister or a singer”. After watching Jillian navigate the complexities of municipal politics we’re convinced that her determination, skills and ability to take on big challenges, could allow her to achieve all three.

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This is the eighteenth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Ella Van Cleave

Ella is an articulate young woman with a tremendous passion for marine life and their ocean home. What’s remarkable is that Ella has already accomplished so much yet she only graduates from high school next month. When we met her for coffee to interview her for this series, she impressed us as a very bright, dedicated, yet unassuming, young activist, mature well beyond her years.

Ella was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and moved to Victoria when she was in Grade 5. She attended Glenlyon Norfolk School from Grade 5 to Grade 10, then went to Oak Bay High School for Grade 11 and is currently at Glenlyon Norfolk in her graduating year. In addition to being an outstanding student, Ella has distinguished herself as a gifted debater. She has been debating since Grade 7 and has received numerous awards at tournaments. This past year, she and her debating partner won both the Oak Bay High School Golden Gnome and Newman-FISA debating tournaments, with Ella placing as top speaker at the latter.  Other debating successes include those obtained at the Vancouver Island Regional Debate Tournament where she won 3^rd place as an individual speaker in 2011 and 2^nd place as an individual speaker in 2012 and 2013. At the UBC High School Debate Tournament, Ella placed 3^rd as an individual speaker in 2013 and she was part of a debating team that took 3^rd place in 2014.

There is no doubt her extensive debating experience has helped Ella become a talented public speaker. She was the keynote speaker at the Glenlyon Norfolk Change Conference at her school in 2011 and has spoken at many conferences since then. Ella was the Co-Chair of the Change conference at her school in 2013. Also in 2013, Ella was Assistant Volunteer Coordinator at the Powershift BC conference, where she gave a workshop on sustainable living.

When Ella heard Fabian Cousteau (grandson of Jacques Cousteau) give a presentation in Victoria, she asked him a question and had a chance to talk to him afterward. This led to Ella being asked to give a TedX talk. At the age of only 14, Ella was a featured speaker at the 2011 TedX event in Victoria. There she identified herself as a “teenage activist” and spoke passionately and knowledgeably about the plight of cetaceans, particularly dolphins and whales who are exploited and kept captive in entertainment facilities. Ella related the extreme stress that these animals are under, from the time of their capture through their life in captivity, which can never replicate their natural habitat. Ella’s impressive TedX presentation can be viewed here.

Ella’s interest in ocean conservation and cetaceans has led her to be involved in some significant projects. Through contact with film makers Richard and Lincoln O’ Barry who created “The Cove”, an Oscar-winning documentary about the dolphin hunt in Japan, Ella was introduced to the Dolphin Project, which is a campaign under the International Marine mammal project at the non-profit Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, California. Ella is a youth ambassador and writer for the Dolphin Project and she plans to create a youth section for the project, with an education curriculum and activism toolbox to get youth engaged in this important issue.

Ella started diving when she was in Grade 8 and received her diving certification in Australia. She plans to obtain her Rescue Diver certification and work on a Master Diver’s certificate once she turns 18. She describes herself as a child of nature and she has loved the ocean as long as she can remember. She is passionate about diving and has had the opportunity to do underwater filming. Ella was invited to work with biologist and deep-sea explorer Sylvia Earle and MacGillvray Freeman Films and said “it was the coolest thing I’ve ever done”. She is involved in another film project in 2016 with MacGillvray Freeman Films Inc and the One World One Ocean Campaign that addresses the urgent need to address ocean conservation. Ella was fortunate to be invited to Key Largo, Florida, where she was able to dive to the underwater research lab and do some filming for the project.

Ella has become part of an activist network that she describes as “the most genuine group of people”. She finds that the support of a strong network is critical when you are taking on difficult issues and fighting for what you believe in.

In the future, Ella sees herself doing scientific research “on the things I care about”, which relate primarily to ocean conservation. Ella has recently been offered an impressive scholarship to attend Quest University near Squamish, BC. She’s thrilled and excited to be joining their liberal arts undergraduate program offered on a 60 acre hilltop campus near Garibaldi Provincial Park. The Quest program includes taking one class at a time, in a very intensive format over a period of 3.5 weeks. Ella’s goal is to enter the field of marine science or oceanography, to further her work in ocean conservation.

Ella’s communication skills are exceptional; her enthusiasm is infectious; her passion for marine conservation is unwavering. It probably comes as little surprise to know that we’re convinced Ella will fulfill her dreams however they may evolve. And one thing is for sure — we’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the years to come.

This is the seventeenth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Lizzie Bomford

I first met Lizzie briefly at the Democracy in Action Youth Conference in Victoria on October 28, 2014. Within minutes of chatting with her I recognized that she was an incredibly talented, articulate and motivated young woman. She immediately struck me as just the type of inspirational young person that Judy Fainstein and I try to feature in our Celebrating Youth in our Community series. On November 21, just a few weeks later we arranged to interview Lizzie at my constituency office. To say we were impressed with Lizzie’s passion for politics and democracy, as well as her long list of accomplishments, would be an understatement.

Lizzie was nominated by Mount Doug’s principal and subsequently selected as one of only thirty BC youth leaders to attend the Democracy in Action Conference sponsored by the Rotary Club. It was a pilot initiative of the BC Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, where youth were provided with an opportunity to meet government leaders, learn about the electoral process and the operations of government. Vicki Huntington the Independent MLA from Delta South and I were honoured to speak with the thirty leaders of tomorrow and were profoundly impressed by the engaging discussions that ensued.

Lizzie was born in Victoria and moved to Port Alberni at age three. There she attended Wood Elementary School, followed by École E. J. Dunn Middle School where she was schooled in French Immersion from Grades 6 to 8. In March 2011, Lizzie applied to the Mt. Doug Challenge Program for Gifted and Talented Students. The application process included a three-hour exam. Lizzie had done her research and determined that Mt. Doug’s Challenge Program was the best fit for her. Needless to say she was accepted. At the age of just fourteen, she packed her bags and moved to Victoria to live with a family member so that she could start the challenge program in grade nine.  Lizzie has thrived at Mt. Doug and has immersed herself into so many aspects of her high school, that it would be hard to cover all her activities – and there are so many.

Lizzie has maintained a high academic standing throughout high school. Her academic load in Grade 12 includes Advanced Placement Physics, Pre-Calculus and Calculus, Chemistry and English Challenge. In addition to academic excellence, Lizzie has taken on many leadership roles in the school. She currently serves at Prime Minister in the school’s Student Council (one of three “Tri-Ministers”), which is modeled on the Provincial Legislature. Lizzie is a natural born leader with a talent for pubic speaking. This is her third year on Student Council. In Grade 11, she was Co-Minister of Environment and in Grade 10 she was Junior Minister of Environment.

Lizzie was a founding member of the Mt. Doug Model United Nations Club. She is very interested in international politics and works hard to hone her public speaking and debating skills. At a Model Commonwealth Conference at St. Michaels University School in October 2014, Lizzie represented New Zealand.

Lizzie’s other school club involvement includes the Youth Combating Intolerance Club and she was a founding member of the Mt. Doug Club Council, which was started in September 2014. When asked what makes her upset, Lizzie immediately, and without hesitation responded “Bill 2“. She informed us about her recent visit to the legislature and watching Question Period and the debate on Bill 2 — Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act. There she recalled feeling outraged at the government’s singular focus on LNG and their dismantling of greenhouse gas emissions control legislation. She described a passionate exchange between two students who were wondering “is there anything we could do?” On the lighter side, when asked what makes her happy, Lizzie offered “waking up early at 5am to watch Disney Movies” and, oddly, Broccoli!

Athletic endeavors are a big part of Lizzie’s school life and she has joined several school teams at Mt. Doug. She was on school volleyball and curling teams in Grade 9. Since Grade 10, Lizzie has been a member of the Cheerleading Team and this year she is the Team Captain. When she joined cheerleading, she did so because “my friends bet me I couldn’t, so I decided to prove them wrong”. Although she told us “everything I do starts as a joke”, it is clear that Lizzie puts heart and soul into her athletic endeavors and her hard work pays off. After only 2 months on the cheerleading team, Lizzie broke two ribs during practice, but she persevered and her dedication has led to her becoming team captain. She loves the team bonding and appreciates that she has learned so much from the experience. She loves to see her teammates and especially the younger cheerleaders improve, recognizing that the “team is more important than me”.

With the same enthusiasm and dedication, Lizzie has been a member of Mt. Doug’s Track and Field Team since April 2013. “I took to the hammer throw event immediately” upon giving it a try, after joining the track team “so I could do stuff with my friends”. She has become a formidable competitor in hammer throw, discus and shot put, placing very well in BC High School Track and Field Championships. Her best result in the provincial meet was 3^rd place in hammer throw in 2014 (with an impressive distance of 48 meters, 26 centimeters). Within 16 months of taking up the hammer throw, Lizzie placed 5th nationally in her age category. To achieve this success, Lizzie  spent 8 hours per week at practicing and 4 hours per week in weight training.

Not surprisingly, with her enthusiasm and outgoing nature, Lizzie loves volunteering as the school mascot — the Mount Doug Ram — which she has done since arriving at Mt. Doug in 2011.

After hearing a presentation about Our Place Society in 2012, Lizzie decided to become a volunteer there. Through this experience, she has had her eyes opened up to the societal impact of poverty and homelessness. “I could have said no, this is too hard for me to do, but I didn’t, I went back” and this volunteering has become an important part of her life.

In terms of career plans, Lizzie has a very clear vision of where she is headed in the future. In her own words:

“In the near future I would like to pursue post secondary education, studying either physics or mathematics as well as political sciences. Afterwards, I would like to begin a career in politics, starting first as an intern at the BC Legislature. Later I would like to begin running as an independent. If I should get into office I would like to push for increased funding to low cost housing, better work placement programs and better rehabilitation and drug prevention programs. To do this I believe education is the place to begin.”

Lizzie has tremendous drive, passion and is highly motivated to succeed. She is a powerful and articulate communicator who is not afraid of stepping up into a leadership role. For example, when she wanted to learn more about politics and the workings of the Legislature, she organized a field trip for the Mt. Doug Leadership class. She followed up by inviting me to participate in a broader discussion with the many leadership students at Mount Doug who were unable to participate in the tour.

Lizzie is destined for greatness. She is a leader with a vision. A vision that so many find easy to rally behind. Thank you Lizzie for inspiring those around you.

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Match: dash and others.   <scr” +=”” “ipt=””> dash1 (dăsh) v., dashed, dash·ing, dash·es.v.tr. To break or smash by striking violently. To hurl, knock, or thrust with sudden violence. To splash; bespatter. To write hastily. Often used with off: dashed off a note to the dean. To drink hastily. Often used with down: dashed down a glass of milk. To add an enlivening or altering element to. To affect by adding another element or ingredient to: ice cream that was dashed with rum. To destroy or wreck: Our dreams were dashed. See synonyms at blast. To confound; abash. v.intr. To strike violently; smash. To move with haste; rush: dashed to the door. n. A swift, violent blow or stroke: knocked the books to the floor with an impatient dash of his hand. A splash. A small amount of an added ingredient: a dash of sherry. A quick stroke, as with a pencil or brush. A sudden movement; a rush: made a dash for the exit. Sports. A footrace, usually less than a quarter-mile long, run at top speed from the outset. A spirited quality in action or style; verve. See synonyms at vigor. Either of two symbols, an emdash or an endash, used in writing and in printing. In Morse and similar codes, the long sound or signal used in combination with the dot and silent intervals to represent letters or numbers. A dashboard. [Middle English dashen, probably of Scandinavian origin, akin to Danish daske, to beat.] dash2 (dăsh) tr.v., dashed, dash·ing, dash·es. To damn. [Alteration of DAMN.] © Houghton Mifflin Company Copyright © 2014 Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use   Privacy Policy   IP Notices   Disclaimer

This is the sixteenth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Robert MacDonald

During the 2012/2013 academic year, Claremont High School established an innovative new educational program through its Institute for Global Solutions. As noted on the Saanich School District (SD63) website, the Institute provides a “project-based curriculum [that is] designed to equip students with tools and experiences to address the unprecedented environmental and humanitarian challenges of the 21st century –from poverty reduction to climate change and urbanization to sustainable energy.” Now in its 3rd year, the Institute for Global Solutions draws students from across the Capital Regional District to Claremont. Robert MacDonald is one of those students.

In October of last year, I gave a presentation to one of the Global Studies classes at Claremont. As I was leaving the class I bumped into Robert, a confident and articulate young man who teacher Mark Neufeld remarked, “you have got to meet”. Mark proceeded to describe how Robert was recently elected president of the Claremont student council but subsequently declined citing another candidate as a better choice. Needless to say, my curiosity was piqued. And so, Judy Fainstein and I decided to interview Robert to learn more about this remarkable young man.

Now in his Grade 12 year, Robert grew up in Victoria and attended Cordova Bay Elementary and Royal Oak Middle School.  In addition to excelling academically, Robert is involved in a diverse array of other activities including, but not limited to, musical theatre, the Pursuit of Excellence Program (which he terms “the club for keeners” and is linked to the Duke of Edinburgh award program) and student government.

As alluded to above, Robert had a fascinating foray into student government. He joined three other students in seeking the presidency of school council as he believed that “there were a number of issues at school [that] were not being addressed.” One was the lack of change room space for the Claremont Sports Institute of Excellence and their highly regarded lacrosse program. Another involved his concern over declining school spirit; one of his ideas was to revamp the school house system.

During their election campaign, candidates were required to make separate speeches to students in each of grades nine through twelve. Robert recognized that in order to win, he needed to offer a unique speech — one that differentiated himself from his competitors — that was catered to each grade. He chose to use humour in his delivery, admitting that some of his jokes stirred up a fair amount of controversy. After his second speech, Robert had what he described as a “crisis of conscience”. He realized that he’d crafted his speeches with what he thought students wanted to hear, not what he wanted to say. After some reflection, he took a different approach in his speeches to the Grades 11 and 12 classes. This time he focused on praising the positions and views of all candidates and went so far as to suggest that students explore their merits as well prior to voting. But in the end, Robert won the election because of his exceptionally strong performance in the Grades 9 and 10 polls. Robert felt that he had won for all the wrong reasons and that the student in second place “deserved it more than me”. He worked hard to eventually convince her to accept the role and Robert is now content serving as her Vice President.

Claremont’s Institute for Global Solutions is a perfect fit for Robert. He’s described by Mark Neufeld, a founding teacher of the program, as a “very clever student that challenges himself and his teachers. He questions the world around him and seeks solutions. He has great potential to be a major contributor to our transition to a clean energy future”. Robert says he is inspired by Mr. Neufeld and adds, “I think like him and see the need for big changes in this world”.

Robert loves acting and musical theatre and has performed in school productions of Legally Blond, 42^nd Street and most recently as 2nd male lead in Grease playing “Kenickie”, where he had a solo performance of the song “Greased Lightning”. He’s also extremely active in sports, including snowboarding, cross country, race walking (finishing 10th in the Provincial Championships last year) and this year he has started curling on the school team. He describes himself as very social in nature and enjoys spending time with friends.

Ever since he was young, Robert’s family has acted as a host for a diversity of international students. These incredibly positive experiences inspired him to become involved in the school’s International Student Peer Advisors Club; last year he was its president. Club members assist international students academically and coordinate events and gatherings to help them fully integrate into the school community, tasks that Robert finds particularly rewarding.

Outside of school, Robert belongs to the Vancouver Island Pointing Dog Club. His family raises Brittany Spaniels and he enjoys the occasional outing to go bird hunting. He lists his hobbies as running, snowboarding and ice skating (his father used to perform in the Ice Capades and is still active in the local skating community). Robert somehow manages to also hold down a part time job as a Sales Associate at Peppers Grocery.

Robert has his sights set on becoming a politician sometime in the future because “I want to change the system”. And Robert has a plan to get there. To commence he will obtain an undergraduate degree in political science and economics. Then he will study for a degree in law so that he can start his own corporate law practice “with a cool lobby”. He has already identified intellectual property law as a primary area of interest. He wants to start off in Toronto, work on Bay Street, subsequently practice in New York and earn a good salary. Yet Robert wants to eventually return to Victoria. He is a man with a plan. When asked why he wants to become a lawyer Robert immediately quipped “I gotta get into law school as I want five kids”.

During the summer of 2014, Robert attended a 3-week youth summer program at the University of Toronto, where he learned about corporate law, civil litigation and criminal law. He really enjoyed staying in student residence at university and having the opportunity to visit the Ontario Provincial Court. He told us “Toronto opened my eyes to possibilities for the future”.

In his somewhat casual manner and with his self-deprecating, yet infectious, sense of humour, Robert told us confidently that his life goal was to “make the news” and “take the panhandle back for BC”. Not sure what he meant by the latter, Robert explained that the Alaskan Panhandle was historically part of Canada (and has been the subject of dispute since 1821).

Robert impressed us as an honest, forthright and ambitious young man. He says his friends would describe him as eccentric and non-conformist. But we would describe him as passionate, innovative, creative and a future leader — someone with a sense of direction and purpose. We’re confident that Robert will continue to challenge societal norms and endeavour to break down barriers to change. He’ll make an outstanding ambassador for Claremont’s Institute for Global Solutions and mark our words, we’ll be reading about him on the front page of the Globe and Mail in the not too distant future.

This is the fifteenth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Liticia Gardner

This past November hardly a day went by without the protest against Trans Mountain drilling on Burnaby Mountain making the news headlines. While many of us sat at home wondering what we could do to show our support for the Burnaby protestors, Liticia was on the front lines. Just two months earlier, upon listening to a passionate, inspirational and motivating speech on Burnaby Mountain, given by Mayor Derek Corrigan, Liticia realized that she could no longer stand by and watch from the sidelines. She had to become involved in local efforts to stop the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. And so Liticia joined the SFU Activist Network on Facebook and began volunteering her time sitting vigil at the blockade that had recently been set up.

Liticia was born in Kamloops, BC and moved to Victoria when she was eight. She attended James Bay Elementary, Central Middle School, Oak Bay High School and graduated from Reynolds Secondary where she was awarded “Top Psychology Student” in 2012. Like so many of the inspirational youth we have been featuring over the past year, Liticia was extremely active in extracurricular activities during her high school years. For example, while in Grade 12, Liticia started the Best Buddies program at Reynolds, after volunteering as a Best Buddy at Oak Bay High from 2010 to 2012.

Some of her other activities at Oak Bay High included organizing a school wide composting program and helping to organize the annual Rubber Ducky Race in Bowker Creek with the schools’ Environment Club. In 2011, Liticia competed in the Youth Philanthropy Initiative and was part of a group of students that achieved a $5,000 grant for the Victoria Youth Clinic, a not-for-profit primary heath care service for youth aged 12 to 24 years.

Liticia is also accomplished in soccer, which she started playing when she was 5 years old. She continues to play in intramural leagues at Simon Fraser University (SFU), where she began university this past September, having previously played competitively on the Bays United Gold Under 18 girls team and with the Lakehill Division 1 Women’s team.

In addition to soccer, Liticia is an avid scuba diver. In April 2013, she was certified with the Open Water certificate in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico while on a trip visiting Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. She immediately fell in love with diving and subsequently participated in ten dives while in Mexico, including two dives in underwater caverns (termed cenotes). Liticia was in awe with the diversity and beauty of the ocean life she witnessed during her numerous reef dives. She plans to undertake her first cold-water dive in Victoria some time this winter.

Following high school, Liticia attended Camosun College for two years. There she took university transfer courses and achieved the Dean’s List status in Winter 2013 with an A+ average. Not surprisingly, Liticia was awarded a Ken Caple College Transfer Entrance Scholarship to SFU where she is currently majoring in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, with a minor in Geography.

In her heart, Liticia is an activist and an advocate for a number of important social justice and environmental issues, viewing them through a lens of anti-oppression. When asked what caring about social justice meant to her, she immediately responded, “fighting for more equity as opposed to simply fighting for equality”. Liticia is outgoing and passionate and is committed to raising broader public awareness of the fact that some people inherently do not have the same access to much of what many of us take for granted. And she is not afraid to take direct action when she believes advocacy is needed.

While at Camosun, Liticia was a member of the Psychology Club and the Women’s Centre. As a member of the University of Victoria Anti-Violence Project, she participated in 40 hours of training on sexualized violence and how to support both targets and perpetrators of violence. Currently working as a volunteer with SFU’s Women’s Centre, Liticia has been involved in the creation of “Safe(r) Places” at the university, where people can come to a safe space to openly discuss issues. She also initiated and runs a “radical mental health group” through Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), hosting bi-weekly meetings on topics around mental health and well being.

Liticia likes to “think outside of the normal”. She cares deeply about issues related to equity, oppression and mental health. Inspired by poet Maya Angelou, whom she describes as “the most eloquent person I have ever heard”, Liticia urged us to listen to Maya recite her poem And Still I Rise. We did and we too were inspired.

Liticia was profoundly affected by the demonstrations on Burnaby Mountain. It was a daily ritual for her to spend time at the blockade, not only reading and doing homework, but also supporting other activists by providing tea, food and access to showers. She told us that “every day was really different” on the mountain; some days were “really empowering” while others were “somber” or “depressing”. She described time when there was a general mood of hopelessness when people “felt the only thing you could do was cross the line”. Liticia was so committed to the blockade that when she learned via text that Kinder Morgan was on site and starting to drill, she “ran all the way across campus and down a muddy path” to immediately take her place at the blockade. Liticia was frequently pictured in media reports standing on the front lines of the blockade. While she saw many of her friends get arrested, she herself did not cross the police line.

Liticia credits her mother with teaching her about “resiliency, hard work and perseverance”. She describes her mother as the “epitome of resiliency”. Liticia was born when her mother Alyshia was only 17 and “we went through a lot together”. Alyshia returned to school after Liticia was born, earning a nursing degree with distinction. For the past year, Liticia has helped her mother with her business Nurse Next Door, handling Human Resources for the business. We quickly recognized that Alyshia has clearly been the most influential person in Liticia’s life. But Liticia also credits Lucas Crawford, a professor in Gender Studies at SFU, as “one of the people who have put a lot of time into me”.

Committing herself to environmental issues will be a life-long pursuit for Liticia. Of this she is certain. Liticia noted that the environment is where Indigenous issues, women’s issues, as well as issues of social class and social justice all come together. Her long-term goal is to become a university professor, undertaking teaching and research in Gender Studies. And when she undoubtedly accomplishes this goal, she’ll inspire a new generation of youth to work towards the betterment of society. Of this, we are certain.