Sask Polytech Outstanding Citizenship Winner Hopes to Spread Her Message of Sobriety to Others

When she took the stage Thursday at Saskatchewan Polytech’s graduation at the Art Hauser Centre, Laiken Béliveau received more than a diploma in mental health and addiction counseling.

Béliveau, who is originally from Saskatoon but attends the Prince Albert campus, also received the Outstanding Citizenship Award from Sask Polytech President Larry Rosia.

Béliveau, who herself overcame her addiction, considers this award an accomplishment.

“It feels like a personal accomplishment that I never thought could happen to me,” she said. “I lived my life in addiction for many years and took the wrong path. Receiving this award, for me, just solidifies all the hard work I’ve done to get to where I am , I’m just very proud of myself and honored.

Béliveau is passionate about mental health and has actively participated in Bell Let’s Talk events on campus in 2023 and 2024. She said overcoming her own struggles led her to want to help others.

“I love helping people who have been through similar situations,” she said. “I do community work in Saskatoon, which is my hometown, just handing out supplies, whether it’s hygiene products or winter gloves, socks to people who have been through similar situations. live on the streets and look a bit like the vulnerable population, and just interacting with them there is so much stigma and judgment that I feel like a lot of them don’t receive the kindness or time of day from many people. so I really like having little interactions with them to remind them that they’re human too.

Béliveau was a drug addict for six years before becoming sober. She began using opiates before getting sober. However, she then began using methamphetamine and was an IV user for about a year.

“Opioids, five years, meth a year, and I was able to – I say thanks to Suboxone – stop taking opiates,” she said. “It really saved my life, and then a counselor that I met at one of the institutions that I went to really put things into perspective for me and I credit him for making me understand that Things can be different and I can change.”

Béliveau said she hopes to impact other lives in the same way this counselor impacted hers.

“I would love to be able to give that to just one person, whether that means them doing one small thing in their life that has a big impact or becoming a doctor, getting a degree, whatever,” she said. declared. .

Béliveau currently works at the Saskatchewan Tribal Council Health Center for his job and at the Saskatchewan Impaired Driver Treatment Center as a casual position.

“I work with people who have just gotten out of prison and are completing the three weeks in their treatment center or with people who have been ordered by the court to complete three weeks of treatment,” she said.

“It’s very skills-based, which is great,” she added.

Béliveau openly shares her journey to recovery from addiction, educating her peers and working as an occasional outreach worker at the STC Health Center.

When it comes to her career, however, she’s still thinking about her next steps.

“I’ve been looking and applying wherever there is recruiting right now,” she said. “I don’t necessarily know if I want to take an outreach position or a drug rehab position. I’m just going to try to figure it out as I go and be grateful for any experience I get.

Béliveau, 31, has been sober for five years as of July. She said she felt like she started late in life.

“But I’m still young. I have a lot of time to figure it out,” she said.

“I am grateful for this award (and) grateful to Sask Polytech. It has been an excellent program. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

Béliveau highlighted her program’s instructor Noelle Seidlikoski as someone who really helped her along her journey.

“She really challenged me and I think it really made me come out of my shell and feel more comfortable and confident in the skills that I have. She kind of pushed me and it’s really worked for the way I learn and I enjoy it because I think I’m a better person and a better advisor because of it.

During the graduation ceremony, several other awards were presented. Jennifer Bolds received the Governor General’s Academic Bronze Medal for the highest average in the 12-year adult program at the Prince Albert campus.

Andrew Evan Kuras, a graduate of the Resource and Environmental Law degree program, received the Governor General’s Bronze Medal for the highest average at the Prince Albert campus.

Angela Letendre, a commerce instructor at the Prince Albert campus, was honored for her commitment to teaching. Letendre received the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Teaching Award. In a special gesture to celebrate Indian students, she orchestrated a Holi festival, a traditional Hindu celebration welcoming the arrival of spring. Additionally, Letendre organized engaging learning experiences for her students, such as the Blanket Drill, an interactive educational activity that teaches the history of colonization in Canada.

Sask Polytech has awarded an honorary degree in applied studies to Chief Tammy Cook-Searson of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.

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Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Albert Daily Herald