AEF CAMPAIGN CONNECTION
Of Dreams and Turbines As a child she was in awe of southern Alberta’s turbines. Now, Anastasia Johnson, an Aboriginal university student, is putting the pieces together to build a career in sustainable energy — thanks, in part, to the APEGA Education Foundation/Enbridge Aboriginal Bursary
On a family road trip to Montana, the giant wind turbines standing sentinel in southern Alberta captured the imagination of a young Anastasia Johnson. Staring out the window of the car, she wondered what it would be like to stand beneath those whirling, whirring blades. “I remember being awed by them, they were so huge,” says Ms. Johnson. That image stuck, and today a career in sustainable energy is Ms. Johnson’s dream — a dream she’s well on her way to making happen. This fall, she’ll start her third year as a mechanical engineering student at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering. Her interest in helping the environment stems from her Aboriginal roots. She grew up in the community of Maskwacis on the Samson Cree Nation, about 75 kilometres north of Red Deer, where she was taught respect for the natural world. So her interest in sustainable development — wind energy in particular — comes as no surprise. Ms. Johnson envisions a day when sustainable energy is accessible to all, and she knows that engineers will be at the forefront of making it happen. “We aren’t going to be able to use energy from the oil and gas industry forever. I want to help develop better sustainable energy methods so that we can meet the needs of people living today and protect the integrity of the environment that we live in, so that those who are alive in the years to come have the same quality of life that we have, if not better,” she explains. The APEGA Education Foundation (AEF) and APEGA Permit Holder Enbridge are helping Ms. Johnson become one of the Professional Engineers creating that future. Over the past two years, she’s received two APEGA Education Foundation/Enbridge Aboriginal Bursaries worth $5,000 each. She was the first recipient of the bursary, which was introduced in 2014. Each year, up to two of the bursaries will be awarded to First Nations students from Treaties 6, 7, or 8 who are studying
engineering at the University of Alberta or the University of Calgary. Awards are based primarily on financial need, in addition to non-academic accomplishments. The bursaries have helped Ms. Johnson pay living expenses while she’s away from home studying in Calgary, allowing her to concentrate on her school work without having to worry about how she’ll pay her bills. “I know people who work and go to school, too,” she says. “I don’t know how they do that and do well in school.” She’s grateful for the support of the foundation, her community, and her family, including her dad, Kelly, her mom, Lana, and her three younger siblings. “My family is always behind me, motivating me. I want to do well for them, so all their hard work putting me through school is worth it. And I want to work hard so that I can be a role model for Aboriginal students,” says Ms. Johnson. In Alberta, only about 44 per cent of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students graduate from high school within the usual three years, says a 2014 report released by Alberta Education. Of those who do earn their diploma, an even smaller percentage go on to attend university. Many of Ms. Johnson’s friends graduated from high school and have remained on the reserve, where young people are faced with high unemployment rates and other socioeconomic challenges. That’s why she believes so strongly in the importance of encouraging Aboriginal youths to explore post-secondary options — especially engineering. Most of the young people she talks to from Maskwacis aren’t aware of the work engineers do to improve the quality of life in communities. On reserves, she points out, Professional Engineers can make a difference by finding solutions to ongoing challenges related to infrastructure issues like housing and water safety. “I think it will help our community grow and be healthier if more kids explore post-secondary education and do what they can to help make their community a better place,” says Ms. Johnson.
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