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University students prep Surrey youth for life after high school

Empower the Future program offers advice on things like how to deal with financial stress, preparing to enter the workforce and taking care of your mental health.
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Shawna Narayan, 21, right, is executive director of Empower the Future, which aims to help high school students find the resources they need for a smooth transition into higher studies. Elizabeth Wallace, left, is a Grade 12 student at Frank Hurt Secondary school who attended two ETF workshops to prepare herself for what to expect when she attends university this fall. (Photo: Alex Wilks/Now-Leader contributor)

A group of local undergrads are helping Surrey students prepare for the challenges of post-secondary life.

The organization, Empower the Future (ETF) was founded by Shawna Narayan, 21, a fourth-year science student at the University of British Columbia. She serves as ETF’s executive director, aiming to help high school students find the resources they need for a smooth transition into higher studies.

“I have always looked for opportunities myself but I know that there are students that don’t know where to start and may give up when they can’t accomplish something,” Narayan said. “I want to help them with their goal. It’s difficult to navigate through post-secondary life by yourself and we want to help prepare inner-city students who are worried about moving forward with higher education and full-time careers.”

ETF launched in the spring of 2016 at Frank Hurt Secondary School and has since held workshops at Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth and L.A. Matheson Secondary schools.

CLICK HERE for more information on the ETF team.

Narayan, alongside with six others – Anmol Sooch, Joshua Zivny, Ayman Azhar, Hakeem Hussein, Marissa Brooks and Elias Panah – discussed personal problems they experienced during their segue into university.

“I encourage students to be more active in their community, to build and develop skills that they will use towards university and to find the support that they need,” Narayan said.

The workshops are two-hour after-school programs that offer advice on things like how to deal with financial stress and preparing to enter the workforce. This year, the workshops will include discussions about mental health.

“This is an important thing,” she explained.

“Students kept on asking us about it and so we need to address it.”

Narayan said feedback has been encouraging.

“We had a workshop at Frank Hurt Secondary and 97 per cent of the students said they would continue doing a mentorship type of activity like this.”

Elizabeth Wallace, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Frank Hurt Secondary school. She attended two ETF workshops to prepare herself for what to expect when she attends university this fall.

“I feel like looking at the financial aid and planning your budget is really important because a lot of people do stress about that,” Elizabeth said. “University is expensive.”

She added that she learned a lot about how to budget her money and to take care of her mental health.

“Grades are important but now you’re kind of learning it’s important to look after yourself as well because that’s also going to affect your grades.”

For more information on life after high school, you can also visit facebook.com/mentorship4you