For ambitious youth like this Pointe St Charles student, Pathways is an accelerator for success
Carter graduated from Pathways Pointe St Charles in 2018. After obtaining his CEGEP diploma in 2021, Carter applied to Concordia University, where he began working towards a bachelor’s degree in Health Kinesiology and Applied Physiology.
Carter was always an ambitious youth, but his drive to continually excel at school, sports, and the arts partly relates to a challenging moment in his life. When he was in the eighth grade, Carter’s mother was diagnosed with a chronic illness. She was no longer able to work, and things were challenging at home. “The year my mom was officially diagnosed and went on disability was tough for me,” Carter recalls. “So I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to only focus on this. I’m just going to do well in school.’ And Pathways helped with that because it was a place to go to other than home.”
With this newfound commitment in mind, Carter used all the resources available to him—including the programming offered at Pathways Pointe St Charles. At Pathways, he did his homework, attended social activities, participated in weekly sports games, and even joined some programming during spring and summer breaks. “It was always quiet at Pathways. At my place, it was kind of busy, it wasn’t super quiet. So, it was nice to go there. And there were tutors, so if I needed help with anything, I could ask.” Carter explains.
With access to these resources, Carter focused on staying on top of his education and career options. He decided to apply to Concordia University’s Health Kinesiology and Applied Physiology program, in which he is now a student. Getting there was quite the accomplishment, and the result of hard work. “From grade nine to the end of high school, I was on the honor roll. My family were very happy and very proud,” Carter recalls. But it’s also a career path that means something special for him. “I would take my mom to physiotherapy, and I got to see how it actually worked and what they did. I got the ‘behind the scenes’ look, and I thought that was very interesting.”
As Carter looks ahead to the future, one thing is sure: he’ll be equipped with the competencies he’s gained throughout high school and the Pathways program, like the ability to be confident, stay organized, face challenges head on and tackle big goals. It all ties back to an experience with a particularly impactful basketball coach Carter met in the program. “He didn’t treat me like a kid or like a teenager. He was like, ‘You’re a young adult, and I’ll treat you as such.’” And in Carter’s case, one thing is clear: he, like so many other Pathways students, was fully deserving of that trust and confidence placed in him.
Carter, like so many other Pathways students throughout Quebec and Canada, was fully deserving of the trust and confidence placed in him. As Pathways expands throughout Quebec, we can’t wait to discover the stories of thousands of future students in the program.
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