“I had to take a break from social work due to the stressful experience of being in a social work environment 24/7 — well maybe not 24/7 — but a lot. When you’re in that environment quite a bit — for volunteering and school — you’re exposed to negative experiences such as people passing, you see people OD’ing in your life, the Downtown Eastside. It’s especially hard when those people are young. I heard about career work available in food or paper. I did some paper — bringing paper documents to offices around the city — then changed to doing food, which is working for an app like DoorDash or UberEats. And now, I’ve been doing this for a while but I plan on going back [to school].”

“What drew you to social work?”

“Possibly [becoming] an orphan at 10 years old, having my parents die within the same year. It gave me more empathy for people in those situations who don’t have parents, extended family, or monetary support. Luckily I had that, so I was a very privileged kid; being an orphan but also having my grandparents. But I’ve met a lot of people that were former youth-in-care — that’s the way the government refers to us when it comes to offering programs and different things — and I took a liking to it. Because of my privilege, I felt like I had a duty to fulfill. Even though some would say I’m not privileged due to being an orphan and having a lot of messed up things happen in my life, I feel as though I [am]. I graduated high school and I got into UBC. Doing that is rare [for] someone in my position.

“Privilege is a very complex topic. I think privilege is how you’ve been taught, how your values, beliefs and rituals fit together and make you who you are in society. That, accompanied by the monetary support that you have. If you can have all those things that amount to a healthy lifestyle, and a spot in society that is respected, where you feel respected, and where you fit in. I feel like that is privilege.”