Ryerson Alumni - Winter 2018 - 16

FEATURES

are put under stress so the next time they
feel this, they'll think, 'I've felt this before,
and I overcame this.'"
For Ajimal, the support was transformative. She left home after her stepfather sexually assaulted her and her mother told her
she was lying. "I didn't trust anybody,"
Ajimal remembers. But the Spanning the
Gaps staff kept calling Ajimal and checking
in. They helped her write the letter to financial aid that explained why she didn't
have parental support, something that
brought back painful, intense emotions.

They showed her "tough love," as she described it, when she made the decision to
take work shifts instead of attending her
classes. "I started to trust them. I felt like
they genuinely cared about my success. I
didn't want to disappoint them."

rom trauma counselling to helping
with housing to addressing learning
disabilities, the Bridges program takes an
intense, 360-degree approach to helping
students succeed. Given what their students

are facing, the strategy is necessary, says
Edwards. The students are often the first in
their family to attend university. For many,
their parents are working two jobs and the
students may also be working to support
younger siblings. In some cases, they have
children of their own. "If you're a single mom,
your energy is going into surviving. You can't
focus on anything else," says Edwards.
To add to the challenge, many students
are also battling trauma and anxiety. "Our
students exhibit a lot of the same traits
as post-traumatic stress," says Edwards.

SPANNING THE GAPS GRADUATES ARE "INCREDIBLE ROLE MODELS."
FROM LEFT: CASE CO-ORDINATOR JANICE PINTO, GRADUATE TALI AJIMAL

AND PROGRAM DIRECTOR O'NEIL EDWARDS.

Ryerson University Magazine / Winter 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ryerson Alumni - Winter 2018