Heather Burke, an Aboriginal Student Recruitment Officer with Vancouver Island University, is Métis from the former Red River Settlement. Heather has traveled extensively promoting education in many First Nations, high schools, and at conferences in BC and nationally. She is passionate about assisting the transition to post-secondary for Aboriginal learners interested in pursuing higher education. Heather has a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from VIU and loves blogging, being in nature and practicing yoga.
"I am the first person in my family to get a degree," she says. "I'm proud to say that my VIU experience inspired many of my younger cousins to pursue post-secondary too. Being a BA student at VIU opened my eyes in so many ways to the world, to possibilities I never thought could be available to me. The professors I worked with and the atmosphere at VIU in general helped me see that I could contribute in big ways and it wasn't so much the degree itself that mattered, it was me that mattered. With that knowledge, I had the confidence to apply for jobs with my skill set rather than my parchment. And wow. My career at VIU has allowed me to give back in ways that keep me energized and engaged and ready to explore anything that comes my way."
Read more BA alumni success stories in the ’25 ways to B.A. grad’ series. Twitter Facebook