“I think being human, it comes with this mixture of beauty and struggle,” muses Lisa Dumas Neufeld. She grew up in Winnipeg, where she currently lives, and her family is Red River Métis and Mennonite. When it comes to her professional life, she started off as an administrative assistant, then she went back to university when she was 28 to become a teacher. On the side, she writes and speaks.

When Neufeld was a young person, she struggled in school. She had a few teachers she connected with in a meaningful way, but she craved more connection, motivating her to become a teacher herself. Her grandmother was a teacher and every year she would help her set up her classroom. She wanted to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps in becoming an educator.

Being around her, watching and learning from her grandmother was part of her training. “Some of my biggest lessons came through struggle,” Neufeld shares. She went through the ACCESS program through the University of Winnipeg. It's designed for students who didn’t go directly to university after high school and who need more support. She got her bachelor’s degrees and went into the school system and now she’s working on her Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies.

Bridging into Peace and Conflict Studies felt natural to Neufeld, she explains, “I guess I've always been fascinated by peace and conflict on an internal level, those inner battles that we face and the potential for inner peace that we have. I believe that when individuals are at peace within themselves, that's going to come out into society and start to make changes in society in terms of reconciliation, for example.”

Coming into post-secondary, Neufeld faced many barriers. She struggled with complex trauma from being in foster care, and she had a hard time self-regulating and coping in a good way. Learning to reach out for help was challenging. Overcoming these social, emotional and psychological challenges happened gradually but she’s developed tools, supports and coping strategies over time to deal with her struggles. Finances were also a big barrier initially as a single parent but through the ACCESS Program she got some bursaries and scholarships.

Her advice for Indigenous students who are considering leaving their home community to pursue their education is to find a place to connect with others, whether athletic or cultural. Neufeld sees connection as important during challenging times and during times of transition to strengthen vulnerabilities that could crop up because of stressors. Excitement, fears and anxieties can build up during times of transition and having support and personal tools in place help her stay grounded.

When it comes to staying focussed on their goals, her advice would be to find a deep why. Neufeld notes that motivation can fade but discipline keeps going. Contemplating what’s underneath a goal can help with staying focused. “One of my spiritual teachers taught me that anytime I do a healing for myself, I'm healing for my ancestors and for the future generations,” she recalls, thinking of one of her own deep whys.

If Neufeld could share a message with her younger self it would be to look at her current reality, asking “How is my circle? How am I mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually? and recognizing that, because of some of the things that my ancestors experienced, my circle kind of was a bit fragmented or broken…what steps are you willing to take to put that circle back together?” She would also look to be gentle with herself.

As far as inspiration goes, Neufeld realizes she doesn’t want everything to be all about her. She wants to serve others because people helped her when she was in a dark place once. She wants to help heal and she wants to make her grandson’s path more beautiful, vibrant and healthy. She also wants to defy the expectations of those who don’t believe in her. The beauty and struggle she sees in the world motivates her, too, as well as wanting to bring more goodness and beauty into it, wanting to balance it out. In closing, she shares, “Just keep going. If you’re struggling, any improvement is an improvement.”

While she struggled as a student, Lisa Dumas Neufeld came to shine as an educator, inspired by her own challenges and by her talented grandmother. Despite her social, emotional and financial barriers as a single parent with complex trauma, she was still able to pursue her dreams and get her degrees. Now reaching even further to get her Master’s degree, she’s studying Peace and Conflict studies and finding peace of her own.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.