He will soon fulfill a long-held dream of college, too, with a full course at UBC through the $ 80,000 Centennial Scholarship. He is also a recipient of TD Community Leadership, Terry Fox and Beedie Luminaries scholarships. For Shkur, getting to this point is “surreal.” If she had stayed in her homeland, life would have been very different. Hailing from Kurdistan – an area covered by Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Armenia – she was told she could not go to school. “There are also obviously different types of barriers, such as gender-based harassment in education,” Shkur said. That’s why the family uprooted their lives in search of better opportunities in North America. “I just smile because it’s like a dream come true for me. “These are all things I have worked for all my life,” Shkur told CTV News. CTV News first met Shkur and her family when they were just 12 years old, shortly after their arrest at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in an attempt to seek asylum. The family had previously lived in the United States for a year, but after President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning travel from seven countries, including Iraq, they feared deportation. They first tried to cross the border into Ontario, where Shkur was tasked with asking, “Can we apply for asylum?” “I remember memorizing exactly this line because I did not speak English,” he explained. They were rejected because of the safe third country rule, which allowed officials to reject their application as they were already living in the United States. But they did not feel safe living under Trump, so a year later, they tried again, this time illegally crossing the Arch of Peace. Days later, they were ordered deported, but with the help of a lawyer, they were able to obtain permanent residence for humanitarian and compassionate reasons. When they arrived in Canada, it was a family of four. Now, Shkur has another younger sister, who is only three. During their stay in British Columbia, Shkur prospered in her community and at Vancouver Secondary School Britannia. He founded The Ripple Effect, a non-profit organization that helps disseminate information on humanitarian issues around the world. She is also an ambassador for the Brittania Secondary School for the Girls Can Talk Society, which helps create an environment for girls to empower themselves and talk freely about issues in their communities. He is also the president of the student council. With all the extracurricular activities, he still manages to do it with 97 percent on average. Her plan is to finish her degree in four years and then apply for medical school. “I am just happy to be here. “And I look forward to being able to become a doctor and a surgeon and be able to give further feedback to this community, to this country,” he said. She and her family are in the process of becoming Canadian citizens.
