Facing academic and financial challenges, this Pathways Verdun alum discovered a community he could count on.
Mohammad recalls how easy it was to make friends in elementary school.
“I’d walk up to people and ask, ‘do you want to be my friend?’ Then I’d count them on my hand: 1, 2, 3, 4 friends. I’d always been that type of person.”
But by the time he reached high school, Mohammad had started to withdraw from others. Witnessing racism and discrimination at school made him feel less hopeful. At home, he saw the hurdles his parents were facing—and how little he could do to help.
“Every expense was a challenge,” says Mohammad. “Things that many people consider minor were a real burden for my family. I wasn’t old enough to work, so everything fell on my parents’ shoulders.”
In Grade 8, Mohammad joined the Pathways Program. He had already participated in after-school programming at Toujours Ensemble, Pathways Verdun’s long-time program partner.
“I started attending because Pathways covered my public transit pass. It might seem like a small thing, but for my family, it was one less worry. One less thing weighing on us.”
Then, little by little, Mohammad discovered the other supports that Pathways offered.
First, there was the Pathways scholarship, which he saw as a way to help his family while he was still too young to work. He learned that for every year he attended the Pathways Program, he would be eligible for $500, up to a total of $2,000 towards postsecondary education or supplies to kick off his career.
“The scholarship made me want to invest more in my studies. Knowing that my efforts would be recognized pushed me to work harder at school.”
Wanting to stay on track and improve his grades, Mohammad started meeting with his support worker Julie. She checked in with him regularly, asking how his day was going and whether anything was getting in the way. Their conversations became a consistent source of support, and Mohammad’s grades in science—one of the subjects he struggled with— slowly climbed from 50s to 80s.
“Having someone to guide me, to explain what I didn’t understand, it changed the way I approached my studies.”
After graduating from high school in 2025, Mohammad started a CEGEP program in accounting but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit. He then pivoted to taking night classes to get his residential real estate broker’s license, while building professional experience during the day.
That decision is paying off. Mohammad recently started an internship at Northbridge Financial, a committed Pathways corporate partner that offers program alumni opportunities to gain valuable professional experience. It’s his sister that pointed Mohammed to this job posting after coming across it in the Pathways alumni newsletter.
He looks forward to returning to CEGEP to study business administration with the added benefit of everything he’s picked up from working at Northbridge.
“I’m learning to network and so much more,” says Mohammad. “One big thing I learned is that you have to follow sports! It’s great common ground that helps you talk to people and get to know them.”
These lessons remind Mohammad of what he learned early on at Pathways: building strong, supportive relationships helps you make the most out of every opportunity.
“Pathways is not just academic support or financial help. It’s the certainty of not being alone.”