Crystal Janvier-Romaniuk is a proud Cold Lake First Nations band member. She grew up in northern Alberta close to her mother's people in Driftpile Cree Nation. At 18, Crystal became a young mother, graduated high school, and was accepted to the University of Alberta. She attended orientation sessions for the U of A when her newborn son was ten days old.

Like many other Indigenous youth, she experienced tremendous struggles such as poverty, institutional racism, intergenerational trauma, and abuse. At one low point in her post-secondary journey, she almost quit school as her son, who was six months old at the time, lost his spot at the daycare, and Crystal had to bring him to classes with her until she could find another daycare.

Crystal did…

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