When it comes to making people feel better, Jacqueline Arey dreams of using her gift of touch. She is from Inuvik and her family is from Aklavik. She moved to Saskatoon so her mom could pursue her education. For the past two decades, Arey has been living in Edmonton and Inuvik.  She’s attending MaKami College in Edmonton’s Advanced Clinical Massage Therapy program.

While she was initially timid of going back to school, Arey’s loving the supportive environment. Massage therapy was a natural choice for her when she saw how much her brother enjoyed and benefited from massage therapy during his cancer treatments. As someone who is very much a helper, she wants to bring her skills to the North to help people on their journeys for their physical and mental wellness.

The program is a two-year condensed offering so there is a lot of studying Arey has to do to reach her goal. While it’s a lot of hard work, she’s found the experience to be fun. It’s 800 hours more than most programs and includes many skill based workshops to ensure she’s comfortable to jump into her new career. The depth of anatomy is intense yet still enjoyable. At her age, going back to school has been challenging, but she’s received a lot of support to help her through.

Arey’s advice for Indigenous students considering leaving their home communities to pursue their education is to connect with peer support so they feel less alone. She also suggests staying in contact with their families once they have reached their destinations and get down to the hard work of working towards their dreams. She recommends doing your research before arriving in a new community to be well-prepared.

Coming from a small community surrounded by people you know, whether it’s family or friends, it can be hard to find support in the city but Arey suggests reaching out and looking around for the help you need. She found that there are local support groups that can be helpful and at some schools there are supports that can help with practical things like bringing schoolwork when students are sick.

When it comes to obstacles, Arey found the hardest part was taking that first step in getting started on her education. “It's always going to be nerve wracking going into something but once you take that first step, it just gets easier and easier,” she explains. With the right support and by taking baby steps in the beginning, she was able to find her way towards her goals.

If Arey could share a message with her younger self, it would be, “Just start it, stick with it. Education is a journey, and there's always going to be a destination behind every step that you take and if you want to be somewhere big, then just take that first big step and you won't regret it.”

To balance her mental health and wellbeing, Arey tries to make it fun. She learns best by repetition and creating habits. Saying things out loud, doing them physically and writing them down, she’s tried everything to see what works best when she’s studying. She’s seen other students take all sorts of different approaches to learning but she’s figured out what is the best way for her..

As far as what is inspiring her on her journey, Arey is motivated to help her people, by doing good for others, whether that’s cooking or just being there. Massage therapy is just another way she can be there for people. “I know going through everything that's going on in life today, everybody needs that stress relief and mental wellness and it's very encouraging,” she beams, thinking of how she will be able to contribute as a massage therapist. Eager but nervous, she’s taking it one day at a time.  To inspire others, Arey says, “Just take that first step, and don't wait until you're old. Even then, at any age, education is beneficial. So take that first step.”

Dreaming of making people feel better with her gift of touch, Jacqueline Arey is getting ready to give back as a massage therapy student.  Seeing how massage soothed her brother as he was going through cancer treatment inspired her to pursue this career path and confirmed she would be able to help more people with her hands with advanced training. Taking a two-year condensed program has been a challenge but with the right support, she’s been thriving and eager to learn her new skill.

Thank you to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article!