Mariya Alexenko
École secondaire De Rochebelle

“At times, I felt like giving up, quitting, but I just kept thinking about how lucky I was to be here, in Québec, and it spurred me on. I know that here I can realise my dreams and my plans for the future, without being afraid or thinking it is hopeless… like in my own country.”

When Mariya Alexenko’s parents told her, three years ago, that they were leaving their native Ukraine and moving to Canada, more specifically to Québec City, the young girl who was 12 years old at the time didn’t know what to think of this adventure. When they explained that they were doing it so as to ensure a brighter future for her, she soon began to believe in her dreams. The Secondary 4 student at De Rochebelle high school is now 15 and has a good mastery of French and English, as well as Russian and Ukrainian, and hopes more than anything else to pursue a career in fashion design, a profession she would never have been able to practice in the Ukraine.

Mariya speaks with assurance and hardly ever struggles to find the right word but she points out that at the very beginning the dream quickly gave way to the realities of a brand new culture that she knew absolutely nothing about. “When we arrived here, we had to start from scratch and this was unsettling for me. My parents were both computer engineers who suddenly found themselves without prospects. The adaptation was personally difficult. I even started school on my second day here. I couldn’t understand a word people were saying so all I could do was say yes and smile.”

From that time on, Mariya quickly found a new and indispensable ally that today she still takes with her nearly everywhere she goes: the dictionary. “I can’t really say if it took me a long time to properly understand French. But because I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to learn more about my new environment, I did everything I could to learn as fast as possible,” she says, adding that she often stays at school until 6 p.m. so she can do her homework more efficiently.

Ever since her arrival, and especially during times when she’s particularly discouraged, Mariya keeps telling herself that she can succeed, that she finally has the power to do so and that no-one can stop her. And when she really feels the need to get away from it all, she takes refuge in her artistic universe where there are no language or cultural barriers to impede her desire to express herself and she can give free rein to her creative spirit. “Young people here are not always aware of how lucky they are to have dreams and ambitions that they are able to fulfil. This isn’t the case everywhere else,” she asserts in a tone of confidence, with a slight Eastern European accent.

“Conscientious and responsible, Mariya tackles life and its realities with great determination. She has overcome many obstacles over the past few years, has experienced many frustrations and unfortunately not always obtained the desired results. Time and time again she has had to demonstrate a strong will to persevere and this is much to her credit,” explains Jacinthe Dion, the school resource teacher, adding that Mariya also has great artistic talent.

A fitness training enthusiast and an adept of the ski slopes whenever the opportunity arises, Mariya has also invested a lot of effort into establishing a new social network, a task that she says was fraught with difficulties because of the language barrier. However, as was the case when she learned French, she has never been afraid to take the initiative to go out and meet people and to knock on doors to ask for help.

When she looks back, Mariya still can’t believe all the progress she has made in the past three years. And yet, according to her, she’s still not out of the woods, pointing out right away that her written French is still a problem. But she avows she will succeed.

“My greatest challenge is to obtain my diploma and this is something I am working very hard towards. I have even started to look into fashion design and art schools. I even find myself thinking about studying outside Québec. All these possibilities encourage me to persevere and allow me to continue to dream. It’s really terrific!” she says in conclusion.

Mariya Alexenko
École secondaire De Rochebelle