When Camryn Williams was nine years old, she toured Lakehead's Nursing Simulation Lab with fellow elementary students enrolled in the university's Achievement Program. The visiting youngsters were able to use medical equipment to listen to the heartbeats and take the blood pressure of the high-tech manikins that nursing students use to learn essential skills. 

It turned out to be a prophetic day for the young girl. Thirteen years after that visit—in May 2025—Camryn graduated from Lakehead with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

The moment Camryn realized she wanted to be a nurse: the opportunity to learn how nurses care for their patients and try out the equipment in Lakehead's Nursing Simulation Lab had a big impact on nine-year-old Camryn. Providing opportunities for students' personal growth and leadership development is a key aspect of the Achievement Program.

Camryn has also passed the National Council Licensure (NCLEX) exam for registered nurses and began working as a cardiac nurse at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre last month.

Camryn's hard work and intelligence have enabled her to reach these milestones, along with some assistance from the Achievement Program. It's an initiative committed to removing barriers to postsecondary education for every child in northern Ontario, so that they believe that a college or university education is possible for them.

The Achievement Program is housed in Lakehead's Department of Athletics—providing a welcoming environment where students can experience the university through sports and fun recreational activities. From there, students are connected to faculties and departments where they can start thinking about what they might like to do when they grow up.

The Achievement Program does this by providing both mentorship and recreational, educational, and cultural programming to students facing socioeconomic challenges. Students enrol in the program in grade 4 and continue until they complete grade 12. By participating in Achievement Program activities and passing their grade every year, these students also earn financial support that covers their first year of tuition at Lakehead.

The Kid Who Wouldn't Give Up

Camryn is a member of the inaugural group of 13 students who enrolled in the Achievement Program in 2012, which was then part of the Lakehead Public Schools' summer literacy program. Since its founding, the Achievement Program has expanded to 464 students from school boards across the region.

"My mom signed me up because she was concerned that my grade-three reading level was below average," Camryn says. "She knew I could do better."

The next year, Camryn was proud to show her mother her report card. "I got an A in reading," she says. "The Achievement Program pushed me to try harder in school, and by the time I graduated from Hammarskjold High School, I was at the top of my class."

In a session facilitated by the Niijii Mentorship Program, Camryn learned about computer coding with an Ozobot—a miniature robot with a sensor that can be coded to follow lines, read colour code combinations, and move in different directions. Throughout her four years at Lakehead, Camryn worked as an Achievement Program mentor, helping other children find their passions.

As a program participant, Camryn was often on the Lakehead campus. "It was a bit intimidating at first, but it got easier every year and it helped me transition into high school and university," she says.

She remembers making paper airplanes and putting them in a wind tunnel to understand the aerodynamics of flight, building and racing boats, chemistry lab experiments, and playing basketball and soccer.

When she entered high school, the focus shifted to preparing for higher education. "We'd have lunch sessions with Lakehead student-mentors and Amanda Stefanile, the Achievement Program coordinator. They'd teach us things like how to apply for OSAP and scholarships, how to study for exams, and how to budget."

Finding Her Calling

After countless activities, though, it was the Nursing Simulation Lab tour that stood out the most to Camryn.

"I didn't realize I wanted to be a nurse until the Achievement Program let me see first hand what it was like," she says. "I'd always been interested in science and biology and I thought it was cool that nursing could knit these fields together with my love of caring for others."

She was also influenced by her family—both her parents worked in health care and her grandmother had been a nurse. "Hearing their stories reinforced my decision to become a nurse."

"It was awesome to walk across the stage to get my Lakehead degree, especially since I wasn't able to have a high-school graduation ceremony because of the COVID pandemic," Camryn says. The beautifully decorated hockey stick Camryn received from the Achievement Program was a perfect graduation gift. Camryn has been playing hockey with the Thunder Bay Queens for the past 10 years.

Stepping onto campus as a university student in September 2021 was both exciting and familiar for Camryn.

"Lakehead's nursing program is great because it's one of the few schools where students have placements in hospitals and long-term care facilities beginning in their first year. I immediately began learning and applying real-life skills and developing relationships with patients."

Since that long-ago day in the Nursing Simulation Lab, Camryn has never looked back, and now she's looking forward to a wonderful future.

Congratulations to one of our newest Lakehead University alums!

We are incredibly grateful to the donors who support this program and who support our youth. Click here if you'd like to help Achievement Program students participate in yearly programming in school and on campus.