Education can offer life-changing opportunities, but every year, too many bright, driven students from disadvantaged backgrounds make the decision not to pursue post-secondary education because they can't afford it. We're here to help.
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BEEDIE LUMINARIES — Almas Abou Chakra is impossible to sum up in just a few lines. Her infectious zest for life shines through in everything she does, shaped by a rich tapestry of experiences. Passionate about art, community, and self-expression, she is building a freelance mural business while inspiring others to pursue their dreams despite adversity. Almas embraces life fully, challenges stereotypes, and constantly strives to reach her highest potential.
Read her story below.
ALMAS ABOU CHAKRA — I’m sitting on my bed listening to SOS by Rihanna trying to think of a clever way to convince you your dreams are worth pursuing.
I usually listen to club music when I create. It makes me feel alive. It makes me feel like me.
My name is Almas. I’m a:
But these labels don’t define who I am or what I will be. How society has decided to categorize me and you is not who we are. We can be more than what we were built to be. This is who I really am:
These are the characteristics that make me proud of who I am, excited to wake up in the morning, and glad to be on this earth. Pursuing art as a refugee may seem like a waste of my parent’s efforts to bring me to Canada.
But here’s the thing: I disagree.
I am not here to adhere to anyone’s stereotypes. Whether that be a poor misunderstood refugee or a mindless immigrant child who just makes money.
Dreaming Against all Odds
You and I were placed on this earth to dream. To explore what it means to be alive. When you’re choosing what you want to make of yourself in this life, think first with your heart and then your wallet.
Financial adversity has always been a barrier in my story. My mother and father both lost their jobs the year I started applying to university. With no guarantee that we could pay for my education past freshman year or stay in the country I threw myself into applying for jobs and scholarships.
Day in and day out I found myself internally cursing myself for loving something so unstable. “Art can’t save us.” I’d tell myself. “Is this what we crossed oceans for? For me to sit and paint?”.
I found myself internalizing every stereotype I’d heard of starving artists. Ones that deemed me a failure for choosing to fight for something so trivial to build a new life in Canada. I was ready to give up. To put aside my education and work until my family’s situation changed.
That is until Beedie Luminaries came in.
After a full year of rejection letters I got an interview that changed my life. Just before joining the meeting I blasted Pitbull on full volume, wore my favorite green jacket, and got my doodling pad. This was my chance and I was on fiiiiireee.
I was myself.
Two weeks later the acceptance letter rolled into my email. Someone had seen me as more than the sum of my parts. I wasn’t just a refugee, or a struggling artist, but a leader with potential to change the world.
External Validation: A Trap
I admit, it shouldn’t have taken someone else’s opinion of me to discover my own voice; But, Beedie Luminaries made me realize how dependent I had been on the opinions of others.
With the status of my education set, I was free to fully explore the passion I’d suppressed! I threw myself into selling my work at art markets, painting community murals, and setting up Arabic calligraphy workshops at fundraisers. It’s amazing how much changes when you stop suppressing the thing that makes life worth living.
I’m so excited to continue my post-secondary journey and see where my art business takes me. My dream is to manage a freelance mural business that lets me travel the world. I want to be able to paint on the blue walls of Marrakesh, the twisting alleys of Rio, and on the skyscrapers of New York. This dream seems possible because of Beedie Luminaries. I hope I can turn it into reality.
Parting Words
To you, yes you: the person reading this article.
Your heart is worth the struggle. Follow what you love first and what you worry about second. If you have already or are in the process of applying for a Beedie Luminaries award know this: keep trying no matter what happens. You will get what’s coming your way no matter what you do or who you please! I know that sounds so cheesy but take it from someone who almost gave up on themselves: You were made to be so much more than what they think of you.
With all the love in the world, Almas
