聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Dealing with loss can be very difficult. For Michelle Golebiowski, a professional public speaker based out of Winnipeg, this was compounded in her younger years with the loss of both her parents, her grandfather, and her best friend within 18 months.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Golebiowski stopped in at Arcola School on Friday, April 29, to speak about how she was able to cope and spoke about the importance of self-care as well as encouraging youth to reach out for help when an unexpected life challenge occurs.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t was on February 12, 2006, at 8:08 a.m., I know it was at 8:08 a.m. because that鈥檚 the time I took the bus to school, that Mom passed away. She was my rock, she taught us to be resilient. 鈥楴o matter what happens,鈥� she used to say, 鈥榶ou can come talk to me,鈥� Golebiowksi said. 鈥淭hink about someone right now that you trust, that you can go to if you need to reach out, because you all have someone willing to listen.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淔or six months I pretended that she was on vacation, for me it was a coping strategy, it worked for a little while, but not forever.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That September her grandfather passed away and the day of her grandfather鈥檚 funeral she spoke to her best friend for the last time. Her friend was a tow truck driver and while driving in Winnipeg at 4:30 a.m. a drunk driver collided with the truck.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪omebody else鈥檚 choice took my best friend away,鈥� she stated.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Then, six months later, her father passed away.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There was a lot of loss in her life in a very short amount of time, but she says staying in school and being able to finish her program was important to her and was something her loved ones would have wanted her to finish. Getting through school, however, is difficult to do when you鈥檝e gone through a loss and Golebiowski had gone through four.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淧eople always ask me how I got through it, I kept each of their obituaries in the back of one of my books, and carried them with me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t would have been so easy to give up and walk away, but I wasn鈥檛 raised like that, giving up wasn鈥檛 an option.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Honouring her loved ones she became focused on finishing school. Following university she began speaking about road safety and telling the story about her friend who was taken from her by a drunk driver.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, she wanted to do more, and with mental illness in her family, both her father and grandfather had dealt with mental illnesses, she wanted to bring awareness to mental health and the importance of self care strategies.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For Golebiowksi self care includes playing the guitar, watching comedy shows, riding dirt bikes, and doing other things she鈥檚 passionate about.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou need to do something that makes you feel good,鈥� she told the grade eight to 12 students at Arcola School. 鈥淵ou get to pick and you get to decide what that is.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎nd we need to support each other.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Following the presentation, Principal Ron Wardrope said to students, 鈥淲e all go through difficult times and you have to make sure you take care of yourself.鈥�
