We Believe: Tina Salasel

Good morning everyone, thank you for having me here.

My name is Tina, and I am a student from Iran who has always had one dream: to become a doctor.

Growing up, this was my dream, and through school, I worked hard towards it. I earned my biology degree in Iran, then I moved to Hungary, where I studied medicine for two years.

But then COVID-19 arrived, and everything changed. My grandfather passed away from the virus. After months of quarantine, I finally returned to Iran, heartbroken and unsure what would come next.

But something important happened.

I began volunteering in hospitals, helping people with COVID who were isolated and scared. Those were some of the hardest moments of my life, but also the most meaningful.

Not long after, I moved to Canada.

By then, I was tired. Tired from studying for years and still not reaching my dream, tired from moving across the world, tired from starting over again and again.

I was 24 and facing the idea of beginning another bachelor’s degree so that one day I could apply to a Canadian medical school.

It was a new education system, a new culture, a new financial burden. It felt so overwhelming.

I visited several universities, but the moment I walked onto the Capilano University campus, I felt something different. The environment was warm, beautiful, and kind. I felt safe. I felt seen.

So, I chose CapU to begin my academic journey again. But the truth is, it could have been so much harder.

Without donor support, I would have had to work many more hours just to get by. I would have had less time to study, less time to volunteer, and less time to grow into the person I want to become.

Your support didn’t just help me financially; it made me feel valued as a human being who is trying to build a better future for herself and for others.

Your support gave me confidence.

Your support made my dream feel possible again.

At CapU event last month, I met a donor and asked him, “Why do you donate to students you don’t even know?”

He told me, “Because when I was young, I wanted to study, but I couldn’t afford it.”

His answer touched me deeply. I am learning from people like him - like all of you - what generosity really means.

And I am trying to pass that generosity forward.

Last year, I volunteered with Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sport. I worked with a 10-year-old boy with autism who desperately wanted to ski.

On the first day, when I told him to make a “pizza stop,” he didn’t understand. He just shouted “pizza!” and kept going straight toward the snow machine.

I had to grab his jacket to stop him, and I remember thinking, “Maybe this sport is too dangerous for him.”

But then I remembered something his mom said: “His room is full of skiing pictures. This is his dream.”

So, we began again. Week after week, we worked together on his dream. And on the last day of the season, he finally skied on his own. Watching him glide down the slope by himself gave me goosebumps.

That moment wasn’t only his victory. It was mine, and it was yours.

I couldn’t have been there without your support. I simply passed the kindness you gave me on to someone else.

When I volunteer at Lions Gate Hospital, the same thing happens. Sometimes I play piano before or after my shift, and patients or staff tell me, “You made my day,” or “I’m walking out of here a little lighter today.”

Those moments belong to you, too.

Your support doesn’t stop with one student. It creates a cycle... a cycle of kindness that grows, spreads and continues far longer than you might ever know.

Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for making our journey easier.

And thank you for helping shape the future, not just for students, but for the communities and people we will one day serve.

Your generosity truly changes lives. It changes the world.

And I am living proof of that.

Thank you.