The Student of the Year Award, University WIL, has been awarded to Laci Schulenborg, a fourth-year Honours Psychology student at Vancouver Island University whose work-integrated learning has transformed both community health services and her academic community. Drawing on nearly six years in recovery, she integrates lived experience with academic training to advance trauma-informed, harm-reduction practice.
At AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI), Laci worked on the front lines of enhanced harm reduction, supporting clients with complex mental health and substance-use challenges while collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, social workers, and outreach workers. She created a comprehensive practicum student handbook, developed evaluation surveys for nursing learners, and produced a formal staff impact report for funding applications—resources AVI still used to strengthen programming and student training.
Beyond AVI, Laci has become a cornerstone of student leadership at VIU, serving as Psychology Club President and leading CV workshops, graduate school and practicum information sessions, APA skills sessions, and Mental Health Check-In Cafés that demystify experiential learning and reduce “hidden curriculum” barriers for her peers. She founded a memorial scholarship for students in sustained recovery, raising $6,000 in a single semester, and helped launch the Peer Success Hub and a proposed credit-bearing peer support program to restore lost WIL opportunities on campus.
Laci’s achievements showcase how work-integrated learning can turn personal adversity into community capacity, expanding equitable access to mental health supports, experiential learning, and recovery-informed education. Congratulations, Laci Schulenborg!