Breighana was an outbound youth exchange student for Brighton Rotary in 2015 / 2016. She went to Argentina for the year.

 

She became fluent in Spanish and learned lifelong lessons that no classroom can teach. She is still in contact with friends and family from that exchange.

 

She graduated from ENSS in 2018 with honours from the French Immersion stream. Working all through high school she saved for her next adventure - after high school graduation she took a year off to backpack through Asia and South America. (Taiwan, Indonesia, India where she took part in a volunteer efforts with sustainable agriculture projects in Dharamsala. She had the opportunity to attend a teaching at the home of the Dalai Lama (she understood nothing). She volunteered in Kerala with womens rights efforts and teaching in schools. She visited places such as the Taj Majal and famous parks. She also went paragliding and white water rafting.

 

She went to Mexico and back to Argentina where she stayed a month visiting friends and family again.

 

Originally she wanted to be a midwife and was accepted into the program, but she changed her mind after the youth exchange and travel. She developed a passion for the environment and helping people on a wider scale.

 

She attended Trent University where she graduate in 2023 with a joint major in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems and Environmental and Resources Study.  Also a minor in International Development. Most of her University was through the pandemic and that took opportunities away. But she made the most of it, including providing background support for protest against COP15 convention on biological diversity. Protesting against the amount of money spent on these conventions and the show of it all rather than the money being put towards real efforts.

With classmates, she  organized and ran 'Trent Community Movements Conference: Abuse and Impunity human rights violations and corporate accountability in Canadian Extractive Industry, Home and Abroad'. It was a two day event with invited specialists, political activists and experts in the field.

 

She graduated last spring with Dean and Presidents honours.

 

Last summer she worked out west for Flash Forest. They reseed areas impacted by forest fires. She was part of the silviculture team. That is the science and cultivation of trees for science, environmental restoration and agriculture.

They fixed roads for access, scientific sampling and establishment of plots. She made connections with NGO's and Indigenous communities as well as forestry companies. They tracked fires and floods to keep teams safe. She surveyed land to ensure appropriate places to reseed and understand soil culture and environmental characteristics.

 

She returned home in July but is heading west again this month.