The importance of community: Overcoming grief and creating a meaningful impact

Posted on Friday, June 13th, 2025

When Alya Alhalabi arrived at Algonquin College at 19, she was grieving the loss of her father and navigating life alone in a new country, far from her home in the United Arab Emirates. She had no family in Canada and lived independently, moving between rentals and trying to find stability while studying full-time.

Alhalabi landed in Canada to begin again, seeking a community and roots beyond the classroom. She chose Algonquin College for its reputation with hands-on learning, gaining much more along the way than she initially expected.

Despite how vulnerable she felt at the time, the College became the place where she grew into the person she is today — a woman, a leader and a passionate advocate for public safety and emergency management. Beyond her Bachelor of Public Safety education, she also found a home. She was the only Emirati student on campus, yet she never felt alone. Alhalabi credits her professors — Graham Newbold, Mario D’Angelo, Ian Knowles and Dominique Germain — for believing in her and playing a pivotal role in her growth. Her classmates became her family away from home.

Through the Student Leadership Program, Alhalabi built strong friendships and found a community of like-minded peers. While in Ottawa, Alhalabi dedicated an astounding 1,200 hours a year to volunteering with the Canadian Red Cross as a personal disaster assistance responder. Giving back to the Ottawa community was a privilege Alhalabi deeply values and one that was only possible because of the support system she built at the College; she wanted to give back to the community that helped shape who she’s become.

Community impact and the drive to give back powered her entrepreneurial project, Ablaj, a specialized startup in emergency preparedness planning, through her Entrepreneurial Co-Op (eCo-op) course. This innovative initiative opened doors to international conferences, built industry connections and allowed Alhalabi to reimagine what it meant to make a difference. The initiative supports individuals, families and organizations by making customized emergency preparedness guides, considering inclusivity and cultural needs. The eCo-op faculty helped Alhalabi transform her idea into something tangible and meaningful, opening doors for her in a male-dominated field. Alhalabi credits Ablaj as one of her proudest achievements thus far, though her future is very bright.

Alhalabi left a permanent mark at the College one of the faces in the 2023 marketing campaign, something she will forever be proud of. “I still keep copies of the magazine as a reminder of how far I’ve come. Algonquin gave me more than a degree. It gave me a purpose, a home and a second family. It showed me that public safety is more than a subject — it’s a way of serving humanity. As a woman pursuing a career in a male-dominated field, I’ve learned to stand confidently, thanks to the safe, encouraging and empowering environment that Algonquin provided,” she said.

Alhalabi is looking ahead as she pursues a master’s degree at Arizona State University in Emergency and Disaster Management with a focus on cybersecurity. “I carry everything Algonquin taught me. I will always be an advocate for this college because this is where I learned how to become who I was meant to be,” she said.

“Nothing was in isolation — from volunteering to business, the faculty believed in me and my classmates — all stemming from faculty support; I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them. I owe a lot to my Program Coordinator Mario D’Angelo, Professor Graham Newbold and everyone who helped me along the way,”

Congratulations and best of luck on all your future endeavours.


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