For DeAnna Bendig, receiving Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Outstanding Citizenship Award was not about doing something different. It was about being recognized for the way she already tries to live.
Bendig, who completed the Practical Nursing program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Prince Albert campus, received the award during Tuesday’s convocation at the Art Hauser Centre.
“It honestly just meant so much to be recognized for what I feel is just being me,” Bendig said. “I do love to just spend my time celebrating others and supporting others alongside me.”
The award recognizes a student who inspires and encourages others to make positive changes through leadership, initiative, dedication to studies and community involvement.
Bendig said she found out about the award about a month before convocation, but the moment still felt emotional. While she waited on stage as officials spoke about her, she said she went blank.
“I kind of just blanked out on the stage,” she said. “I was there, but I just had so many thoughts going through my head.”
One of those thoughts was about her mother, who died a few years ago. Bendig said her mother was the same kind of person, someone who celebrated others and showed up for people.
“I was just really in that moment of thinking about how proud she would be of me and how she’d be celebrating me,” Bendig said.
Bendig said leadership, for her, means celebrating other people’s achievements and being present when people need support. She said that begins at home with her two daughters.
“For me that means giving my children someone that they can look up to and aspire to be,” she said.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
DeAnna Bendig waits on stage before receiving the Outstanding Citizenship Award Tuesday. Bendig said she “blanked out” in the moment while thinking about how proud her late mother would have been.
Bendig started the nursing program at 29 and graduated at 31. Her daughters were two and four when she began.
She said balancing school and family was difficult, but she tried to blend both parts of her life. She practised assessments on her children and read textbooks while they were going to bed.
“I wanted to show them that when you’re out in your community and supporting others, that your life is just really rewarding,” she said.
Bendig said she was drawn to nursing after watching her younger sister become a registered nurse, earn a master’s degree in nursing and become a midwife. She was also encouraged by a friend who is a licensed practical nurse.
During clinical placements, Bendig said she learned the importance of being open, understanding and aware that patients carry experiences others may not see.
“As nurses, we’re supporting people on their most vulnerable days,” she said.
Outside school, Bendig has served with the Woodland Child Care Co-op board, contributed to Aboriginal Head Start and worked with Karis Disability Services. She said staying involved matters because communities depend on people willing to help.
“It takes a village, and when it takes a village, you have to be a villager,” she said.
Bendig said she is proud of completing the program while managing family, studies and community commitments. She is now preparing to begin a new position at Victoria Hospital.
Her advice to others considering nursing is to start, even if they are unsure.
“I would rather do something scared and unsure than not at all,” Bendig said.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
