Matthew participated in the 2009-2010 Intersections workshop at the age of 21. Before joining Intersections, Matthew was on provincial income assistance. Having left home at the age of 15, Matthew never had the opportunity to finish high school and regrets missing out on courses like drama and music. Intersections gave him a second chance to pursue his artistic passions in a structured learning environment.

Matthew’s keen attitude, creativity and sharp fashion sense recently landed him a position working in the wardrobe department of the feature film “Treasure Buddies”. During the internship he realized that the extreme length of days and commute time of “on-set” work was not for him; however, he is now working at a North Vancouver restaurant, which leaves him time to pursue his own music and video projects.

As a result of the program, Matthew is no longer receiving income assistance. He says that he is most proud of showing up to Intersections everyday and feels it has helped him realize the importance of being “socially adjusted.”

Graham, age 22, participated in the Intersections Media 2009-2010 workshop, in association with Bladerunners. Graham dropped out of high school multiple times and never graduated. Before joining Intersections, Graham was unemployed, despite having completed a certificate program in welding. Graham had always enjoyed drawing and graphic design, but never dreamed it was possible to turn his interest into a career. Graham’s initial fear of group educational settings disappeared quickly and over the course of the program, Graham’s confidence and literacy skills improved greatly.

His strong work ethic and interest in computer graphics and editing landed him an internship position working in Western Post, a local post-production facility. Upon completing his month long internship at Western Post, Graham applied the self-teaching skills he gained at Intersections to learn a new visual effects program that was used in the visual effects department of Western Post; he did this on his own time. The speed with which Graham learned the program led to him being offered a job in the visual effects department of Western Post.

“After my time at their program they set me up with an internship at a local post-production facility, which has led to a job. I really can’t thank them enough for all of the many things they showed me and helped me with. And would say it was probably one of the best experiences of my life.”