Windsor barber lines up future, shares story with Kennedy high school students
Kennedy student Ashreff El-Hassan wishes his lunch hour was a highlight like it was Friday.
“They gotta do this more,” he said.
El-Hassan was one of many that drifted through the school cafeteria to watch Mohsin Khan offer free haircuts while sharing his message of hope to students.
“Stay on the straight path. Do your work and you'll be successful,” those are words he heard from Khan, who returned to his high school roots with scissors in hand offering to clip out the negativity felt by students.
“I got myself in a lot of trouble,” said Khan.
The 19-year old was rolling with the wrong crowd but he got a wakeup call shortly after being stabbed.
Between cuts he told students, “what I have to realize is that I'm making all the mistakes in life and I'm gonna flip it, make it a positive.”
“I realized my life is nothing good right now and I'm not doing anything good for myself. I turned 18 realizing okay, I gotta pick myself up and become somebody better for the community.”
Khan leaned on his barbering skills to help himself climb out of his shell. He recently started a cleaning company and is a business student at St. Clair College.
His story was inspiring to Ayah Khanafer, the school’s board liason.
“Look where he is now even if there was rough stuff in his past. He made it out and he's influencing the younger generation to do the same which I think is great,” Khanafer said.
Kahn didn’t have a role model and wishes he had someone to tell him his life was like a bad haricut.
“I wanna be that person I wanted to have,” he said.
Hadi Saleh was all ears while getting his hair tapered.
“In two years I gotta start working and see what I'm gonna do in life,” said the grade 11 student. “This message is helping me get through.”
School principal Kyle Berard heard Khan’s story before allowing him to address the school community.
“I want kids to hear the message that, look beyond high school. Do good things now so that you can get ready to do better things later,” he said. “That's what we always tell kids.”
Joanna Conrad, executive director of Youth Diversion, was glad to hear about Khan’s turnaround.
“I’m proud of him without even knowing him,” she said.
Youth Diversion helps youth at risk from experiencing an intervention moment as Khan did.
“To hear from someone else ‘I see something in you. You can be something better than you are doing in this moment’ that can go a long way,” Conrad said.
“We want them to understand you're responsible for your own fate so how are we going to help you make choices to get you to the best place possible.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.