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
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Canadian couple among tourists on sinking sailing boat tour abroad
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
An Ontario senior called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Accused of burglary at stepmother's home, U.S. senator says she wanted her father's ashes: charges
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.