Making her Dreams Come True:

Myla Barber has the steady calm of someone well beyond her years. Even though she is a single mom at age 21, she has achieved much: a loving home for herself and her daughter, college graduation, a successful healthcare career, and a positive outlook on life.

Sleepwalking Through her Teens

Myla grew up in Ladysmith, with loving parents who worked hard to provide for her and her brother. In high school, Myla fell in with the wrong crowd and made the rash decision to quit in Grade 11. She did have the maturity to recognize she needed to contribute to the household. “I was working two jobs but wasn’t doing anything meaningful and productive with myself. I just didn’t care much.” Day after day, Myla went through the motions, without purpose or direction. She had no dreams.

Waking Up

Sometimes you need to experience something to know it’s not the thing you want. Myla didn’t want being a high school dropout to define her. “I saw the people I'd grown up with graduating and doing great things like going to college. I looked at my life and I wanted more. I wanted to be more.”

It took Myla less than a year to complete her high school graduation in January 2024. But her life took an unexpected turn when she found out she was pregnant and would be raising her baby as a single mom. From that moment, Myla was committed to ensuring that she and her baby would have a happy and comfortable life. Remarkably, with all that was facing her, the young Myla Barber decided to pursue college while on maternity leave.

Building a Future

For her entire life, Myla had been interested in a medical career. “I've always been interested in the medical field. I was sick as a kid and always wanted to work in healthcare.” When she found Stenberg College’s 30-week Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) program, she knew it was what she was looking for and enrolled. She would do this for her and her daughter.

While in the program, Myla’s commitment, strength, and intelligence shone. One of her instructors, Veronica Haits says, “Myla really stood out in labs, where her hard work and determination to excel went above and beyond. Myla challenged herself at every stage to perform at her best.”

Myla’s high praise was well earned, achieving a 92% grade point average. MLA Department Head Nicolette Barker says, “I witnessed her strong performance in classes and heard about her excellence in labs. Throughout the program, Myla balanced the challenges of caring for a newborn while fully committing to her studies. Her dedication was truly remarkable.”

Making her Dreams Come True

Prior to attending Stenberg College, Myla hadn’t experienced much success in her life. However, she was chosen as the Valedictorian of Stenberg College’s Spring Graduation, which made her family incredibly proud. “My family was the proudest they have ever been when I was chosen to be the valedictorian.” More importantly, Myla was proud of herself. “I'm proud of where I've come from and what I have accomplished.”

Myla continues to impress those around her. She was hired by LifeLabs and is now working full-time hours. One of her past instructors, Tamara Watkins, is now her supervisor. She says, “I am lucky to have Myla as part of my team. She has carried the same determination and collaborative spirit from the classroom into her career. She is the kind of teammate you want: steady under pressure, supportive of her colleagues, and always willing to go the extra mile.”

In three short years, Myla has gone from being a high school dropout to graduating high school, giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Vienna, raising her as a single mom, completing a college diploma during maternity leave, and being chosen as Stenberg College’s Student of the Year finalist for the MLA program.

For Myla, this is more a happy beginning than ending. She is a mother to a little girl she will do anything for and now has a career that will give them the life they deserve. “I really love what I do, and I enjoy it every day.” There is no stopping Myla. “My ultimate goal is to be a nurse one day.” In the words of the Billy Joel song, Vienna, whom her daughter was named after:

“But you know that when the truth told
That you get what you want or you can just get old”