---
title: "Healing Herself, Helping Others: A Medical Lab Assistant’s Story"
description: Erin Waluk went back to school in her 40s and finished Herzing's Medical Lab Assistant program as student of the year. See how she landed her first job.
image: https://blog.herzing.ca/hubfs/Erin%20Waluk%20(2).png
---

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# Healing Herself, Helping Others: A Medical Lab Assistant’s Story

**Oct 14, 2026, 9:02:51 AM**

![Herzing MLA graduate Erin Waluk](https://blog.herzing.ca/hubfs/Erin%20Waluk%20(2).png)

# Healing Herself, Helping Others: A Medical Lab Assistant’s Story

**Oct 14, 2026, 9:02:51 AM**

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![Herzing MLA graduate Erin Waluk](https://blog.herzing.ca/hubfs/Erin%20Waluk%20(2).png)

In her early 40s, Erin Waluk was ready to start rebuilding her life. She had spent years healing from trauma and addiction, and she knew she wanted more.

So she enrolled in Herzing’s [Medical Laboratory Assistant](https://www.herzing.ca/programs/medical-laboratory-assistant) program. She graduated with honours, was named student of the year, and now works as an MLA at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg.

In this interview, Erin talks about how a failed first exam taught her to study smarter, what she learned during her practicum, and how one bold introduction turned into her first job offer.

 

### **Q. What were you doing before you enrolled at Herzing?**

**Erin:** My previous career was working in corrections. But unfortunately, about 10 years ago I had gone through some trauma and was diagnosed with PTSD. I’ve basically been healing from that and from alcoholism, just recalibrating and figuring out who I am.

I worked in the fitness industry for a while. At one point I was hired as a resident care worker in London, Ontario, helping the homeless find resources to get them reacquainted to the community. While I was there, the cook got sick, and they asked if anybody knew how to cook for a large group. I’m the oldest of five, and my freezer’s always full of leftovers, so I had no problem doing that. And after a week, they offered me a permanent full-time position.

But I went through another tumultuous time and decided I needed to come back home to Manitoba. I signed myself into a resident care home for addictions because I had relapsed. I was 42 years old, I had been divorced twice, my children were all adults with their own lives, and I was just at a place where I had healed enough from the mental and physical trauma that I was ready to start absolutely fresh.

I had a year off of just being on EI and doing some intense emotional trauma work. I knew I wasn’t anywhere near where I wanted to be in life.

 

### **Q. What made you want to become a medical laboratory assistant?**

**Erin:** I went to see a counsellor thinking I’d like to help people with addictions or children in trauma. The counsellor said they could help me pay for schooling if I chose from a list of approved programs. The very first one I saw was medical laboratory assistant, and it gave me a big flashback.

I had a lot of medical issues and trauma throughout my life, to the point where I literally had to have exposure therapy to allow myself to be in a hospital parking lot. But I had done all this healing and now I was so intrigued with the body and how it works because I’ve experienced it. I’ve had to watch my bloodwork and see how certain things I eat affect how I feel and what my results are.

So that was the program I wanted.

![5371](https://blog.herzing.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/5371.jpg?width=2043&height=2048&name=5371.jpg)*Erin Waluk with her parents, her son, and her son's partner*

 

### **Q. Why Herzing?**

**Erin:** I could have gone with Robertson or Herzing. Robertson was a year long and only half time, whereas Herzing was full time for four months. Herzing was a very heavy course load, but I would rather hit it and quit it. So Herzing is where I wanted to go.

The counsellor got approval for the program and told me the Metis Federation would even top up the remaining tuition and cover a bus pass plus the cost of scrubs and all my immunizations.

 

### **Q. How was the vibe in class?**

**Erin:** I was very nervous. I had all these voices in my head saying you’ve been on disability and your brain can’t function. I had to deal with a lot of the negativity that had been drilled into me by professionals. But I knew I was built for more. I knew I could do it.

I was one of the older girls in the class. I looked around at all these 19-year-olds thinking I could be their mom. But they were a great support system. They showed me how to use WhatsApp! And we are still in a WhatsApp group.

We all helped each other practise for the CSMLS\*. We all got booked on the same day, so it was like everything we did, we did together.

*\*The* [*Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science*](https://csmls.org/certification/) *offers a certification exam for medical lab assistants.*

 

### **Q. How did you find the coursework and instructor?**

**Erin:** I have ADHD and was not a great student growing up. I could not just stay focused. But Diane Perry is so unique and how she teaches is so off the wall that it caught my attention. She was tough and I liked it.

I failed our first exam, and I was so flustered because I had studied the textbook. But Diane always said, “Listen to what I say, because what I say will be on the exam.” She even had a cup that literally said that. Because the textbook was American, she was combining it with the exact info we needed for CSMLS, which I didn’t clue into at the beginning.

So that very first exam, I felt the floor come out from under me. I felt self-doubt. All my classmates were like, we studied the textbook, and I said yeah, that’s what I did.

And Diane sat there smiling and pulled up her cup. She was like, “What did I tell you guys?” And her cup literally says that everything she says will be on the exam. So then we learned.

Everything she said was about CSMLS. Certification is technically optional, but Diane said this is coming down the pipe and you are going to need this. She said she was training us to succeed for CSMLS so we’d have the best opportunities.

She said that for the majority of the exam, they want to know that you can do health and safety and critical thinking, and that you have a good set of soft skills. Because you can teach anybody to be a medical lab assistant. You can’t teach everybody how to be a good human being and have ethics and morals and character.

 

### **Q. Tell me about your practicum.**

**Erin:** I did my practicum with Shared Health at Stonewall General Hospital. They said I was getting tests that they saw maybe once every five years. I had five people faint in my first week! I was given all these incredible challenges, but I was totally ready. The training that I got was exactly what I needed to work in this field.

During my practicum, I discovered I had received training that the MLAs who were working didn’t have. We had been trained with information on the i-STAT \[a portable blood analyzer\] and we had been trained with EKG. The MLAs were just finding out that they were going to be doing i-STAT and EKG training, but I already knew about it coming in.

I did almost 1,000 pokes in my six-week practicum, and I was only required to do 100. It was amazing.

 

### **Q. And that led to your first MLA job?**

**Erin:** Yes. It was one of those right-place, right-time situations. I was told there were no positions available, but the directors in charge of the region had come into the hospital for an unrelated thing, and I introduced myself. I said, “I hear you guys are important people. I just want to introduce myself. I’m Erin, I’m a practicum student, and I’d like a job.” They laughed. My co-workers were like, dear God, Erin, I can’t believe you said that to them. I was like, why? That’s my truth. I’m not shy.

So both of them laughed, and within about three days I had the offer. They met with me and said they wanted to create this position for me.  I became a casual MLA in the region, and I worked more than full time. That’s how I got started.

 

### **Q. What’s the best part about being a medical lab assistant?**

**Erin:** I love having the opportunity to talk to people and make a difference because I wasn’t always treated well in the medical system. I’ve had phlebotomists who don’t say a word to me, and I’d be like, “I’m scared. What are you doing? What are you testing for?” And they just wouldn’t speak to me.

Some of my patients ask if they can give me a hug after I only talk to them for three or four minutes. But sometimes your patients are old and they just want somebody to talk to. I can recognize that, but I can also nicely tell them I need to move on.

My career has helped me heal and is helping me heal others.

 

**Explore the MLA Program**

Herzing’s Medical Laboratory Assistant program is designed to get you career-ready in just four months. Training includes a six-week practicum along with preparation for the CSMLS certification exam.

Click below to get full program details and chat live with an admissions advisor. We’re here to help!

[**Explore now**](https://www.herzing.ca/programs/medical-laboratory-assistant)

 

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