Nunavik grads celebrate educational success

Leah May and Alena Stevenson, both from Kuujjuaq, pose at their graduation earlier this month. May graduated from John Abbott college’s Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention program, while Stevenson graduated from the college’s social sciences program. (PHOTO BY PAMELA STEVENSON)

Sixteen Nunavimmiut graduates of different post-secondary programs celebrated the completion of their programs June 11 in Montreal. (PHOTO COURTESY OF LEAH MAY)

Blood, sweat and tears paved the way for success for 16 Nunavik students, who celebrated their collective graduation in Montreal earlier this month.

The Kativik School Board, which oversees post-secondary programs outside of Nunavik, honoured the region’s newest diploma holders at a June 11 celebration.

As in most years, the majority of KSB’s post-secondary grads — seven this year — come from Montreal’s John Abbott college.

College Marie-Victorin, its French-language counterpart, tends to draw a large number of Nunavimmiut students, although it hasn’t produced a graduate since 2009.

But this year’s graduates, like most years, are a varied group, including a university graduate with a bachelor in fine arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, along with a helicopter pilot, hairstylist and auto mechanic.

“There’s always a variety,” said Jason Annahatak, director of post-secondary student services at the KSB.

“The one trend I’m pleased to see is a move towards vocational education.”

While the post-secondary student services department at the school board has traditionally focused on directing Nunavik students into college, or CEGEP programs, as they’re known in Quebec, Annahatak has seen a steady shift in recent years.

“If anything, what we started to do was inform people that college wasn’t the only way to go,” he said. “If you’re having trouble with writing essays, do you realize you can do auto mechanics or pilot training?”

It may well be the vocational education students who’ve been driving up post-secondary graduate numbers in recent years. In 2014, the KSB saw its highest-ever number of post-secondary grads, at 18.

But 2015’s graduates say it takes pure drive to succeed in any program offered thousands of kilometres away from home.

Leah May from Kuujjuaq, just received her diploma in Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention from John Abbott college.

May, 25, actually completed most of the program in 2014, and has since moved back to Kuujjuaq where she works as a young offender officer for youth protection services.

“I came to college with anticipation, drive and eager to learn,” she told Nunatsiaq News. “I chose a program that seemed the most interesting, and it was the best random decision I ever made.”

Coming to John Abbott was initially “scary,” May said. That’s because she was adjusting to a college with a population larger than her home town.

But she adapted, and even found new ways to connect with the local Inuit community in the city.

May’s internship brought her to Chez Doris, a Montreal women’s shelter that runs a program to support homeless and at-risk Inuit women.

“This place really made me realize I was in the right field,” May said. “This job has been very rewarding.”

For other Nunavik students, last week’s graduation was one step towards another goal.

Stacey Moreau-Kasudluak of Inukjuak earned her diploma in science from John Abbott last week.

Moreau-Kasudluak, 22, describes her time at college as a complete learning experience —and not just academically speaking.

“The highlight of my time here at Abbott was meeting different people with different interests and goals. I got to know more about myself than I did before coming here,” she said.

“I think the aspect of failing a course for the first time ever was the lowlight of my time,” she added. “It was extremely difficult for me to grasp the idea of failing at something I tried so hard at.”

But that hasn’t interfered with Moreau-Kasudluak’s success — she’s accepted an offer to study forensic science at Trent University in Ontario this fall.

She hopes to eventually pursue a career as a forensic chemist.

Her advice to other students: “If you are wanting to continue post-secondary education, always remind yourself and don’t forget why you chose to continue on that path—remembering why is a motivation in itself.”

In 2015-16, the KSB sponsored 118 post-secondary students enrolled at various programs, 50 of them at John Abbott College.

The school board’s post-secondary student support services covers students’ travel to and from the south, accommodation and living expenses while they study.