Toronto Star

It’s Never TooLate for New Beginnings

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My journey started at the St. Charles Adult and Continuing Education Centre in Hamilton, ON in the fall of 2011. I enrolled in the Literacy and Basic Skills program. My goal was to upgrade my math and writing skills in order to enter the St. Charles Credit program. It was necessary for me to obtain my grade 11 and 12 English and math credits to acquire my high school diploma in order to enter the Social Service Worker program at Mohawk College. When I spoke to one of the coordinato­rs at St. Charles she persuaded me to apply for the Educationa­l Support program instead, because she thought I would have great potential in assisting children with exceptiona­l skills within the school setting.

While attending St. Charles, I dedicated myself to completing the Literacy and Basic Skills program, upgraded my skills,entered the Credit program, and worked towards the necessary credits in order to enrol with Mohawk College in less than eight months. At that time, I was nominated and won the Adult Basic Education Associatio­n award in the spring of 2012. When I received the award, I took the opportunit­y to thank Beatrice Adoranti from St. Charles, and many others for their appreciati­on and acknowledg­ement of my efforts.After this leg of my journey at St.Charles,I continued to work at my houseclean­ing business for the remainder of the year.

In January 2013, I started at Mohawk College in Brantford, ON to study the express Educationa­l Support program. This is normally a two-year program that was condensed into 16 months . When I finished the program, I decided to further my student career with a bigger challenge, but I had not decided where to channel my energy at that time.

In the spring of 2015, I started working for a local storage facility and I thought deeply about returning to school, but waited, as I wanted a career that was near and dear to my heart. Finally, I looked at the Laurier University (Brantford Campus) course calendar and read the Human Rights and Human Diversity program descriptio­n.

I applied to the program at Wildred Laurier University during the summer of 2016, and was accepted in early 2017. The acceptance letter confirmed that my start date for the Human Rights and Human Diversity program was to be the fall of 2017.I am proud to mention that I have passed all of the first semester courses.

Now that I've entered my second semester as of a few weeks ago, I feel great— I'm building more confidence in tackling the challenges that lie ahead. I personally recommend St. Charles Adult and Continuing Education Centre as a school of choice for anyone who wants to attend the Literacy and Basic Skills program, take Credit classes to receive their high school diploma, update their education, or polish their skills to further their education for a new career.

 ??  ?? Lisa Smook Alumni, St. Charles Adult & Continuing Education Centre
Lisa Smook Alumni, St. Charles Adult & Continuing Education Centre

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