Adult Education Centres

Cora Romanow, a 2009 AEC graduate, has earned an entrance scholarship to the University of Winnipeg, where she has begun studies towards her undergraduate degree.  Cora was also a Class of 2009 valedictorian, and participated many of AEC’s activities, including Raise-A-Reader, Habitat for Humanity and Hands-On Digital Media.  We wish her success on the next leg of her educational journey.

 

Cora’s Graduation Address (June 2009):

AEC Staff, board of directors, honoured guests, family, friends, and of course my fellow graduates … I am so happy to be here with you today.

This week, I came across a quote by a man named Denis Waitley that said:

“There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”

By returning to high school, we chose to accept responsibility.  And that, in my opinion, is the braver choice of the two.

When I dropped out of high school, I told myself I was never going back.  I remember feeling as though school was the most pointless thing I could possibly do with my time.  But as the years passed, and as I gained a certain amount of insight about the world around me, I realized that school was the place I wanted to be.  And in all honesty, once I started attending AEC, I felt like I had come home.

I’ll never forget the first time I walked up in front of Linda’s class to present.  My hands were shaking so bad that I could barely read the paper I was holding (and you know everyone can see your hands shaking).  What saved me from feeling unbearably humiliated afterward was the fact that every other person who presented after me looked as nervous as I did.  From that moment on, I felt such compassion for my classmates as they took the long walk up to the front of the classroom, defiantly charging onward with their presentation despite being short of breath and practically vibrating.  I always clapped and jeered too loudly once the presentations were over.  I think this compassion comes from understanding.  We understand each other at AEC.  We might not all agree on the details, but we have all navigated through the rugged terrain of the road less commonly travelled.  We all have scars.  Some are visible, and some are metaphorical.  And I don’t know about you, but I would rather have a hundred scars and the perspective I have now, than silky smooth skin, and a shallow outlook on life.

My time at AEC has been incredible.  And it wasn’t the coursework or the consistency and stability of routine that made this high school experience special to me.  It was the stuff between the lines.  The teachers really cared, my fellow students really wanted to learn.  The context was more fruitful than the content.  I gained confidence.  I gained perspective and an appreciation for learning.  I actually believe in myself enough now to aim for an honors degree in university.  I watched you all gain confidence alongside of me.  We have grown together here, and even if we never see each other again, we can look back to this corner of time where we all walked in step, and remember how wonderful it felt to be part of a community of people who were all moving forward.

I want to congratulate you all, and send you massive amounts of love which you can carry with you throughout the rest of your lives.  Thank you for making my high school experience the best experience I have ever had.

Now, I want to leave you with a poem by Robert Frost.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as far that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.