With life experience comes wisdom and dignitaries at the Ponoka Composite High School (PCHS) graduation gave their fair share of it to grads.
Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Rod Fox praised students making a large first step in their lives. “Today you’ve not reached the destination in your lives. You’ve completed just one journey, many more lie before you.”
“I wish you all the successes in where your future may take you,” added Fox.
Life events have a way of changing people’s plans but school trustee Lorrie Jess suggests students keep living life to the fullest. “I’ve learned that life happens and our dreams don’t always come to fruition.”
She spoke of a passion for gardening and a dream to open a greenhouse but she would never dream of owning a bookstore at the age of 25. Six months after she took over the bookstore Jess became a paraplegic and although she never thought this would occur, “life just continued to happen.”
Despite the incident she was able to have three kids and watch them grow up.
“Never did I dream that I would be a widow, a single mom and a suicide survivor at the age of 41. Life just kind of happened,” stated Jess. “I do have big pie-in-the-sky dreams to start walking but I don’t stop living life waiting for this to happen.”
She said changes in technology is forcing her to close her bookstore but she knows life will continue on and suggests students live life to the fullest. Life has a way of changing a person’s dreams and she feels the best thing to do is move forward.
“Don’t forget to experience whatever may come your way and let life happen,” added Jess.
There are 49 First Nations students from Montana, Ermineskin, Samson, Louis Bull and Pigeon Lake graduating this year and some of them are from Ponoka Composite High School, says Samson Chief Marvin Yellowbird.
“There is no greater reward than to witness students graduating from Grade 12 and continuing onward into various fields of choice.”
He believes education and hard work will help students do well in life and he suggests that no matter which field they decide to delve into, they should always remember where they came from.
Technology is a tool that has allowed communication between youths to become almost instantaneous. Twitter, Facebook and texting are means to get information out faster and more effectively than ever and because of this technology there are many opportunities and careers available to graduates.
“I ask you to be proud of whoever you are and whatever door opens for you, kick it wide open and say, ‘I’m here,’” advised Yellowbird. “Don’t forget to thank your parents and be safe.”