At present I work for the Calgary Herald. It's a good job and I enjoy
my work. I'm an electrical assistant and look after repairs. But I didn't
start in this position -- not at all. I began as a janitor when we moved to
Calgary in 1981.
As you know, Paulette and I are from Haiti. I came to Canada in 1973 and
worked in Montreal. Since French is my first language, Montreal
was perfect. But the company I worked for, Sylvania, was relocating to Toronto.
That didn't appeal to me so I took a brief vacation to Haiti where I met
Paulette and she risked coming to Montreal. Before long we moved to
Alberta and within a week I had a janitor's job at the Herald. My supervisor
there knew I had some electronics experience and suggested I take a course so I
could move into the electronics department. That was an excellent idea, but
before I studied the technical courses, I needed to learn more English. Just
speaking English with your friends and co- workers is not the same as studying
in English.
Paulette and I entered the BEAD program. We attended in the evenings for a
year and really enjoyed it. First, the instructor was nice. He understood that
we had to work all day and then study as well. Each person had individual
program, so Paulette and I could be in the same class, but study different
things at our own pace.
The next year I took the Apprenticeship Math program also run by the BEAD
department. I was successful in that course and moved on to SAIT where I
finished my Building Operator's Certificate in 1985. At work this meant I could
be promoted from janitor to building operator.
Still I didn't want to quit. I wanted to do something different. This time
I went to DeVry for my Electronics Engineering Technician's Certificate. To do
this I had to go to school in the day and work the evening shift. That, too,
was completed, and now I am taking correspondence courses towards my Electrical
Engineer's Diploma. In a few months I will be taking the technical part of this
course at SAIT. It will mean school during the day and working the evening
shift. They are very aware of this at my job and see that I can handle it
without a problem.
I feel very proud of all of this. I would suggest to anyone to go to AVC
and talk to a counsellor. Whatever they want to do there would be a benefit.
Without the BEAD program at AVC I would never have started studying. I would
not have been so confident about what I'm doing now.
To be successful you need determination and to know what you want. You must
have a specific goal or you are wasting your time. Even if somebody needs to
help you with this, you must establish a goal. A good education is an asset,
something you are always proud to have.
