Voices of Experience

Voices of Experience is a book produced by the Central Newfoundland Regional College. The book was created mainly for use as a reader for adult learners. Voices of Experience presents the real-life stories of people who left school without graduating. We hope the book will also encourage people to talk about their own school experiences.

Here are some samples from Voices of Experience:

“There were times I felt like nothing. I felt I was no good. One time I was looking at the paper and someone said, ‘Pass me that, because the pictures will still be there after.’ That made me feel stupid. I felt I wasn’t as good as anybody else. I feel good about myself now.

I can pick up the newspaper and read it. I can read to my little girl. She’s in grade 4. Now, if she’s doing something, I don’t look at it and say, ‘That’s Dutch to me. How can she do it?’ Now I can help her I feel I’m starting to go up the ladder a little bit.”

“I said when the children got in school I might go back and try to get some education. I came back and I’ve been doing Adult Basic Education. This is my third year here, I’m sorry now that I didn’t go back earlier. Now I got a home and two children to look out to. If I’d done it back then, I had my Mom to look up to and my friends. Two of my cousins told me they would have helped me. They were in grade 6 when I was, even though they were four years younger than me.”

Adam says that when he left school, “Nobody could tell me. I soon found out. I got a nephew who quit school three weeks ago. I went down and had a talk to him about it He don’t care. He’s 16 years old. I said, ‘What are you going to do?’ ‘Stay home,’ he said. I said ‘What are you going to do 16 years down the road? You’re going to be like me. Go back to school and get your education.’ He’s in Grade 11 now. I said ‘You only got another two years, if that.’”

The Hitch-hiker

The Hitch-hiker is a social studies reader just off the press. The book follows a hitch-hiker named John and other characters as they explore different areas of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Here’s a sample from The Hitch-hiker:

John and his friends are driving north from the community of L’Anse-au-Clair. They come to Buckles Point, Forteau and English Point. These three communities are very close to each other.

The tourist brochure says that the name Forteau means strong point or strong water. Forteau is a good place for ships to anchor, but southerly winds can cause big swells in Forteau Bay. Every summer, the communities here host a bakeapple festival. This festival draws people from all over the world. John and his buddies were a little too late to get in on this celebration of the bakeapple.

The smallest community in this part of Labrador is L’Anse Amour. The Point Amour Lighthouse, which was built in 1857, is nearby. The tower of this lighthouse is more than 53 metres high. It is the highest lighthouse tower in the province and the second-highest in Canada.

Archaeologists have done some digging at L’Anse Amour. Scientists believe that Maritime Archaic Indians lived in this area 6,200 years ago. The Labrador Straits Museum is just west of L’Anse Amour. It shows what life was like in Labrador years ago.

Voices of Experience and The Hitch-hiker are available from the Literacy Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor. The books are free for libraries, literacy centres, colleges, schools and other literacy supporters. Orders may be placed by phone: (709) 489-4844, fax: (709) 489-2277, e-mail: ccoish@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca or regular mail: Literacy Centre, Central Newfoundland Regional College, P.O. Box 745, Grand Falls-Windsor, NF A2A 2M4.