Gaétan Haché lives in Maltempec. In May 1999, he loses his job due to the closing of the textile plant where he had been working for 10 years. As work is rare in the Acadian Peninsula region, he questions himself a lot. Where to find a job with a grade nine education? At 45 years of age, it’s not easy to start over. Since being a student in the “Partenariat Maltempec II” class, he has simply transformed himself. He has a career that he likes and a happy family life, because, one day, he challenged his fears and dared to take the risk of going back to his studies.

Encouraged by his wife and his children, he decides to go back to school. This first step was not taken without effort and it was not easy.

“I had a huge lack of confidence which produced rage because I was very scared of failing and of being judged. I was feeling trapped and knew that if I wanted a decent job, I had no other choices but to go back to school. It’s finally in January 2000 that I decide to register for a CASP class. I felt really welcomed and that gave me confidence from the start. For me, the greeting into a class is very important. The encouragement from the other learners really helped me to trust myself, and I realized that I was capable. The teacher, who was my wife, did not have an easy task of it, since she had to be the teacher in the classroom and wife at home.

From the beginning, I noticed that I was reading but that I didn’t know how to read. I didn’t understand what I was reading since my vocabulary was very poor. (And now, I realize how that lack of vocabulary was also harmful in my relationships with others. It’s one thing to speak French, but we still have to understand it.) I worked really hard. I registered for the GED testing, something I dreaded a lot. In April 2000, I took the tests, and in May, I received my diploma. Then, I undertook the steps to go to college in order to take the Health Care Worker course. In September, I started my course with more confidence.