Education for my people

I have been a bit slow with my blogs lately. That is because I have been extremely busy trying to get some of my school work done and over with. You see, I started school again after being “kicked-out” four years ago. I never looked back when all hell broke loose. I have since had many opportunities in terms of working and holding different job titles which I am glad I got to do in the last four years. It wasn’t until the fall when I realized that my goals needed to be accomplished. My goal was to complete high school and go on to college and perhaps university.

Before considering going back to school, I worked in children’s aid services for two years. During this time, I saw the challenges many of our young people face head on; the lack of education, the lack of social skills and so forth. It was then I felt a strong conviction that I needed to go back to school and finish what I had dreamt. I honestly felt like a fool working here without any education or background experiences. Yet, I believed the creator allowed me to hold this job to experience things that would make me consider going back to school to better myself and the young people I would be working with.

Later, I attempted to take some social work education in Alberta but did not get funded so I had no choice but to return back to Ontario. Then, I relocated to Toronto and met people from different parts of the world. The social issues they faced prior to coming to Canada were nothing new to me. Each person I met had a similar story to share. I knew in my heart that upon meeting these people that they were genuine and special. In fact, I found it very unique. I told them about an ongoing project that we had started called SEVEN. They checked out our website and started getting interested with native people. In all seriousness, they thought we still lived in teepees or igloos. Even though they had been in Canada for no more then 10-20 years, they thought the “Indians” still used horses.

Having heard about the SEVEN project, they found out we were in fact people with similar issues as them.
So you see, my blabbing is not just to tell you I have made some minor mistakes in life. I could’ve accomplished much more, perhaps finish college or even be working in a much finer job. But, I don’t worry that much about it now as much as I used too. Being part of SEVEN has allowed me to see things more positively.

Ever since I have been involved with SEVEN, I have made much more progress than ever before. I believe, from my credits sheet, I will be graduating in June. I have applied for college already but we’ll see what happens. I have endeavored to see changes happen.

Although it takes a great price and a big step, I will do whatever it takes to see our children succeed in today’s mainstream society. But I believe it all starts with us first. So therefore, I have come back to my schooling and made my first step – my next step… well, we’ll see what happens!