Class of 2021: Meet 3 Winnipeg high school students from this year's graduating class
Alana Cole | CBC News | Posted: June 16, 2021 10:00 AM | Last Updated: June 16, 2021
Tec-Voc, Maples Collegiate, Fort Richmond Collegiate students on what it's like graduating during a pandemic
CBC Manitoba spoke with three Winnipeg high school students about what they're planning for next fall and what it's been like to finish Grade 12 during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also asked them what message they have for their fellow graduates.
Sasha Houle
Sasha Houle already knows what she wants to do when she graduates from high school at the end of June.
The Grade 12 student at Technical Vocational High School has been accepted into the faculty of health sciences at the University of Manitoba and aims to one day become a psychiatrist.
"Every day I see many youth across Canada being stigmatized based on the fact that they have a mental illness," Houle said.
"I want to help in the best way possible to erase that stigma and definitely give them safe spaces so that they can share their thoughts and feelings and approach different ways of healing."
WATCH | Learn more about Tec-Voc grad Sasha Houle:
Houle, who has been chosen as the school's valedictorian, has worked hard over the years to make her dreams a reality.
Her grade average is currently hovering around 99 per cent. She also finds the time to volunteer in a variety of areas, including her school's youth in philanthropy committee, with Project Pulse Winnipeg and as a tutor.
Tec-Voc teacher Kathleen Mira said having Houle as a student has been a blessing.
"I'm just amazed at her ability to prioritize, her giving nature, her intellect — the list is almost endless," Mira said. "She is extremely, extremely bright. She will do good things in her life."
Houle's drive to give back to the community stems from her own experience growing up.
"I think I've really always felt like I took a lot from the community around me when I was growing up," Houle said.
"I grew up always in the West End and I always made use of many different after-school science programs during my childhood.… It's gratifying to be on the giving end."
Houle has earned a long list of academic awards for achievements in the classroom.
Earlier this year, she was awarded a Manitoba Indigenous Youth Achievement Award for academics in her age category. She more recently found out she'd earned the University of Manitoba's Queen Elizabeth II entrance scholarship.
Houle said while this has been a difficult year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she's impressed by what her classmates have accomplished.
"I think every single person that is graduating this year deserves a spotlight, even if it's not in the way that we hoped," she said.
"We should just always be reminded of what we have achieved, even though things have been hard throughout it, even though we had to persevere through so much. We overcame everything and we still managed to come out on top."
Richard Ilagan
Richard Ilagan didn't grow up dreaming about a career on the stage.
But when the Maples Collegiate student took on the role of Gaston in the Winnipeg high school's production of Beauty and the Beast last year, he realized he was hooked.
"Seeing the lights, hearing the cheers, the applause — the moment I heard that on stage, I knew that's what I wanted to pursue from that point forward," he said.
Ilagan is one of roughly 300 students graduating from Maples Collegiate at the end of June. This fall, the 18-year-old plans to continue to follow his passion for musical theatre at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont.
WATCH | Learn more about Maples grad Richard Ilagan:
"It's still surreal to me to this day, even though it's been three months since I got accepted," he said.
"My work up until this point, everything I've worked towards, has paid off for this milestone."
That work started in Grade 11, when the school's drama teacher, Robin Quintana, asked him to audition for Beauty and the Beast.
Quintana had just started teaching at the school and was looking to drum up interest in the show. He recognized Ilagan from a previous job he held with the Maples Youth Activity Centre.
"I was just walking through the commons and just trying to see if I knew anyone there who would be willing to join the musical and luckily enough, like, Richard was a familiar face that walked by," Quintana said.
When Ilagan decided he wanted to pursue theatre after graduation, Quintana did whatever he could to help his student get into the best program possible.
"We shot for the stars and we worked for about 17 days straight … with the singing, dancing and acting portions of the audition process," Quintana said.
"We were super happy that he got in.… Being able to see his breakthrough within such a short amount of time was just a moment that I'll never forget."
Ilagan says finishing high school during a pandemic has been difficult, but being involved in the arts department at school has helped him stay positive.
And his message for other grads is one of resilience.
"As hard as it is, not being able to have our grad this year and not being able to walk the stage and take that diploma and shake hands with our administrators, we're all in this together," Ilagan said.
"We're all hurting, so just never, never feel that you're alone in this. This is something we'll overcome and we've got bigger things to look forward to in life."
Hanna Hashi
When Hanna Hashi graduates high school at the end of the month, she plans to follow her passion for music.
The Grade 12 student and trumpet player from Fort Richmond Collegiate in Winnipeg will be studying music at the University of Saskatchewan.
"When you listen to music, really good music that you love, it stimulates your brain and you just connect physically and emotionally," said Hashi. "I loved the feeling of playing my trumpet and just getting lost in the music and so I did not want to give that up."
WATCH | Learn more about Fort Richmond Collegiate grad Hanna Hashi:
Hashi plays in the school's concert band, wind ensemble and jazz band.
But music isn't all she hopes to study at university.
The 17-year-old is also passionate about raising awareness around women's health issues and would like to eventually study medicine.
"In the past it's been hard to kind of identify female health concerns from male health concerns," she said.
"But now, as time's moving on, we're researching, we're able to identify the differences.… I want to be a part of that."
Cheryl Ferguson has taught Hashi over the last three years in the school's band program.
"Teaching Hanna is just a pure joy," Ferguson said. "She comes to class with such an open heart and open mind, and such an empathetic attitude towards others."
She's also a talented musician, Ferguson added.
"She is a stunning trumpet player, she's got a beautiful singing voice and she's very connected emotionally with the things that she's playing, and so she's able to bring a very expressive element."
Hashi said finishing high school during a pandemic has had its challenges.
She said students were at school on alternating days, so she didn't get the opportunity to connect with people the way she would have in a typical school year.
It's also difficult to have events such as concerts, band trips and graduation cancelled, she said.
"There's been a lot of sadness and grief over our grad because many people have been looking forward to our graduation, the dinner and just the dresses and the suits and just spending time with each other in person."
While this year has been hard, she's grateful the music programs at her school have continued, she said.
Her message to other students finishing high school at the end of the month: Things won't stay this way forever.
"We all don't have all the answers," she said.
"We don't know exactly how things are going to turn out, but know that this is temporary and you should still live your life to the best of your ability…. There's more to life than COVID and that's something that I've had to realize too."