Solo grad organizes own prom, raises $2,300 to pay for it

Many would agree that they had to clear a few hurdles to get to the point of graduation.

For Kimberley Reid of Change Islands, some of her biggest hurdles came with actually graduating.

In a community of about 300 people, Reid was the lone graduate of A. R. Scammell Academy this year.

She was her school's sole planning committee member, and it was up to her to organize her own graduation event.

All the memories and all the stories that I have are from out here.- Kimberley Reid

"Sometimes it was a little bit stressful," she told CBC Radio's Central Morning Show.

At some points, Reid wished she had fellow graduates to help her. But then she would imagine the potential disagreements and quickly appreciated how she got to do things her way.

"So it was fun to do it by myself, but it wasn't easy," she said.

She was responsible for the catering, the decorations, and the funding.

But Reid wasn't deterred from the task, and she had her family's support along the way.

Drawing inspiration from her mother who sold calendars of Change Islands a few years ago, Reid made calendars to sell for graduation funds.

At first, she ordered 100 calendars and advertised them on Facebook. Within three days, she had to order another 100.

"The amount of support and interest we got was mind-blowing," said Reid.

In total, she was able to raise over $2,300 for her celebration day, enough money to invite the whole town to a meet-and greet and 100 guests to a graduation supper with fancy dresses, suits and speeches.

Her grandmother stepped in to help with the decorations as a graduation gift to Reid.

The whole day became a "big community event," said Reid. "It was a wonderful time." 

Alone and independent

For their senior year, Reid's classmates all moved away to attend school in class.

Reid chose to stay in Change Islands and take online classes instead.

"I didn't want to leave and start a brand new school for one year," she said. "All the memories and all the stories that I have are from out here."

"It's home."

For university, however, Reid said she plans to move to St. John's in the fall to hopefully attend Memorial University of Newfoundland.

She said she feels that taking only online courses for the whole year actually prepared her for university by making her more independent.

"There's no help," said Reid.

"If you don't do the work, you don't get the grade, which is kind of similar to university. If you don't do the work, tough nuts."

Bad luck in the days after grad

Reid had some bad news in the days following her graduation.

Three days after the big day, her grandparents' house burned down.

The couple is now staying with Reid and her family in Change Islands, while friends and family work to build a small home for them.

Despite the terrible incident, Reid expressed how grateful she is that her grandparents weren't hurt.

"Yes, we can never go into Grandma's house, the same house, again," said Reid.

"But, you can still hug Grandma, you can still see your grandfather — and you can still have the memories. That's one thing that can't be burned is your memories."