She dropped out at 13. Now she's won a national literacy award

When most other junior high students were struggling with math equations or writing essays, Jocelyne Boutilier was changing diapers, tidying up and cooking meals to help her mother, who worked to ensure their family of eight was housed and properly fed.

And when the pressures of helping her mom struggle with the daily chores in Amherst, N.S., became overwhelming, she dropped out of school as a young teen and helped care for her younger brothers.

"My mother had six children so she was struggling financially," Boutilier told CBC News. "She [was] working, trying to support her children and often she didn't have a babysitter or it just got too costly to have a babysitter, so often I would be the one to watch them."

Nearly a decade after that decision to leave school, Boutilier was honoured Friday at Province House in Halifax with a Council of the Federation Literacy Award, one of 14 recipients this year from across the country. She's now heading off to Dalhousie University.

It's a remarkable turnaround for the 22-year-old, who as an adult returned to school for the education she never received, and who through determination and the help of dedicated teachers has changed her life.

Dropped out of school at 13

Boutillier said she was 11 when she started babysitting. She was trying to go to school and look after her siblings afterwards, but by the time she was 13 she'd had enough.

"I ended up dropping out because I missed so much time," she said. "I didn't know anything I needed to know and it just got extremely stressful to me to the point where I didn't want to be there anymore."

Later, she tried to return and complete her high school education, but failed. It was overwhelming, she said, and she didn't have the confidence or drive.

Turning points

She began to see things differently when she had two girls of her own.

"Having those children there that depend on me is really what gives me my drive," she said. "I cannot fail because I cannot fail them."

Another turning point was when Angela Parsons, the grandmother to the two girls, stepped in and offered free child care and a place to live in Riverport, on Nova Scotia's South Shore. Boutlier said Parsons saw her struggling and in need of "some kind of lifeline."

A class treading water

Boutilier has spent the last year and a half at Bridgewater Adult High School completing 16 courses, more than she needed to simply graduate.

Teacher Karen Brazil taught her subjects such as global geography, Canadian literature and English. 

"She was in a group of people that were kind of treading water and I thought, 'OK, there's another water-treader,'" Brazil said of her first impression. 

"It was only about a week before I realized, 'Oh my goodness, this is somebody who wants to move on. This is somebody with goals.'"

Brazil said when the two discussed those goals, they agreed psychiatric nursing might be her best career choice. That prompted a visit to Dalhousie University to speak with the registrar. 

It was not encouraging.

"They said, 'Look last year we had 400 applicants and 56 seats, so basically good luck,'" Brazil said.

By that time Boutilier had enough credits to get her high school diploma, but nowhere near the courses she needed to even apply to the nursing program. She was not deterred.

"She took really, really tough academic-level classes instead and loaded herself up with those classes, applied to three schools," said Brazil.

Despite her work ethic and drive, neither Brazil nor Boutilier were convinced the young woman could win a nursing seat.

But the three universities each offered her a place.

'This kid blossomed' 

What makes the accomplishment all the more remarkable for Brazil is her former star student's personal history.

"This kid blossomed, just absolutely blossomed as soon as somebody said, 'You've got the goods,'" she said.

It was Brazil who convinced her to apply for the Council of the Federation Literacy Award, which was created in 2004 by the council of Canadian premiers and is meant to "celebrate outstanding achievement, innovative practice, and excellence in literacy."

She is now heading off to class at the Dalhousie University school of nursing where she's in her first year, with an entrance scholarship to the program.

"Could not be prouder," Brazil said. "Could not be prouder if it was my own child."