Celebrating Canada's post-secondary class of 2021 – part one

Guests: Sila Rogan, Dr.Sarita Verma, Omar Elchami

MATT GALLOWAY: Hello, I'm Matt Galloway. It has been a tough year, full of very heavy news. We're going to take a break from that on the programme today. This is a special edition of The Current, a celebration of post-secondary graduates in the class of 2021.

SOUNDCLIP

Graduation day today. The problem is with covid we can't have all our family here, but I'm super proud of Britney and all the grads. It's happy days today.

MG: Graduation is a happy day for Bobby Chandler from Charlottetown and for legions of other proud parents, families and students across this country.

SOUNDCLIP

And we're here today on campus celebrating our graduates and they're lining up, getting ready to receive their parchment.

MG: Excited students are lining up to receive their degrees. But once again, this year, convocations are not what they would normally be. The pandemic has meant that they are scaled back, not the grand tributes graduating students deserve. Well, we will not let the class of 2021 go under. Celebrated next week, we'll honour high school grads. Today, we're holding our own convocation ceremony for post-secondary graduates. So as you take your seat and as our special guests and students prepare to join me on stage, let's hear a bit more from the University of Prince Edward Islands celebration for their graduates in nursing. Take it away, Nicole Phillips.

SOUNDCLIP

NICOLE PHILLIPS: So they'll be entering a tent and they're being greeted by a number of volunteers, including our chaplain and campus minister, Sister Sue Kidd.

SISTER SUE: Tarararah. I need a pen, got a pen and pens, all for the price of your degree. It's a good deal.

NICOLE PHILLIPS: So Sister Sue is helping some of our graduates have gowns to wear so that they feel like they're actually crossing a convocation stage and she's helping them pin their hoods.

SISTER SUE: Well done, gentlemen. Well done. Employed nurses. I hope so. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Today my job is cheerleader. I'm wandering around encouraging our graduates.

BLAKE ANSINAULT: My name is Blake Arsinault. I'm definitely grateful to finish. It's exciting. More excited to get started with job and get done in school. It's been a long journey.

NICOLE PHILLIPS: Congratulations. Very exciting day for you.

BLAKE ANSINAULT: Thank you. Very exciting yeah.

NICOLE PHILLIPS: Congratulations.

AIDA IRENA AMBILTON: My name is Aida Irena Ambilton. It's been definitely a very different experience graduating during the covid-19 pandemic, but we all adapted pretty well. I think we shall be really proud of ourselves. I've been lucky enough to be around a number of births and newborn babies with my job. It's awesome. Never gets old. It really never gets old. I'm lucky enough to have my fiancee here with me today and he's been a huge part of the reason why I got through nursing school. But unfortunately, I have a lot of family that lives abroad. So my dad in particular lives in Saudi Arabia. So he watched on YouTube, was taking screenshots and gave me a call afterwards and was super excited.

MG: Feeling a bit of that excitement, too, we are set to begin our ceremony and to welcome the graduates who will be crossing our virtual stage today. We have invited Dr. Sarita Verma to say a few words. Dr. Verma is Dean, president and CEO of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, a school whose purpose is to train doctors who can serve the needs of northern and remote communities in Canada after a change in its affiliations with other Ontario universities. The school has just become the country's newest one. It is Canada's first freestanding medical university. Dr. Sarita Verma, good morning.

DR. SARITA VERMA: Good morning.

MG: That this has been such a strange year. How are you feeling getting to the end of this unusual school year?

DR. SARITA VERMA: Well, you know, I'm incredibly excited at our school. We're about to graduate. Sixty six new MDs and another seventy two physicians going into practise in areas of need. So, honestly, we all feel a profound sense of fatigue. But I do want to say to the students graduating from colleges and universities, you're imaginative, inventive, inquisitive and inspiring. And so that is actually what keeps us all going. I feel optimistic.

MG: Why do you feel optimistic at a time when the news has been really bleak?

DR. SARITA VERMA: You know, the words that have become our buzzwords right now, like AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, they're in the rear-view mirror because vaccinology have found solutions. We had a pandemic which really has and continues to cause great concern in the country and in places like India, where my family is originally found. For sure, you can get very depressed. But health care in a world where in fact, it was probably a very interesting profession, health care workers are going into one of the most riskiest and scariest professions. But they're not doing that, you know, being scared. They're going in there, leaping right into it because that's why they went into health care in the first place. And, you know, after everything that happened, we have actually I have a world in some sectors where even though you can have the big wedding and you don't have that vacation after convocation to rest on the beach, but you have a world where when you cannot have all the pomp, you can rise to the circumstances.

MG: This pandemic offered your students the opportunity to do that directly. I mean, they were directly involved in some of the vaccination campaigns in northern Ontario in particular. What were they doing?

DR. SARITA VERMA: Well, they actually had to learn cultural competency when they went into indigenous communities and actually they learnt public health. They had to go on what some people would think for as adventurers, but it was pitifully cold. And they went into flying communities, a 14 hour day alive, go through ceremonies, smudging, respecting elders, providing informed consent, give the vaccines, wait for the 15 to 30 minutes to observe patients, and then fly back to their home base, stay in a hotel because they were quarantined and then go back the next day. So people went on on one to two week rotations. When we put out our call for volunteers within 24hours, we had 300 volunteers espectacular. By the way, other universities did go as well, but them had a substantial commitment because that's where we live and work. That's where we are.

MG: How do you think all of this I mean, that experience, but also what they've been through in the last couple of years is going to change how they see their role as doctors?

DR. SARITA VERMA: You know, these doctors have experienced first hand knowledge of health inequities, and they made them, I think, into more resilient physicians, physicians who are able to cope with adversity, who are nimble and agile, going in every day into a community or into a hospital, into an ICU where there is a huge risk to you not being able to see your patients and lay hands on them until you could learn how to do that. Not being able to see your family and your children, because you go home and you're quarantined because you're at high risk of either exposing them or exposing others. And I think this really gave them insight into what they normally would learn anyway. But in this case, it was an intense learning experience. I actually believe that the pandemic has made us into better physicians. As a family doctor, I would find it really inspirational to be part of that kind of learning environment.

MG: Your own career has been inspirational. You were a diplomat and Canada's foreign service. You worked for years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. You're an award winning educator in medicine and as you mentioned, a family physician as well. So, Dr Verma, would you please share some words of. Inspiration with Canada's class of 2021.

DR. SARITA VERMA: The future is ahead of you, it's an amazing future. I actually trained originally as a lawyer at the University of Ottawa. That training actually gave me a platform on which I could become a humanitarian relief worker in Ethiopia and Sudan. And those experiences really inspired me to go into medicine. But I've never stayed in one place. I've always seen that life is an evolution and you're part of it and you have tremendous, tremendous bright future. I'm actually in awe of all of these writers, philosophers, artists, engineers, scientists, physicians who are going to graduate. You have so much power in such a bright future. You've actually experienced adversity, you know, with inequity. Looks like, you know, you've been the ones who've spoken up about Black Lives Matter, about hashtag me too, about choice echelon and Justice for Choice. You're now actually the one speaking out about the conflict between Israel and Gaza. You've spoken up about Harry and Meghan. I mean, you've learnt and seen so much that you are the voices of not just the future, but of the present. The words like covidiot, [unintelligible] unprecedented and of course, New Normal are being replaced by words like vaccinated, herd immunity, a vaccine passport and the highly anticipated corona baby generation are yet to come. But you are going to lead the way. I do know that I have to give you some practical advice, because as a physician, I have to say this. Keep washing your hands even when the pandemic is over and even if you're fully vaccinated, keep in touch with your friends on college and university and even high school. They will be the closest people in your life and will always be there for you. Be accurate. Don't spread rumours or misinformation on social media. Just remember that everything you say and put on social media now is there ever so. Be careful. Be kind to everyone. You've actually learnt that we have to be kind to people who are in line-ups who've been waiting there for a long time. And when the world opens up after this global viral apocalypse, learn that you have tremendous resiliency. Be a citizen of the world, be courageous in the world, be a leader in the world. Change, courage and citizenship. These three things will guide you through the rest of your life. And I just want to close with a story about my mom, who was a single mom, an immigrant from India, came with three children and she had a Ph.D. in religion. Not very helpful, but she did go on to become a cashier at Fairweather's. That's how she started her career in Ottawa. And she always used to say to us, you know, you have to believe that you are capable of doing anything, no matter what. A fundamental belief in yourself and your ability to accomplish whatever you set your mind to will enable you to succeed. She always said, if you believe you can, you're right. So I'll just close with the last sentence from Barack Obama, which is, Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table. So go on, show off. The world is waiting for you and all the best. And congratulations.

[Applause]

MG: Thank you very much, Dr. Sarita Vermaak, dean of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

[Music]

MG: It's time now to meet some of these remarkable graduates. Several are lined up to walk across our stage and receive their diploma. We're going to stay in the field of health care. Sila Rogan is 21 and she's receiving a bachelor of science in life sciences from the University of British Columbia and is getting set to enter medical school at UBC next year. Sila, welcome and congratulations.

SILA ROGAN: Oh, thank you.

MG: When did you know that you wanted to be a doctor?

SILA ROGAN: I've always been pretty drawn to the life sciences ever since I was like a really little kid. And when I was like 11 or 12, I kind of like started to seriously understand what it meant to be a doctor. And I really was pretty excited about being able to help other people with my love for science.

MG: How has that changed over the last year when we have seen doctors and nurses and health practitioners right at the very front lines of this pandemic?

SILA ROGAN: I think that it's really highlighted how important our health care workers are, and I'm really honoured to be able to be a part of that community.

MG: We're often shaped in the course of education by teachers who who change our lives in many ways. Tell me about Miss Hanson.

SILA ROGAN: Miss Hanson is my high school English teacher. Actually, on the day that I found out that I got into medical school. I also found out that she was the recipient of an award that I nominated her for. And that was really meaningful to me because I think that Miss Hanson, like so many high school teachers, really shaped me into the person that I am today, whether that be through really pushing me out of my comfort zone to do my best in school and believing in me as well as just being like super kind and encouraging and also being a amazing reference for a scholarship that my post-secondary education. And it's one of those things where someone has touched my life in a way that I can never possibly, like, reciprocate. It was really life changing to have met her and been her student.

MG: It sounds like you had a big smile on your face when I mentioned her name.

SILA ROGAN: Yeah, I did.

MG: You're physically out of your comfort zone now. I mean, you're in Vancouver, but you grew up in Winnipeg. And I mean, that's not even where you were born. Tell me a little bit about where home really is for you.

SILA ROGAN: It's an interesting question, but I was born in Iqaluit, Nunavut that's like pretty far north. And when I was five years old, my family and I moved down to Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is where I grew up. And then I guess I got transplanted to Vancouver for my undergrad. I think that we're really lucky to live in a country where getting around is pretty easy. And I think that, like having travel halted for all of this year has been a little bit challenging, especially with the cases being so high in Manitoba and being unable to go home. I feel like a lot of post-secondary students have had to struggle with being separated from family during like a really stressful time, which is university and during a pandemic and. Yeah.

MG: It's hard, when was the last time you saw your family?

SILA ROGAN: We're coming up on a year now.

MG: What do you carry with you from the community in your heritage, from the north?

SILA ROGAN: I don't know if you've ever been there before, but I really hope that, like all Canadians get the opportunity to visit the Arctic, it's really beautiful. And the culture there is really amazing. With climate change, I sometimes get a little bit nervous about, like, I'll come back and it'll never be the same. So I think that it's really driven you to care deeply about the planet. And I am Inuit, although I've been kind of disconnected from the culture as many Inuit might have been. Something that has always stuck with me is just to respect everything that's around you.

MG: There are people who are entering undergrad coming up in the fall and they're entering a world that you're just on your way out of. What advice would you give them?

SILA ROGAN: I think that it's a really interesting time to be starting school. Personally, I'm a little bit anxious to, like, go back into lecture halls. I'm sure that there are lots of long term psychological impacts of this pandemic will have on everybody. But I think that my advice for people entering their undergrad this year is to really not close doors for yourself. I went in thinking that my undergrad experience would be one way and thank goodness it was like a million different things. I just think that university is a really great time to learn about yourself in the world around you and try to, I guess, go into it with love and not fear.

MG: And when I talk to you in ten years time and your doctor Rogen, where do you want to be?

SILA ROGAN: I think that it would be really rewarding to serve communities that have been historically underserved. In many ways, the Canadian health care system is one of the best in the world, but there is still a lot of people that need more help than they're receiving. And I think that I'd really like to help close some of those health care gaps.

MG: I can't wait until you are able to do that. And I hope you see your family soon. And congratulations again and enjoy this next step.

SILA ROGAN: Thanks so much and have a great day.

MG: And you.

[Music]

MG: Our next guest is Omar ElChami. He's 18, has earned a diploma in personal support work from St. Clair College, and Omar is already working at a long term care home in Windsor. Omar, congratulations.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Thank you.

MG: Why did you want to become a personal support worker?

OMAR ELCHAMI: I always wanted to help people, and I saw this programme as a stepping stone into other things. So nursing and doctor. And it's also just great when you go into work. It's a whole other family, like getting to know the residents and even your co-workers. It's a whole other community.

MG: And you've been doing that now over the course of the pandemic, working in a long term care home, right?

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yes.

MG: What does that been like?

OMAR ELCHAMI: You know, handwashing, the normal stuff that's always been there, but face shield masks and PPE and interacting with the elderly is very alarming for them, seeing that every day when they wake up. But now things are starting to get back to normal.

MG: You've been right there on the front lines.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yeah, but I was a student, so I wasn't allowed to have any covid cases.

MG: One of the things that we've heard about so much is, is that in many ways personal support workers are helping to keep the system together. And there's so important in that system a system that has in many ways a lot of cracks. Do you feel like that's what you've seen?

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yes, because it's very understaffed, all the workers I've seen over work or they're just kind of at their breaking point.

MG: In the middle of all of this, you had covid yourself.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yes, at the beginning of the pandemic, my father, he is a butcher interacting with the community, that he contracted it from someone else and he brought it home and he had it worse than any one. Hospital visit, lungs, all the worst stuff that possibly happened.

MG: But everybody's OK now.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yes, everyone is doing good.

MG: What about his butcher shop?

OMAR ELCHAMI: We had to close. Financially we were fine, but it kind of gave us the shock of, like, reality and how everyone was affected, how people lost their jobs, how some people may not survive this.

MG: Tell me about the school that you went to, you went to school in London, Ontario, when you were growing up?

OMAR ELCHAMI: I went to a school of [unintelligible] is a school for dyslexic, like myself. And I went there for grade eight in grade nine. Yeah. And I lived there for two years, basically for those two years to help me raise my grade level from a one point three to a grade nine.

MG: That's amazing.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yeah. And living there was the best two years in their life.

MG: The best two years of your life.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yes. Like you're alone. You're without your parent as a child. That's the best thing. But I would call home every day crying. I miss you, Mom. I wasn't so much. But knowing that you're improving and you don't feel like a [unintelligible].

MG: Like, how did your experience with dyslexia shape who you are now as a college grad, do you think?

OMAR ELCHAMI: Honesty, resilience. Anything that I got bullied on for not knowing how to read or write coming out of that, knowing that you can really do anything. And there's always someone out there to help you, no matter how afraid you are to ask or how how little you feel. There's always someone out there.

MG: Who is that person for you?

OMAR ELCHAMI: My mom. She thought she's been [unintelligible] for me for anything I needed.

MG: She must be incredibly proud of you having graduated from college.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Yes. Yes, she is.

MG: Omar, it's great to talk to you. Thank you very much. And congratulations again.

OMAR ELCHAMI: Thank you.

MG: I'm Matt Galloway. You're listening to a special edition of The Current, a celebration of post-secondary graduates in the class of 2021. We will continue with our perception of grads, valedictorians and special guests coming up right after the CBC News.

SOUNDCLIP

Hey there. Class of t2021 graduates, Hayley Wickenheiser congratulations. I can actually say that I understand what it feels like to graduate and in a pandemic because I graduated medical school in pandemic this year, certainly a year like none other that we've experienced in our lives. I know this year has been likely very challenging and difficult, but I'm a big believer that in life it's not necessarily what happens to us that matters. It's how we choose to respond to it moving forward that defines us, that builds a resiliency, that establishes our character, and that sets us up for greater successes later on. So as you guys all move out of this year and into wherever life may take you next year, I wish you nothing but the best. Take all the lessons, all the hard times, all the good times, and rocket yourself forward into your next adventures. Congrats, guys.

Celebrating Canada's post-secondary class of 2021 – part two

Guests: Chedi Mbaga, Mick Favel, Leah Arvidsson, Max Arvidsson, Nochole Strickland

MG: Hello, I'm Matt Galloway. You're listening to a special edition of The Current, a celebration of post-secondary graduates in the class of 2021. Give them all a round of applause.

[Applause]

MG: Convocations are different again this year, we can't sadly bring together hundreds of people into gyms or auditoriums, but here, through the miracle of radio, we can assemble hundreds of thousands. And so today we are having our own ceremony for students graduating from college and university. We have valedictorians and speeches coming up. But first, our graduates have their caps and gowns on and it's time to continue to meet the class of 2021.

[Music]

Chedi Mbaga is graduating from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Science in Geodesy and Geometrics Engineering. Chedi, congratulations.

CHEDI MBAGA: Thank you so much.

MG: What exactly is geometrics engineering?

CHEDI MBAGA: So gymnastics is kind of the practical application of mapping and positioning. So when you type in a place on Google Maps like one, how does it know where you are? And then if you're going somewhere, how does it know how to get you there?

MG: And where do you think that will lead you in years ahead?

CHEDI MBAGA: That's an interesting question, one that I ask myself quite a bit. With graduation, I'm actually working in a company that does something completely different. So we're looking at thermal conductivity and not so much mapping. But the one thing that I think I took out of the engineering programme is just how do you break apart a big problem and then tackle it. And so I guess the short answer is we'll see.

MG: You're also stepping into a really uncertain world. I mean, it's been you take a look at the last year or so and there has been a real societal shift, particularly around issues of race and culture and this racial reckoning and racial awakening. How has that impacted the year that you've had?

CHEDI MBAGA: Overall, it's been a huge net positive, so I know that growing up, there were definitely a lot of experiences that I've had, whether it's like micro aggressions on a daily basis or just flagrant, I guess what I would call like a violation of my- I don't know of of myself pretty much, but it can be tough to have those experiences validated when people aren't open to learning more. And I think one of the wonderful things taking place over the past year is people asking questions. And it provided a platform for folks like myself to speak to our lived experiences, to have them heard and to have constructive conversations and even on the very flip. So for those who might feel uncomfortable with discussions around race, well, that I also see as a net positive because you can start with discomfort and move somewhere. But apathy in itself, you really have nowhere to go from. So I have friends who ask, well, I'm not sure if this is OK to ask, but I honestly don't know. And that is wonderful, because I know that if I look back over my upbringing, there are many moments when because of whether it was the groups I was engaged in or the way that I composed myself, it's like, wow, you come across as very white. And that microaggression that people might not obviously see makes it very tough to speak to how things can be made better. So to get to a point now where it's like to have my friends say, well, I don't know if this is OK, but I want to learn more, has just been phenomenal.

MG: Those are uncomfortable conversations, as you say.

CHEDI MBAGA: They are. They are. But I think it's in discomfort that we find growth.

MG: Graduation is such a personal thing, but it also means a lot to family members. I mean, tell me about your family and how they're reacting to you stepping into this new world.

CHEDI MBAGA: So I'm the oldest of five and we were raised largely by a single mom. And so for us, it's a pretty big deal to be graduating because it's like setting a good example for my siblings. So it's very exciting for all of us.

MG: And you're somebody who thinks a lot about goals, right?

CHEDI MBAGA: I do, I do. So my 30 year goal, I would love to be prime minister one day.

MG: Woah! Stop right there? You would like to be prime minister?

CHEDI MBAGA: Yes, sir. I grew up in the Rexdale neighbourhood. That's one of the more underserved communities in Toronto. And you see a lot of things. You see kind of the inequality that exists. You see people working very hard every day to provide for their families. And some of the conversations that I've either been a part of or heard just people offhand mention comments of like, oh, like why don't these people work harder or like they're lazy. You realise that it's about access to opportunity. It's about having the supports that you need in order to better yourself and feel like you're living a fulfilled life. And I think the best way to ensure that that equality is realised is through kind of systemic change. So that's kind of why Prime Minister is such a huge goal, because it's realising like where I come from, but then also the privilege that I've had to experience some things and wanting to, at the end of the day, make the world a little bit of a better place.

MG: Fantastic. Now, in the meantime, before you get there, you're still in lockdown in Frederickton. Who's Misha?

CHEDI MBAGA: Mishka.

MG: Mishka?

CHEDI MBAGA: Yeah, she's my three and a half month old puppy. She's a German Shepherd lab mix. And I brought her home a little over a month and a half ago. And she's just been my sunshine, like something to look forward to when I come home from work. And when I wake up in the morning, one of my best friends, I would say.

MG: Fantastic, congratulations again. And when you become prime minister down the line, should I still be anywhere near here, I hope we have the opportunity to talk from that position. In the meantime, well done.

CHEDI MBAGA: Thank you so much, man. It's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you.

[Music]

MG: Joining us next on stage with their story, Leah and Max Arvidsson, they are both receiving Masters of music and performance and literature from Western University.

LEAH ARVIDSSON: We're so happy to be here. And congratulations to all the other 2021 graduates. We did it! So a little bit about how it feels to graduate this year is a lot of emotions. All in one. You feel a little bit disappointed because it wasn't quite the last year that you were hoping to have. But you look back on it thinking we did the best we could and we get to now celebrate a little bit.

MAX ARVIDSSON: Honestly, I should feel like a little bit empowerment, finishing a master's degree in performance while everything else is closed down. That's that's impressive, in my opinion.

LEAH ARVIDSSON: I was doing my undergraduate at the University of Windsor in music, and I went on exchange in my fourth year and I went to Sweden and I studied at Ingesund Musikhogskolan in Arvika and that's where I met Max and we met at the end of the orientation week. And we were kind of inseparable since then. We got engaged September 2017 and well, we got married 2018.

MAX ARVIDSSON: We're a package deal essentially. Buy one get two for free.

LEAH ARVIDSSON: I would get two.

MAX ARVIDSSON: Being a married couple during a pandemic has actually been quite helpful because we make sure each other are sane, well, relatively sane because she can give me advice and give her advice or we can just help each other.

LEAH ARVIDSSON: Along with the social distancing that we had set up and all of the masks and the sanitising stations. Within the classrooms, we had sort of phone booths with no back where you would just walk into them and it would be Plexiglas in front of you and the sides and they would be on reels and you could reel them around.

[Music]

MAX ARVIDSSON: One of the productions we did was Gianni Schicchi by Puccini, which is an Italian family drama opera. It requires nine main cast members on stage, which means everyone has to be six feet apart from each other with masks, with barriers on top of having an orchestra on stage, because they also have to be six feet apart from each other as well.

LEAH ARVIDSSON: So at the end of our degree, at the end of the year, we get to do a recital which kind of shows off how we've improved and what we've been working on throughout the semesters.

MAX ARVIDSSON: And then something that happened with my recital was that it was getting in through the middle of April and the case is starting to soar in all of Ontario, but also where we live in London. So on the day of my dress rehearsal, which was four days before my actual recital, my accompanist, Maestro Simone Luthe and my Professor, Professor Ted Burke, they called me and said, hey, we don't know if we are going to get shut down or not. Do you think you can do your accredited recital tonight without the dress rehearsal. And OI'm like. Yeah, sure. I just got my tux ready, put it on, did my recital without a dress rehearsal and I passed. So I guess I did good.

LEAH ARVIDSSON: I did a recital based on women composers, lyricist or songs that were written specifically for a woman in mind or somebody who identifies as female, and it was really interesting to wonder what they would be thinking when they would be writing this kind of what was going on in history at the time and just how they valued life at that time. And we're kind of re-evaluating how we value life with the pandemic changes. So it was really cool to kind of connect on on that level to the female composers.

SOUNDCLIP

[Opera song]

MG: My name is Matt Galloway today on The Current, a celebration of the class, the 2021.

[Music]

MG: Our next graduate is Nichole Strickland. She has earned a bachelor of engineering in aeronautical engineering from the Royal Military College. Nicole, congratulations. Thank you very much. Graduating is a big thing. How are you feeling?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: I am ecstatic.

MG: Take me back in the time machine. Why did you want to join the military?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: Well, I have a long line of military in my family, so it was always something that was there and that was an option I thought about. And I really just, you know, I wanted my life to have meaning. And I knew that, you know, just being in the military, no matter what I did, it would give me that. I am very patriotic. I love Canada. I love being Canadian. So what better way to do that than to support it.

MG: To graduate from RMIT? What are the requirements that you have to meet to get to to the finish line?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: So those four pillars at our embassy. So there's the academic pillar, which is getting your university degree. There's the bilingually pillar, which is getting a minimum standard of French because the military is a bilingual force. There's the athletic pillar. So we have physical training test every semester and then there's the military pillar. So we have sort of like a hierarchy within within the cadet wing at Arms V, which mimics the kind of the rest of the military. And you have to have a certain position that is in charge of subordinates and troops and you have to be successful in that position in order to graduate.

MG: What was that position for you?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: Well, for me, I had a few. This year, I was the cadet wing commander, which is kind of like the top position, which is in charge of all cadets at the college.

MG: Cadet wing commander. What do you have to do?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: So the wing is basically everyone at the RMC, all the students or officer naval cadets as cadet wing commander. I kind of the top cadet in charge of everyone. And then I have a team under me that are in charge of the four divisions. And then within those divisions, there's three squadrons. So it's like a triangle that goes down. And I'm kind of at the top of that, just overseeing everything that happens.

MG: What's it like being in that leadership position?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: I was very grateful because it really teaches you how to lead on a different level. I know going through my career, I look back on this experience and the lessons I've learnt and the tricks, and I will definitely carry that through my career and through my life as well.

MG: You had to take a year off this programme.

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: I did. So the summer after I completed my second year at sea, I was diagnosed with leukaemia. And so I had to take a year off to undergo chemotherapy, radiation and eventually a stem cell transplant and then recovering from that.

MG: How are you doing now?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: I'm good. After two years after the transplant, you're considered cured, and that two year mark was last semester for me, so I am good to go.

MG: I can hear you smiling as you say. You're ready to go.

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: Yeah.

MG: What do you see as your sort of career goals?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: My ideal life is to be a tactical helicopter pilot. That is what I've always wanted to be.

MG: Why that?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: I just love what they do. I love the missions that they do. I love that they are just kind of really low to the ground in the environment and just in the action.

MG: Really, this is a really difficult time for many people to be in the military. You well know and we've been talking about this on the programme, there has been this culture of sexual harassment and misconduct and abuse that the military has been trying to grapple with. What what worries you, if I can put it that way, about you being in that space and that culture existing within the military?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: You know, this this type of topic is really personal to each individual, and my time at RMC I've had a very positive experience. I didn't have any worries going through. So I'm actually really excited to start my career in the military. And I think I think it's going to go really well for me.

MG: How important? I mean, you talked about being the wing commander. How important is it that there are women like yourself in leadership roles in the military?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: I'm super glad that I was able to represent a female in the top position to show the younger females who are just joining what you strive for. However, I'm also want to be seen as, you know, just the confident leader who got the top positions rather than the female leader. Because to me and the military doesn't really matter what your gender is, what's important is that you can do the job.

MG: Given what you have gone through. But also, as you mentioned, I mean, the fact that that there is a line of military service in your family, I mean, what does it mean for your parents to see you graduate?

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: They are extremely proud and I am so thankful and grateful and lucky to have the support from them that I do. My father was an Army graduate and they are just so excited for me. They are living through me.

MG: Congratulations again.

NICHOLE STRICKLAND: Thank you very much for having me.

[Music]

MG: Next up, we welcome Mick Favel. [Applause] 32 years old and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the First Nations, University of Canada and the University of Regina, MC is also a member of the Kawacatoos First Nations. Mick, congratulations. And how does it feel to achieve this?

MIKE FAVEL: I relieved you know of it years trying to figure out what to do and then finally figure out what to do and then getting to the end.

MG: How did you land on journalism?

MIKE FAVEL: It took a little while. I was trying to figure out what to do with my writing skills. I have a huge interest in, you know, indigenous stories. I think that's are important to tell. And I feel that as an indigenous person, I think it would be great to tell indigenous stories.

MG: How do you think those stories are being told now? The media has taken a lot of heat over the last many years in terms of the way that it tells indigenous stories and stories from indigenous communities and the types of stories that it tells. How do you see that?

MIKE FAVEL: I'm really happy that the media is acknowledging the way that they have covered stories in the past, you know, media coming into communities, getting the story and then and then leaving. I think that's kind of a huge thing. But that I've seen so far in my early career is that, you know, communities want to make relationships with with media and have long lasting relationships. And that's something that I always try to focus on, is that these people are giving me their time. And I have to respect that. And I always make sure that I have their name, they have my name. And, you know, in the future we could meet up again and maybe I could help them in some other way.

MG: I mean, this is happening at a time and you're getting into this industry at a time when especially in the last few weeks, certainly there are so many conversations around, not even distant history, but recent history when it comes to indigenous people in this country and residential schools. What are those conversations like within your family? What have you been talking about?

MIKE FAVEL: same time, I feel that it's been very- my family has this feeling like, yes, like finally the public finally knows a little bit of what's happened to us. I'm the first generation of our family not to go to residential school. So I feel like I have a different viewpoint of all of this right now.

MG: It seems like you're in the perfect position to be able to tell these stories. You mentioned at the beginning of our conversation that you'd spent a few years kind of, you know, trying to figure out where you wanted to go. Why do you think it's taken you a little bit longer to graduate?

MIKE FAVEL: Well, I you know, I don't know. There was a few different things that I was dealing with in my personal life. My father got sick and I decided to move home and live with them and take care of them. So my school career kind of had to go to part time, but I never gave up. And there were certain times where I didn't feel like I was going to it was ever going to end. So that was kind of how the whole relief came to be.

MG: What would it mean to your family to see you, given everything that you've been through to see you graduate? Do you think

MIKE FAVEL: I wish my dad was here to see this. You know, my father passed away and, you know, is no longer with us. But here, you know, I just wish he was here. So, you know, he could say that we made it. And let's take the next step and and then the next step after that.

MG: he'd be proud of you.

MIKE FAVEL: He would. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I don't really say much about my father these days because, you know, it's a it's a personal thing. Yeah. But, you know, it's one of the things that drives me his love and the respect that we shared. It drove me for the last couple of years of my school career for sure.

MG: What are those next steps for you.

MIKE FAVEL: Oh, I don't know. With school being finished now and me getting to this age and stuff, it's really nice to to have an education now and to kind of have the life experiences to start making big choices, you know, like, you know, buying a house or getting married and maybe having kids and stuff like that. That's really exciting. I'm in a really good part of my life right now. And I wish she was here to see this and to enjoy it as well.

MG: Let me just ask you one more thing, which is, I mean, often when we graduate, you look back on that and you'll think, well, I learnt this and this was the thing that that kind of kept me going. If you were to give some advice to, you know, the next generation that's behind you, what's that piece of advice that you would give them?

MIKE FAVEL: Take care of yourself. One of the biggest things that changed my university career was when I started to eat right, exercise and sleep. You know, I always felt like it was a journey. Every semester was a journey. It's like climbing up a mountain, coming back down. You know, you always got to have enough gas to do that. And if you get those three things done, it's possible.

MG: Mick, congratulations again.

MIKE FAVEL: Thank you so much.

MG: Let's hear it again for our college and university graduates.

[Applause]

MG: After the break, we'll continue our ceremony with our valedictorian and Canadian Olympic gold medallist, bobsledder Alex Kopacz will give a commencement address. He has had an incredible year and has some great advice for the class of 20 21. Stay tuned for that. I'm Matt Galloway. This is The Current. And here's Shad with his message for the class of 2021.

SOUNDCLIP

I want to congratulate you on an amazing accomplishment under normal circumstances. But given the last year or so that you've had really something remarkable, I hope very much that you're able to get out there as soon as possible and have some new experiences, feel a sense of possibility in the world, feel a sense of how big the world is and how much you have to contribute to it. But first, some unsolicited advice that you can add to the great pile. I'm sure you're receiving my advice centres on this question I'm sure you're hearing a lot of; what are you going to do with your life or what are you going to be? Which is a very heavy question. And I think it's heavy because it implies that you have to pick one future for yourself. I reject that. I rejected that when I was your age and it served me well. I believe that, hey, if you have the energy for a couple of things, why don't you do a couple of things if you have the energy and the passion and conviction to do one thing right now, I think you can commit to that and then re-evaluate and potentially pivot. So that's one thing that's given me a lot of freedom. It's still something I abide by as far as my professional life goes. And the second thing is this question of what are you going to do? What are you going to be, I think is really secondary. And we don't ask enough. Who do you want to be? I think if you focus on that question, the what part kind of will resolve itself. So that's my unsolicited advice. Take it or leave it. But I hope you do accept my congratulations on a wonderful accomplishments. No small thing. Check out this song is called We're Winner.

[Song]

Celebrating Canada's post-secondary class of 2021 – part three

Guests: Ashley Vien, Peyton Yuhnke, Alex Kopacz

MG: I'm Matt Galloway. You're listening to a special edition of The Current. A celebration of post-secondary graduates in the class of 2021.

[Applause]

MG: We are today paying tribute to the years of hard work and sacrifice of college and university students. Next week will hold a graduation ceremony for high schoolers. You will be amazed at their stories. Trust me, this is the second year that pandemic restrictions have ruined the usual formal ceremonies. No gatherings of hundreds of grads on campuses, no sprawling celebrations to mark this milestone. But at least we can celebrate here. And no graduation ceremony is complete without a valedictorian or two. We have decided that there will be two four hour special tributes to Canada's class of 20 21. First, I want to invite Ashley Vien to the stage. Ashley is graduating from the Pilon School of Business at Sheridan College in Mississauga, Ontario, while she majored in human resources. She's got a side hobby doing creative writing, and she's been juggling a full time job and a six year old daughter all during a pandemic. Ashley, welcome and congratulations.

ASHLEY VIEN: Thank you so much.

MG: What does it mean for you to be graduating from college?

ASHLEY VIEN: I feel like more it's a family milestone than just something for myself. I'm the oldest. And, you know, I hope that this shows them that with everything that we've gone through, we can still graduate and that education is important and to invest in yourself.

MG: And you didn't continue your studies right after high school, right? You went back to college.

ASHLEY VIEN: Yeah. So I actually was a high school dropout and following the footsteps of my family, basically. And when I had my daughter, I was like, do I really want to run the same cycle as my family or do I want to start something different? And so I went back pregnant and huge to high school, graduated, got a full time job as a receptionist and just thought that there is a little bit better than just working minimum wage. So I went and applied to go to Sheridan.

MG: When you say you were following in the footsteps of your family in terms of dropping out of high school, tell me more about that.

ASHLEY VIEN: Education wasn't very - how do you say - highlighted in my family values. We kind of were more focussed on the now whether it be running the streets and, you know, selling drugs or what have you to kind of make ends meet. That's kind of how my family was because we just had to deal with the bills of today.

MG: Can you tell me a bit more about your family?

ASHLEY VIEN: Yeah. So my grandmother came here from Vietnam. She came here with her four children. I believe in those times women were more of looking for that fairy tale ending, in the sense of she came here and she was divorced, she was dating. And she's trying to find that type of Prince Charming, rich husband to make all the struggles go away. And so she had run off to America and left her four children here. They were probably the ages of 12 to 15. And so they kind of the four children, my aunts, uncles and my mom tried to make their way through being in school and trying to make money. And so my mom, she dated to try to find that Prince Charming as well as had a gambling addiction. And my mom got pregnant young. And so I got into the exact same path as my mom working odd jobs. My mom used to waitress And you would drink when you waitress. And I ended up working at the exact same place she worked. She was my age. So it went down exactly the same way.

MG: When you decided that you wanted to change that course. I mean, part of that, as you said, is going back to high school, all you your words, you were huge and pregnant. You said, what was that like?

ASHLEY VIEN: It was hard because I felt like I was looked at a certain way. It's even harder when you want to do it and your family thinks you're so dumb to do it. Every time I continue my education, they're like, you're wasting your money. You're wasting your time. You know, when I first worked my minimum wage job and it was stable income, they're like, wow, like, so what, you make twelve dollars an hour. That sucks. For me, I'm like, well consistency. It builds up.

MG: How much of a motivation was your daughter in going to college and to finishing this degree?

ASHLEY VIEN: I think she was a huge factor. She gave me more responsibility as well as I just never had a home going from being left out of babysitters, then my aunt's and then being on my own. I've never had a home. I had a trash bag and just all my stuff and migrating to multiple places. And I felt like giving her something stable where no matter what, she can always come home and she knows where I am. That's something important to me. And so that was. Basically a drive to continue.

MG: And you did it all. I mean, as a night student while you're raising her.

ASHLEY VIEN: Yes.

MG: That's amazing.

ASHLEY VIEN: Thank you.

MG: Tell me a little bit about about where you want to go with this. You majored in human resources. I mentioned you're working as an H.R. coordinator. How do you see what you have lived through in some ways, shaping the way that you do your job now, helping other people find work?

ASHLEY VIEN: I can definitely relate to certain individuals. We have such a great initiative at my work where we are trying to look for those who need the job more and who have earned it, but not in a mainstream way. So when you look for candidates for a position, you're looking at their experience and their education. So maybe they've gone to the greatest school. Maybe they had the greatest grades. For our initiative, now we're looking at certain individuals who never even got the opportunity to go to those great schools or looking a little bit farther out, just more of give us a cover letter, show us that passion and drive. And we are willing to give you that chance.

MG: And in the middle of all of this, you also have this side thing is a creative writer.

ASHLEY VIEN: And yes, I love to write in my free time. The reason why I was you know, my mom wasn't in the picture and my young years. So I used to write her tons of letters. And so I feel like my communication has been through writing.

MG: How surprised were you that you ended up as the valedictorian for your class?

ASHLEY VIEN: Oh, I was like, is this for real? Because I am not any type of valedictorian or at least the ones you see in movies. But maybe I felt like I was chosen because my dedication was a little bit different and maybe inspirational, even though I wasn't technically that valedictorian vision that I thought all valedictorians are.

MG: Do you feel inspirational?

ASHLEY VIEN: I don't know if I feel inspirational. I hope so.

MG: You should. You have an amazing story and you've accomplished a lot.

ASHLEY VIEN: Yeah, I feel like the main part of the story is that my family's inspired me and I hope that that inspiration inspires somebody else and it just continues.

MG: All right. Bring that inspiration, as you have written for the class of 2021 to send them out into the universe full of inspiration. So are you ready?

ASHLEY VIEN: Yes.

MG: Take it away.

ASHLEY VIEN: Thank you, Matt, for inviting me to be here. Greetings to our audience and graduating class of twenty twenty one. Thank you for your time and for this platform to share what today truly means. For me, this is not just a stepping stone towards my own future today. I'm also proving that the challenges my family and I experienced do not have to haunt me or future generations. Instead, they gave me the understanding and motivation to do better. I come from a broken home dealing with family struggles like addiction and low income. But this has only pushed me to be better and break generational cycles. I know many of you can also relate to this journey. For many of us, today marks a significant transition for ourselves and for our families. My college community is so diverse that is hard to find the correct words to represent all of us. What makes my graduating class of 2021 impressive is that we are not the most of one thing, but a little of everything. We have some brilliant mathlete science advocates, entrepreneurial spirits out of the box artists and the list goes on. We are a body of a thousand talents. One of the most valuable lessons I've learnt is teamwork. I've learnt that each of us bring value to a team. Never forget that you are impactful, you're an asset and you bring more to the table than you know. Some of us come from nothing and we are here today. That is called perseverance. Some of us experienced financial struggles and we are here today. That is called commitment. Some of us sacrifice for our education and we are here today. That is called inspiration. Our future may have many unknowns, but we are equipped with so many skills and so much knowledge that there's nothing we can't manage. The person you are today can never be replaced. Class of twenty twenty one. We are different and we are stronger because we are different today. We are ready for the world and now the world better get ready for us. Thank you and once again, congratulations, class of 2021.

[Applause]

MG: That's fantastic. Congratulations again.

ASHLEY VIEN: Thank you.

MG: Let's have a big round of applause for our valedictorian, Ashley Vien.

[Applause]

MG: Our second valedictorian is making her way to the podium, Peyton Yuhnke is graduating from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton with a Bachelor of Philosophy in interdisciplinary leadership from Renaissance College. And during her time at USC, she carved out her very own minor in indigenous studies, something that has actually not yet officially offered at the university. Peyton Yanqui. Welcome to you and congratulations.

PEYTON JUHNKE: Thanks so much.

MG: How does it feel to be standing here, graduating and graduating as the valedictorian?

PEYTON JUHNKE: It's an incredible honour, and I don't think that I'm the model of what you'd imagine a valedictorian to be. I feel like I've been very outspoken throughout my degree about things that I'd like to see change at the university and ways to improve the student experience. But I feel really honoured that they saw something in me that they wanted to share.

MG: Part of the changes in creating your own minor in indigenous studies. Tell me how you did this.

PEYTON JUHNKE: Yeah, so I was originally doing a minor in business, and as I was starting to reconnect with my Metis culture, I really realised that I wanted to invest more time into this and find a way to dovetail what I was already doing and combine learning about my culture with that. So I reached out to a couple indigenous women who have been instrumental in my success at UNB Amanda Myran and Caitlin Copage age. So we work together and then proposed it and I got approved, so I was able to do that.

MG: You mentioned the idea of reconnecting with your Metis heritage. And what was that journey like and how has that shaped you into the graduating student you are today?

PEYTON JUHNKE: Yeah, so I was born on Treaty Four Territory or what's now known as Regina, Saskatchewan. And we moved here when I was really young, when my dad took a job, at least in Fredericton with CIBC. But I always grew up with my culture around me. My mom was very much connected to her Metis culture and passed on a lot of our stories, some of our language and our food, our traditions. She passed that on to me, but I never really understood what it meant to be made and what it meant to take up the responsibilities of being an active community member, learning about our history and and engaging in contemporary resistance movement against colonisation and assimilation. So that's what I focussed on during my degree. And it's completely changed the landscape of my future. I thought I would become a lawyer and go into corporate law. But as I started to really reconnect with my culture and understand what it means to be a woman, I completely changed my direction. I want to go get my master's in something under the umbrella of indigenous studies. I want to get my PhD. I might want to teach, but I certainly want to uplift other Metis people and certainly other indigenous peoples as well.

MG: You said this a couple of times. And what does it mean to be a Metis woman in 2021?

PEYTON JUHNKE: It means that my kokum and my great kokum survived residential schools and their efforts to carry forward our culture has been successful and and this whole idea of killing the Indian in the child was not successful. And the settler state does not have power over us. And we're all self determining nations that have survived genocide in this country. So it means a lot, it means a lot of responsibility to keep carrying forward our culture. And it also means making sure that the truth is told in really meaningful ways so that it's not repeated.

MG: You're also graduating I mean, in in this moment where there is this renewed and incredibly painful focus on residential schools. And you mentioned residential schools already in terms of your family history, how are you understanding this moment?

PEYTON JUHNKE: I think it's a moment where we have choices about how we're going to go forward. And I think that we can keep going the path that we're going, which is one of a lot of performative ally-ship and and Canada and the people that can actually make decisions to change policy, not actually doing that important work. Or we can forge a different path and one that honours and respects all peoples and really prioritises the relationship with non-indigenous and indigenous peoples in this country. And I hope that it's the latter. I think that there's definitely space for that to happen. But there has to be a commitment to move in a direction of really taking up this work, of repairing this relationship.

MG: Are you comfortable in in taking on that responsibility? People see this as a generational change as well. You are part of the generation that is going to shape the world that you're inheriting. Are you comfortable in taking that on?

PEYTON JUHNKE: What I do is always guided by the individuals in my life, my community and my family. But, you know, I do think that I have a role in this work.

MG: Are you ready for your voice to be heard?

PEYTON JUHNKE: I'm ready.

MG: We're going to speak to the class of 2021 across this country, coast to coast to coast.

MG: So Peyton Yuhnke, where you go.

PEYTON JUHNKE: [Indigenous speech]. Hello, everyone. My name is Peyton Yankee. And it is my honour to stand here today to reflect on our journeys that have led us all to this exciting moment in our lives. Graduation. It is no secret that the last year and a half of our degrees was not easy for a lot of us. Going to university meant more freedom and as many return to our childhood bedrooms to finish off our degrees, we've experienced what it's like to lose some of that freedom, to not be able to see family and friends and to be isolated in our homes. During this time, our eyes were opened in what some consider to be unprecedented ways to people all over the world and in our own country who have been prevented from enjoying the same freedoms many took for granted before and during this pandemic. We have seen black and brown bodies die from this virus at alarmingly disproportionate rates and these same bodies killed by the very people who we are told should be protecting us, leaving us to grieve those we lost from this pandemic and those we lost from the systemic racism that is woven into the fabric of our society. We have seen the continued degradation of our birth mother and how this remains inextricably linked with the violence against indigenous women. We have also seen accommodations that we were previously told were impossible, made in record time and on a large scale, leaving those with varying abilities questioning why certain accessible options were only made available when it affected those who are able bodied. In a multitude of ways, we have seen with clarity the systems and structures in our society that work to disadvantage and marginalised groups of people. But during this time, we have also seen profound change as people took to the streets to stand with those facing racism and discrimination, challenged the uninformed views of those around them, and use their voice to speak up against inequalities. Empower yourself to be part of this change. Listen to those whose voices are too often silenced and most importantly, never stop learning. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we recognise our shared humanity and the right we all have to a good life. Take some time to acknowledge those who stood beside you during these past few years and thank them for their support, be grateful for the friendships made that will last a lifetime. Remember who you were when you started this degree. Think about who you are now and let yourself be proud of how much you've grown. But this pandemic has offered is the opportunity to dream a better world and one that honours and respects all of creation. Always think critically about how you move through this world and never forget whose land you're walking on. To all those who shared space with me on this journey, [Indigenous wpeech]. Thank you my friends, [Indigenous speech]. Congratulations.

MG: Fantastic, congratulations.

PEYTON JUHNKE: Thank you, Matt.

[Applause and music]

MG: Next, please welcome to The Current big virtual graduation stage, an extraordinary Canadian gold medallist, a leader and somebody who has had a hell of a year. Alex Kopacz is an Olympic gold medallist in bobsled. He also contracted covid-19 just a few months ago and found himself fighting for his life as a healthy 31 year old athlete. He joins us now to help celebrate the class of 2021.

ALEX KOPACZ: Alex, good morning and thanks so much for having me. Thanks for being here. How are you doing? Overall, much better. I mean, it's been a trying time, to say the least, and definitely an eye opening experience. When your mortality is challenged at such a young age, you're 31.

MG: You are, I mean, as fit as anybody I think probably could be. How does this start for you? What was what was the first time that you were sick?

ALEX KOPACZ: Well, I just I would say, like most times when anyone gets sick, a fever creeps in. But it was intense right off the right off the start there. So the intensity of fever, the relentless duration of it and then the coughing. And I think I lasted six days of this chronic fever, slight cough loop in between the both you get delirious, not enough oxygen. That's when I just look, I need help. Yeah. So then I went to the hospital first time the preliminary check and said, hey, go back home and just keep an eye on it, see how it goes. And then eventually my oxygen was significantly lower. And that led to me taking myself back in the second time and I continued to deteriorate further, got to a space where they said we got experimental drug, want to try it. It could work, might not end at the end of the day. Saved my life. Nothing else I can say about that. It was a crazy time.

MG: How scary was that?

ALEX KOPACZ: It's kind of hard not to kind of be overwhelmed by emotion. What struck me, the first thing is that my body is failing me. And that's a that's a new thing. I mean, I've had injuries and that's frustrating. But I never imagined in my life that I wouldn't be able to fight off any sickness on my way. And then there's the other realisation that there's nothing you can do to fight against it. People say, don't give up. You know, keep fighting. There's nothing conceptually to push against or anything like this. So the helplessness. And then I started reaching out to family members first and then close friends, people that made an impact on my life and on, you know, worst case scenario, if it didn't go my way, I just want to let people know how much they meant to me. And I mean, it just came so fast. It's what have I done a value. And it's a very weird place to be. But you really start thinking, like being on this planet. What have you left behind? What's the impact? What's the positive change that you really kind of left for for, you know, for the years and generations to come? And, yeah, I just felt like I just I needed more time. I needed more time to do that. But I'll tell you, now that I have it, I'll be damned if I waste it.

MG: How do you know, I was going to say, how do you look back on what you have gone through? People talk about, you know, near-death experiences and how they come out of that. And everything's changed. And you stop and you smell the flowers and you walk slower and you don't need to be in a rush and hurry up for everything. How are you different now, do you think, based on what you've gone through?

ALEX KOPACZ: I took on a challenge of starting my own company, and there's days where I don't have the luxury of slowing things down, but I try to make those breaks in those spaces to just kind of just be in touch with the gift that I have. And you start wondering what's the point of getting upset over small things. You know, I'm a type kind of person. You know, being an athlete, you're always looking for a little little bit of perfection, which is impossible. But you chase it and it's just not worth being stressed about it. It's not worth getting angry. And I guess I've been trying to spend more time with my parents specifically. Tomorrow's not promised. One day you will die. And with that in mind, try to kind of put your life into perspective and do the most that you can.

MG: If you could tell younger Alex something based on what you've gone through, I mean, you know, 17, 18 year old, 21 year old Alex, what would you say was the piece of advice you would

ALEX KOPACZ: give to you? I would strongly encourage him to sleep more. I would strongly encourage him to find a little bit more fun in the day to day. From then till now, I've had a sharp contrast in how seriously and personally I took things, as well as the added value of building relationships and looking forward to the future and saying yes, I think saying yes is a big piece definitely took me out of my comfort zone.

MG: Say yes, not no.

ALEX KOPACZ: That's right. I mean, no, it's a very important word to have, but a lot of people are scared of taking those leaps into new spaces.

MG: This is a great opportunity to get you to offer some words of wisdom to the class of 20 21. You ready for a commencement speech?

ALEX KOPACZ: Absolutely. To the graduating class of twenty twenty one. Congratulations on pulling through in spite of this historic challenge that has been thrown in your path. The world has been in chaos during your very last year of university. The covid-19 has had some lessons for all of us, reminding us just how close we are to one another, reminding us that our choices can affect people on the other side of the world, that what we do has an impact on our society and that we have the power to make change through our everyday decisions. This past year, I faced a loss, Break-Up move, deaths in the family and starting a company, the worst challenge was my recent fight with covid. Momento mori, life is precious, and it's good to pause and reflect on all the beautiful moments you have had in your life now through all of those challenges. I had doubts, fears, but I persevered and pulled through just like every single one of you have. And will moments like these, the hardest moments really show you what you're capable of handling. And trust me, you can handle a lot. My journey to gold taught me that there are solutions everywhere, and all I need to do is be creative. Life will always throw you curveballs. Sometimes success depends on how committed you are to achieving your goal and how much you were willing to suffer to get there. There were so many moments in my journey when it would have been easier to quit. But like the Navy Seals say, embrace the suck. Of course, that's not to say it's easy dealing with these moments takes a toll on your mental health. And I couldn't have manage all that stress as successfully if I didn't reach out for support. Canadians struggle with so many lockdowns, working from home and the relentless close quarters with family roommates. You know, I feel ashamed to get support for your mental health. I know if I didn't, I couldn't navigated all of this madness half as well as I did. My battle with covid has reminded me that our futures are not certain, that we can't wait to tell those close to us that we love them, that we need to take advantage of opportunities that make us uncomfortable, that make us grow. I hope you can see that education is a training tool. It's a great place to start, but what you learn in the past four years will serve you far beyond the field you studied and is prepared you for life. So be brave, be loving and help guide our world to a stronger, more prosperous future. Congratulations.

MG: Congratulations on pulling through. That's quite a line given what you have gone through.

ALEX KOPACZ: I thought it was kind of fitting.

MG: It meansa lot. I'm glad you are on the mend, Alex. Thank you so much.

ALEX KOPACZ: I appreciate it. Thanks, Matt.

MG: Alex Kopacz is a gold medallist in the two man bobsled. And that brings us to the end of our programme, celebrating the post-secondary class of 2021. Next week, we celebrate high school graduates. Q is coming up next after the CBC News on CBC Radio One. I'm Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening to this special edition of The Current. And we'll talk to you tomorrow.

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The Current Transcript for June 10, 2021

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Celebrating Canada's post-secondary class of 2021 – part one

Celebrating Canada's post-secondary class of 2021 – part two

Celebrating Canada's post-secondary class of 2021 – part three

Thursday June 10, 2021 Full Transcript

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