By Siana Crasto
Published in September 2019
Text from speech given at A2U graduation ceremony
Thank you for the warm welcome.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging and paying my respects to the indigenous peoples – past and present – whose land we are currently on.
I would also like to acknowledge all those who conceptualized, executed, and supported the success of the Access 2 University program, including members of…
– The Lyle S. Hallman Foundation
– The Working Centre
– Laurier Arts Department
– Fellow students, many of whom are graduating today
– And of course our families and friends
It is an honour and a delight to address you all today. My time at Laurier through A2U has been very personally transformative… however, it is a considerable challenge to speak on behalf of all the cohorts of our program since we are an extremely diverse group:
We include those of indigenous heritage, multi-generational Canadians, immigrants and more. We represent many languages, and a plethora of different life and work experiences.
But there is one thing we all have in common: We wish to be successful.
I joined A2U after being laid off, yet again. A friend told me about the program, so I made a late inquiry in to joining, had an interview, but soon learned that enrollment was full. A month in to the program I received a call for another meeting. There, I was invited to fill the spot of someone who could not continue. I distinctly remember my reaction:
Apathy
You see I had gone so long trying to seek suitable work, unsuccessfully, that the news that I was accepted for anything worthwhile seemed so far gone.
I picked myself up enough to start classes the next week. I was overwhelmed with feelings, most stemming from self-doubt: Was I too old? Would my brain be able to retain all the information I would need? Could I apply myself to the degree that higher education demanded? In short, was I just an old dog who couldn’t be taught new tricks?
It is no surprise to anyone in this room that universities are not inherently set-up to help non-traditional learners, and so my trepidation was understandable. Our A2U coordinators, who we had regular – or sometimes constant! – contact with as students, helped to cushion the transition.
The real fun began when the honeymoon preparatory phases came to a close. The next stage entailed every student picking their own courses. This is akin to a kid in a candy store. On a tight budget. And the store is closing imminently!
The stakes got higher, and much more quickly than I imagined. I pushed myself hard to keep ahead of the course work. I never skipped a class nor made excuses for myself. But there was a particular time when I needed help that was beyond the system, and that’s when the skills I had gained through A2U really shone.
I had a defined problem. I brainstormed and researched by tapping in to my Laurier network. This led to a proposal for a collaborative partnership between The Working Centre, The Accessible Learning Centre, and Prism Resources. Due to the willing collaboration between these 3 agencies a solution was arrived at: With funding from TWC, courtesy of LHF, students could borrow a well outfitted laptop from Prism, a term at a time, which would then be flashed with approved accessibility software from ALC. It meant that I, and other students like me within A2U, could complete courses despite disabilities and without added financial burden.
When this project worked out and I could complete my courses on a level playing field with every other student in Laurier, I distinctly remember my reaction:
Elation
Through A2U I learned to be resilient, creative, confident, and like all my fellow graduates here, no matter what path we have chosen beyond A2U we are indeed SUCCESSFUL.
