Fatherly Pride!

This past Thursday evening I attended my son, Chris’, induction ceremony with Peel Region Paramedic Services. Sitting with his sisters, Jenna and Tahni, I felt immensely proud of all three of my children.

Their academic, professional and personal accomplishments fill me with immeasurable admiration, but importantly, I can proudly say they are delightfully good-natured and very close.

All three graduated high school with Honours and French Immersion certificates. All three also took time off for work and travel before embarking on post-secondary academics. Jenna was first out of the gate. After completing Grade 13, she spent six months in the US with a professional ice skating show before returning to Canada to head off to university. She spent two summers in Banff, Alberta and one in Muskoka. She did her third year of school at Keele University in Stoke-on-Trent, England, and after graduating with a Bachelor of Sociology, spent a year in Korea teaching English. She is now a teacher in York Region.

Tahni followed her sister out to Banff, after graduating from high school. She spent the next two years there, before embarking on her academic career at Laurier University, eventually achieving a Masters degree in Geography. Her time at university included a semester at the University of Amsterdam and several summers in Alberta, two of which saw her working on an oil sands reclamation project. Throughout her childhood, Tahni only ever wanted to be a teacher. While at Laurier, her interests switched to geography, but in the final year of her Masters, she was drawn back to teaching. So she applied to teachers’ college, got in, graduated, passed the French Immersion qualification and is currently in the process of securing a position teaching French in York Region.

Christopher’s path was slightly different than that of his sisters. He chose to forgo post-secondary education. Initially, it seemed that he would have a career in music, being a very talented drummer in a very talented band. But then he too was bitten by the travel bug and headed west, spending most of the next five years working various jobs, including three on an oil rig. He also traveled to Thailand for four months and New Zealand for a year. Two years ago he decided to become a paramedic, applied and was accepted at a college in Barrie, graduated top of his class, then applied [along with several hundred other applicants] and was accepted for one of 20 positions with Peel Region.

I am a very proud father indeed!

All three of my children are self made and all have been successful in intensely competitive fields. What makes me most proud though, is that they are good people, friendly, well liked,and thus far have treated life like an adventure. All three are dedicated to serving! What more could I ask for? Well, grandchildren I suppose! But no rush!

Have an awesomely proud day!