Hard work pays off for grads

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On April 25, more than 100 people gathered at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre in Edmonton to honor 25 graduates of Grant MacEwan's Mental Health Diploma Program (Aboriginal Connections 2003). The graduation ceremony included a feast, cultural entertainment, a rites of passage ceremony and speeches.

Ruth Suvee is chair of the two-year diploma program. She said she was proud to see the students at the ceremony, because she felt that they deserved to be recognized after all the work they did to achieve academically and in their personal development.

Ruth Suvee, who is originally from the Kikino Metis Settlement in northern Alberta, has worked in the health and education field for more than 30 years.

"I like watching the students when they complete the course. I see all the work they've done on themselves and it makes me proud to see them graduate. The only challenge I saw for the students is that a lot of our students are single parents, so they've had to balance their school life, their personal life and family life, so we try to give them as much support as we can, to make it through the course," she said.