Emilie Murray

My name is Emilie Murray and I am a student at NorQuest College. I graduated high school in 2015 and in the past 4 years have been accepted to 3 post-secondary schools.

Growing up, I had always wanted to be a teacher, and so I applied to and attended the U of A for a Bachelor of Education (4 year program). It was not for me. The first year was hard, as can be expected, so I decided to give it another year. I then met a professor who was teaching me the fundamentals of teaching. Within the first month, she pulled me aside and said, “you will never be a teacher”. I was shocked. How could a mentor say this to a student? How was I expected to look up to this person and think “that is the type of teacher I want to be?” She made my life a living hell. She would embarrass me in front of my peers by showing my work and nitpicking it and showing it as an example of ‘what not to do’. I started to fall behind in my other classes because I would constantly be working on her classwork in fear of failure.

I finally decided enough was enough. I told my parents, and my mom was almost in tears. She told me that she knew my teacher and they had worked together so many years ago. My teacher did not like my mom for unknown reasons. After hearing this, I went to complain to the Dean. Nothing could be done as I had nothing but my word as proof. I ended up failing her class, and fell into a depressive period. I decided not to continue at the U of A for my third year. I then applied to MacEwan University, and was accepted. Life was looking up for me. Until one day; my acceptance was revoked. Failing that one class dropped my average too low for MacEwan admission standards. I did not know what to do with my life. Nothing was inspiring me, I did not see a bright future for myself. I finally decided to apply to NorQuest as a Medical Office Assistant to have some post-secondary education under my belt. Halfway through, I now have straight A’s and am enjoying school.

Some advice I would give from my experience is you don’t necessarily have to jump right from high school to post-secondary, and it is 100% okay to change your mind. It is okay to change your mind and go back to school when you’re 40. It is your journey and no one and nothing should decide your timeline. Post-secondary is definitely seen as the norm these days, but it now comes in many shapes and forms that work for various learning styles.

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do” - Oprah Winfrey