Two mature students are among those being recognized this year as part of Indigenous Achievement Week at the University of Saskatchewan.
Anthropology student Devin Kyle and political studies student Morgan Longjohn, both in the third year of their studies, received awards Thursday afternoon for resiliency.
Both are single parents.
Kyle said there is never a perfect time to go back to school but entering his early 40’s, he realized it was now or never.
“I spent close to three decades in the service industry and the appeal was wearing off quite fast,” he said. “And then I was doing construction but I was just cusping 40 around the time and it’s kind of a young man’s game – it was starting to hurt in places.”
Kyle’s father is from the Thunderchild First Nation, mother from Mistawasis First Nation and he grew up in Prince Albert.
Now 45, he said there have been times when he’s questioned whether he has made the right decision by returning to school but what keeps him going is his two boys which are now five and eight-years-old.
Kyle said he is very proud of his Indigenous heritage but admitted the university is not always the most welcoming place for a First Nations person and there is always room for improvement in terms of becoming a more supportive environment.
Longjohn said she had to overcome a drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness before she could return to school but since then she has never looked back.
“Well, how I did it is I just had to live a clean life, get organized and do what I had to do,” she said. “The opportunity came to apply at the U of S, I took it and doors just opened.”
Longjohn said she started small by taking one course when she was 28-years-old before eventually working her way up to fulltime studies.
Now 33, the mother of three children said she works hard to maintain a clean and healthy lifestyle.
Longjohn lives in Prince Albert but maintains a strong connection to her home community of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation.
Her minor is in Indigenous studies and she said she plans to do some form of community work after she graduates.
The week long annual event is being held completely online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indigenous Achievement Week wraps up on Friday.
(PHOTOS: Top, Devin Kyle and bottom Morgan Littlejohn. Photos courtesy of University of Saskatchewan.)