In 2017, Le Journal portrayed a dozen graduates from an unloved Montreal school. We have documented their journey for 5 years.
for five years The newspaper followed the grads of a high school struggling to shed its old reputation Rock’n’Roll. All went through CEGEP. Some are even considering pursuing a masters degree at university.
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“Where will these young people be in 5 years? We now know the answer. It’s light-years away from the miserable cliché associated with Montreal’s Centre-Sud neighborhood, one of the province’s most deprived areas.
“It’s a hidden blessing. When people realize where you’re from that you haven’t cooked everything in your beak […]they think twice about their success, then they see its true value,” says Eugénie-Laurence Fafard-Drareni, 22.
In 2017, the Pierre Dupuy School was one of the most disliked by the Montreal School Board. Around 75% of the young people in the neighborhood chose a different path, either privately or in a school with a special job, so that the 2017 class only had around fifteen graduates.
Twelve of them took part in the project during the first edition. Thereafter, 10 met each year to document their journey, their reflections on school and their beginning adult life.
exceed expectations
Aram Mansouri remembers a career choice course in 3rd secondary school.
“It was only about professions for which you need a professional qualification. »
“They didn’t even talk about CEGEP or university. Apparently they thought we wouldn’t go there. »
Of the 10, six are currently studying at the university. Two are completing a technical program at CEGEP. Two others already have their advanced technical college entrance qualification and are on the job market.
ups and downs
Almost half changed paths in between, tried courses that didn’t suit them, took breaks to come back better.
Hyperconfident young men learned humility, tasted failure. Young women who doubted themselves gained self-confidence, learned to accept the vagueness of their future.
But one thing remained constant: you were ambitious and hardworking at 16 or 17. They’re still 22 or 23 years old.
“Maybe I’ll be Pierre-Dupuy’s first millionaire,” predicts Rafiul Haque, who has set up his own business. “Or maybe the youngest. »
The key to success lies in the appreciation of education
Some have lived in low-rent housing. Others have parents who didn’t speak a word of French when they immigrated to Quebec. But what they have in common is that they grew up in families where education was valued.
“My mother gave me what she didn’t get,” sums up Bianca Goudreault-Beaupré, whose parents neither have a high school diploma.
“They always told me: school is compulsory. It was always the most important thing […] Every day they sat with me for verbs, multiplications. They established a pretty serious routine,” she recalls.
When the 10 young graduates attribute their success to their efforts, some are grateful to their parents.
No limits
Originally from Algeria, Eugénie-Laurence’s mother did not have the opportunity to study as much as she would have liked. She often told her daughter when she was a baby that she could become Prime Minister of Quebec if she wanted to.
She is about to start a master’s degree in law.
“Before, I had no idea what the middle class was. »
She tells of her shock when she discovered that some of her peers had grown up in a house that was “too big” or had parents who paid for their studies.
“I depend on loans and grants and the student margin. I’m in debt up to my chin to go to college. But I do it because I have faith in myself. »
Bianca Goudreault-Beaupré admits she has doubts. At 17, she was convinced that college was too expensive.
“I set myself limits even though I didn’t choose my job. »
She is now a bachelor’s student in kinesiology, the first in her family to go to university except for one cousin.
The essential
Mylie-Anne Laurin Quezada is now a specialty educator passionate about mental health. Her mother would have liked this job if she hadn’t been on welfare for many years while her children were growing up.
But in his family the essentials were there, namely love and communication, says Mylie-Anne, who assures that she never lacked for anything.
“We have learned to live without materialism […] It helps to develop deeper values, like mutual help, empathy. »
Rafiul Haque’s mother left Bangladesh when she was about his age. She came to the country when she didn’t speak the language, he explains.
“I could give money back to my parents and many other things. But not this willingness to make sacrifices. »
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