Fort Simpson high school grad feels 'accomplished and nostalgic all at once'
For Lekasha Tesou, graduating from Fort Simpson's Liidlii Kue Regional High School was a "surreal experience."
"I’m done with a place I spent so much time in and made several memories in," she said soon after donning her graduation gown. "It feels unbelievable to comprehend at times. However, there is a sense of a huge accomplishment. I feel extremely proud of how far I have come to get to where I am today because it took a lot of hard work and I had to face many challenges. For me, graduating high school left me feeling accomplished and nostalgic all at once."
Tesou was one of seven graduates from the school.
She said she will miss the friends she made during her time there, as well as her favourite teachers.
"I’ll miss having a schedule, seeing my friends every day, leaving class to play volleyball with the juniors, and being taught by my favourite teachers," she said. "I think I’ll definitely miss high school in general when I fully realize that I am not going back in the fall."
Like many graduates, her high school years were filled with memories that she will carry well into the future.
"There was this one time my best friend and I were messing around with blue paint, she ended up shoving a paint brush up my nose when I turned my head because she was aiming for my cheek and I ended up with a bleeding nose that had blue paint mixed in with it," she said. "Whenever I blew my nose for the next few days, it would be blue. Also, playing volleyball with the junior high kids were always full of good moments that I'll look back on."
Tesou has big plans now that she's graduated.
This summer, she'll spend some time in Ottawa, and in the fall, she aims to commence her post-secondary education. She's still waiting to hear back from Hogwarts, but has applied to another school she is hoping to be accepted to.
"Now that I graduated, I do have a summer program coming up in July," she said. "The summer program is Northern Youth Abroad. I’ll be flying out to Ottawa for a month to learn about leadership and careers in the program. After I come back home, I am hoping that I’ll be packing up my stuff for post-secondary in the fall. I applied for an English major and [I'm] just waiting to hear back.
"When I was younger, my dream job was to either be an actor or learn how to get to Hogwarts. Nowadays, my dream job is to become a writer or an interior designer."
With a diploma in her possession, the future looks bright for Tesou. However, she admits that her high school education was challenging at times.
She encourages any younger students who are struggling to finish high school to give it their best effort.
"I know I struggled a lot throughout my high school experience, with mental health, personal issues, petty drama and simply trying to get out of bed most mornings," she said. "It’s so easy to lose sight of what it’s all for. I can say it’ll get better or you’ll be fine, and it will be in the end, but that isn’t what I want to share. I hope you all know you’re doing the absolute best you can with what you got and enjoy your last year being a kid. Make those mistakes, take those chances, and take a lot of photos. I wish you luck on graduating."
Tom Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWT News/North
