Jayne Holyoke is a second-generation NBCC student and the proud recipient of this year’s NBCC Alumni Family Scholarship, an annual award that supports and encourages future generations of NBCC alumni, generously sponsored by TD Insurance.
Embarking on a new career path as a mature learner takes both courage and determination, two characteristics that Jayne Holyoke knows well. Not only is she forging new paths for her family as a student of NBCC, she is drawing inspiration from her father who travelled the same road years prior.
NBCC wasn’t her first foray into post-secondary education; it’s actually her third endeavour.
“I attended university, as I felt it was the right choice – maybe my only choice,” she said. “It wasn’t long before I knew that it was not going to fulfill my hopes and dreams.”
With this in mind, she enrolled at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and flourished in the small class environment. After working in photography for many years and raising a family, she found herself desiring a career that would provide stability and predictable hours so she could spend more time with her family. This led her to enrol in the Practical Nursing program at NBCC.
Holyoke knew that going back to school at the age of 39 would be a tough road, so she looked to her father, an alumnus of NBCC, for support and encouragement. She recalls her father facing numerous challenges when he worked to complete his plumbing degree at NBCC as just a young man.
“[Going to college] was not an easy task at the age of 19, with a wife and two young children at home, very little income, and no car. He spent the week in Moncton renting a room and would return home to his family on the weekends,” she said.
Holyoke attributes her determination to being raised by a hard-working father. While she chose a different career path than her father, she knows he is proud that she will follow in his footsteps and become an alumna of NBCC.
“Our determination and drive are the same,” said Holyoke. “We both made and are making sacrifices to better our lives. It is an honour to follow in my father’s footsteps, and one day, I would be honoured to have my children do the same.”
