As time goes by and the working world becomes more complex, more and more people are thinking about going back to school to complete their high school diploma and enter trades training, college or university.

It’s a scary thought especially for folks who have been out of school for a decade or two but it is being done and done successfully. I love telling these success stories in the hope that it will encourage those who are close to making that important decision but still too nervous to take that final step and actually register in an upgrading program. Rick Rembold has one of the more interesting back to school success stories I have ever heard.

Rick says he didn’t have a lot of guidance when he was in high school although he did have some good role models among the teachers and coaches he had along the way but the thought of going to university never entered his head.

“I just thought university was the ivory tower and not for me. I thought it was for doctors’ kids and that segment of the population. I had no idea that I was capable or even allowed to go to university,” he told me.

After high school he became a sheet metal worker and ended up as foreman of a 22 person shop but that didn’t give him the satisfaction he was seeking. A career in welding followed and eventually he and his wife decided to move to Vancouver Island where he entered the construction industry.

Then one cold winter morning at the age of 42, he found himself in the freezing rain prying two frozen boards apart and began to think seriously about his life-long dream to become a teacher.

A visit to a councilor at Malaspina University-College’s Adult Basic Education program led him to begin upgrading his Grade 12 English. The next year he was enrolled in university and five years later, he became a teacher; a teacher who has completed the circle and is teaching at Malaspina’s ABE program in Oceanside.

So if you are thinking of going back to school and you live in the Oceansidearea, drop in and have a visit with Rick. He’s been exactly where you are today, so he can definitely give you the guidance and support you’ll need to get started and be successful.

No matter how far you got in school before dropping out, give Rick a call at 250-248-2096. I bet he’ll have good news for you.

You should also know that there are similar programs in every city on the Island from Victoria to Campbell River. A visit to any one of them could be the most important thing you have ever done in your adult life.