Shona Pickup cruised through high school playing a lot of sports and getting B’s in her academic subjects. Since she didn’t like science and didn’t need it to graduate, she never saw the inside of a lab.

Life was fun. Life was good. Meeting her husband, Jon, in Grade 11 was a major part of what was “good” in life. They got married right out of high school and started a family.

For the next 12 years, Shona worked as an aerobics instructor and special events coordinator in Gibsons and Jon worked as a Millwright/Welder.

If anything life just kept getting better and better but then Shona injured her knee, an injury that ended her primary career as an aerobics instructor. What now? After much discussion she and Jon agreed that she needed to upgrade her education and find a new career.

That’s when Jon proved himself to be a Hidden Hero too. If Shona were to go back to school, they would have to move to a community where she would have more convenient access to the school of her choice. So he left the comfort of his secure job and home and the family moved to Parksville.

Almost everyone I have talked to who has gone back to school as an adult has had the same doubts and fears. They questioned whether or not they could actually study and write exams. They were fearful that they would be the only “mature” student in the class; that they wouldn’t be able to fit in; that they might fail and have to explain their failure to the entire world, not just friends and family!

Shona had many of those same fears so they were living in Parksville for a year and a half before she finally build up the courage and self-confidence she needed to go to her local career centre to take a number of aptitude test; tests that indicated the medical field as a good fit – By the way this was a free service for her as it is at most career centres. If you can’t find a career centre near you, contact Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

After more thought and family discussion, Shona decided to pursue training as a Licensed Practical Nurse but there was one challenge. She would need high school science to take the program at Malaspina University College. Science was the one course she managed to avoid as a teenage student.

Malaspina’s ABE program (Adult Basic Education) was the answer for her. There were many students her age and older as well as the kind of supportive atmosphere that made learning fun even though she was studying science of all things.

The classroom support and a partnership with a “study buddy” helped a lot but the most important support of all, she says, came from her family who helped out by picking up extra chores around the house so she would have more time to study.

The result was top marks in her Grade 12 science program and a small scholarship from Malaspina toward her LPN program studies, which she will start this November.

The biggest gift of all she says is the self-confidence that has come with accepting the challenge of studying science,her nemesis, and succeeding.

When I asked her for her advice to others like her who have been out of school for a long time but feel the need to go back, her response was immediate.

“Do it now,” she enthused. “Don’t wait another moment. If I can do it, you can do too and you’ll feel great.”

So if you have been thinking of going back to school, what are you doing later today? Can you think of a better time to register in a program and get started?