On my wall there are few things. Pictures a friend who recently passed away had taken for me. Pictures of my family. Pictures of an artistic nature. I even have some of my awards that I won hanging on my wall. Two of the items hanging on my wall that I am most proud of though are my college school diploma and my high school diploma.

Someone once laughed and asked me, “Why the hell do you have your high school diploma on your wall?”

My reply to them was this, “I am proud to have my high school diploma. As an Aboriginal youth, this is a great accomplishment–I know some Aboriginal youth who don’t even have their grade 10. I am proud to have it.”

It sort of represents how much I value education and how much I want to see other Aboriginal youth earn their high school diploma. I am a huge supporter of making education available for anyone. What is sad is that even though there are initiatives out there to support Aboriginal youth to continue with their high school education, some of them never do. I want to see that trend change… one day.