Looking Back on My CiSA Journey

May 16, 2024

Graduation Week for the 2022-2024 Cohort

Looking back on the past two years, I instantly feel a lot of nostalgia. Nostalgia for the incredible friends I have met; nostalgia for the exceptional teachers who have beautifully defined my CiSA journey; nostalgia for amazing committees, for activities which have shaped me into the driven, hardworking, and ambitious person I am today; nostalgia for an entire CEGEP which has given me the strength, the confidence, the opportunities to fully spread my wings towards a new chapter of my life.

Thank you Sainte-Anne. Thank you Model UN Committee. Thank you Juripop committee. Thank you Forum étudiant. Thank you Jeux des sciences humaines. Thank you cross-country team. Thank you Priviliège. Thank you Honours Program.

Being part of this Social Science Honours Program has been a beautiful ride. It has been filled, first and foremost, with determination, with a vital desire to get out of my comfort zone, to put myself in danger in order to grow, but it was also full of laughter, of doubt, of moments when I felt I had taken too much on my shoulders. But, when I look back on these past 2 years, I confidently would not change a thing in the world. Each activity, each experience, each trip taught me more about myself, enlightened me on what my values truly were, on what inspired and drove me as a student, as a citizen of this planet, on what I really wanted to accomplish moving forward. Not just to fulfill the requirements of a program. Not just to pad a CV. To propel myself forward, to fly on my own.

The Honours Program has been my side every step of this adventure. Never was it the Honours which forced me, which pushed me to do an activity. But it has always been that extra motivation, that desire to walk a step further, to continue challenging, surpassing myself. And I am so thankful for it. Thankful for having been a part of this beautiful group, a group filled with young students who are as fired up as I am, who want to get involved, who truly want to make a difference around them. Thankful for the unconditional support of Emilie Chow, a teacher, an Honours coordinator, but above all, an exceptional human being, who has been nothing but caring, kind, and sensitive all the way, while constantly bringing out the best in us. Ms. Chow, thank you for everything. You are one of those teachers who do not come along very often in life, but who will never be forgotten.

Beyond the nostalgia, I am nothing but grateful. Immensely grateful for the chance I have had to study at Sainte-Anne. I am also proud. Proud of what I have accomplished, of the balance I have always kept between my studies, my extracurricular involvement, and my love for cross-country. And, although it is with massive sadness that I say goodbye to a school I feel comfortable calling home, I know I am ready. Ready to move on to a new chapter, to take the knowledge I have acquired here and share it with others, to take my creative flair elsewhere, to bring my determination and insatiable desire to make the world a better place to another level, to simply keep being myself and enjoy every step of the way.

Sainte-Anne, thank you for everything you have given me, for everything you have taught me, for everything you have strengthened in me.

It was the most beautiful ride and I am so grateful for it.

We will meet again, I have no doubt.

All the very best,

Léonard <3