A graduation ceremony of just under 40 students will take place at CNC's Quesnel campus on Tuesday (June 11th).
"I like to think of it as a fairly nice, intimate ceremony," CNC academic advisor Christine Hofmeier told the Observer. "Definitely that kind of small town feel but still, of course, the pomp that goes along with the formality of the graduation ceremony." Hofmeier said not all graduates are able to attend the convocation ceremony.
The ceremony will have drummers from the Eldzi Drum Group and dancers from the Nazko First Nation. Lhtako Dene Chief Clifford LeBrun and MLA Coralee Oakes will speak at the event along with CNC President Cindy Heitman. Shyanne Hachey, a Health Care Assistant Certificate graduate will be the graduate speaker. Hofmeier said the ceremony and speakers will be there for the students to celebrate their graduation.
"You spend so much time and for a lot of people it's a big thing of growth," she said. "It's a big sense of accomplishment and it's nice to be able to celebrate that with your cohort and with the community. And that's the thing with a small campus is that people recognize you, you're not just a number."
Hofmeier said that CNC offers a wide array of different programs with everything from four-year bachelor of science in nursing programs to childcare programs all the way down to people just starting out in university and sampling courses to see what they might like. She added that while not all courses can be accessed in-person at the Quesnel campus, there are online options.
"I've helped people decide what they want to do and help them apply and them plan their courses and navigate how to pay for it and then to see them at the end it's just a wonderful thing," she said.
The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. at the Quesnel campus, Hofmeier said the ceremony usually lasts an hour and is followed by photos and socializing.