Greta's Story

Greta’s Distance Education Story
Greta is a Gwich’in, Inuvialuit woman, from the Western Arctic. She is also a lifelong learner with experience as both a student and an educator in programs at a distance. Greta was enrolled in, and graduated from, the Certificate in Adult Education (CAED) program and says, “I started CAED in 2016 when I got hired.” Greta “had to do the certificate [in] adult education because of my job” and completed the program at a distance “over six years… one class at a time.”
Engagement.
When asked about when she felt engaged in her courses at a distance Greta describes the importance of instructors and identifies an instructor named Kelsey. She says, “Kelsey’s amazing!” What makes Kelsey amazing is that “Kelsey … engages us and keeps us part of the class … that helped me be successful.” Greta provides examples and says, “she gives feedback, and she responds. She does check ins and she makes it relevant to the North like it's not… from [a] down south perspective.” Greta also says, “She validated [us]… she heard our voice and brought it into the classroom so that's where I felt engaged.” Greta also adds, “Kelsey, she lives in the north, we didn't use any books. She brought in things from the northern experience. I felt very engaged because she made it meaningful that way and it helped because she understood where we're coming from.” Kelsey also used tools within Teams such as the chat function to engage students, Greta says, “she used the comments on the side [chat] and she would go… around and include all of us when you're talking about subjects.” Greta also says that in the Teams environment, “ I could see her [instructor] and I could read [students and the instructor’s ] expressions on … their face[s]… I felt more engaged … that helped me be successful.” Greta feels that, “If I … were in [a face-to-face] class I would have the same experience. But Kelsey made it feel like there was no screen [like we were connected even though we were at a distance]. It didn't make us like feel like we're not in a [face-to-face] class … and not a lot of people can do that.”
Greta appreciated how Kelsey integrated students learning from throughout the program and says, “her bringing [in] all the things that I learned” [in all of my CAED courses]… supported Greta’s learning. Greta says, “What I really liked is the Elements [of Instruction course]. I actually have a picture.” Greta shares a picture and explains its impact on her, Greta says, “what I took away [from this course] is as an adult educator, I facilitate the learning process. Right? And it's coming from a place of privilege not of power… I got to apply everything that I've learned in the CAED… and the things that I was proud of when I was in this class.” Greta also shares, “I got to share my culture … I learned [that] I have to be flexible when I'm teaching in Teams… remotely. I have to give feedback because… you need to let your students know how they're doing.” Greta says, “I don't often need a post-assessment … I could do… a check in, a takeaway question… so you know they got what you're … teaching them.” Greta reflects and says, “I need to give some wait time. … I learned that we could do things through technology and… when I'm giving feedback, it's not from a place of power but it's from a place as a learner. Pointing to Greta’s diagram she says, “So… this is my thing. I wish I could like laminate this or frame it because this is… my combination of my [learning from the] CAED [program].”
When asked about her personal beliefs Greta says, “I think my own beliefs of being truthful and honest and having integrity like those matter, right? My parents always taught us about that. And we lived, if we got caught doing something wrong, we were held accountable. So, I think that's really played a part in my beliefs. And it's like my Dad always says ‘do things in a good way’ …. I would go every Friday when he was like, when he was with us, alive. And you’d know, I had a tough day because he’d bring tea. He'd say ‘tough day?’”. He wouldn't say anything … and then one time he said, ‘look … if you ever break down in a bush with somebody, and you're still gonna work with him to get through it. So whatever you do, you got to do things in a good way. Even though like it's like, hard, you gotta to keep going.’ And I like before he passed away … he said, I think it was like January three, he said, ‘You wanna go check traps with me?’ … my Mom always pushed me through school like Western, Western, like go, do, you get your high school diploma because you're gonna get job you're gonna support yourself. My Dad is like always bringing, like balancing it off, with our cultural teachings. I said, ‘Okay, I'll go check traps with you.’ I didn't realize he's in his 70s, I'm in my 40s and he's on his skidoo and I’m on my skidoo, I'm following him on a skidoo trail and he's breaking trail. And he goes up a hill just like it's nothing and here I am trying to get over that little hill of sugar snow, get stuck, dragged down, can't get through. And I'm pushing some … snow … and he has to come back … I waited like geez! Dad’s gonna come back from me and he said, he came back and he said, ‘you got stuck.’ I said, ‘yeah, the sugar snow.’ He said, ‘you just gotta push. You gotta just, don't let go [of] that throttle.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ So again, we're going, I get off the trail, get stuck. Can't get out because that machine is heavy. I'm like only five one and he comes back and he doesn't get upset. But he gets off his machine. He puts me back on the trail and he said, ‘Look, if you're gonna go off the trail, just keep going and just keep going. Just go don't let go of your throttle like okay.’ And another time got off the trail and I said, I'm gonna keep [going] … I had my throttle down. But you know what underneath [the snow] was that stick and the front of the skidoo hit it and I stopped, the ski doo stopped, and I fell off on the side. I'm like, Ahhh, Dad's gonna come back again. But he came back like a little while later. And I was like, I had to wait here. He said ‘well at least you tried like to get through this’ so he said ‘at least you tried. You go ahead first and I'll follow you’. So, he was going to make sure I was gonna stay on the trail so I had to break the trail and we got to the lake. We stopped he said ‘don't take off, like unzip, because you're working really hard, you're sweating, you're, you're gonna get cold.’ And we had tea and he said, ‘you're okay?’ And I said, ‘well, can we just turn around and go back?’ He was like, so not impressed. He's like, ‘we got here. We got to go there and we're gonna get on the trail. We'll be done. We're not gonna go back where we came from. Because this is the way we're going.’ And I'm like, okay. But when I think of it, like he taught me about, keep pushing through, even though there's things underneath that are hard or you're getting off the trail. You're gonna get through but don't give up. Like I think those like that… like his Indigenous resilience, like that, that played right there, like that. I think how I'm formed with my beliefs like how they impacted my life.”
Disengagement.
Greta remembers when she began in the CAED program and says, “When I first started CAED… we would join by the phone, a teleconference, [it was] brutal. You know how hard it is to sit in your [chair from] … 8:30[am] to 5:00[pm], then you go home on whichever day from 7:00[pm] to 9:30[pm] and you got to be on the phone. You can hear your instructor or your peers and it's like you're just sitting there listening and then they forget you're there and you just feel like invisible. I did… a lot of classes by teleconference.” Greta remembers connecting to her evening teleconference courses and says, “I'm literally just sitting in my bedroom on my chair with the telephone on … muted.” Greta talks about why she invested the time into attending these early teleconference classes and says she attended “because it's for participation; if I don't join I will lose marks.” Greta reflects about these experiences and says, “they had activities that … didn't even link us in it” and Greta remembers wondering, “why is the college delivering CAED by teleconference?” Because of the disengagement and lack of attentiveness towards the students Greta says, “I would just slip off my chair, go down to the kitchen, get some water and come back. But yeah, it was interesting like how I first started with my CAED in 2016 to last year 2021 using Teams and technology. I felt more engaged and then [2021] … the instructor let me choose what I'm interested in studying.” When comparing this learning experience with the earlier teleconference options in the program Greta says, “those [first courses] “the telephone ones, I just felt like they were depositing information in my brain. It's like, this is brutal. I’d read the chapters and then I sit in the class.”
Supportive Relationships.
When Greta is asked about relationships that have sustained and supported her throughout her studies Greta says, “We had a really tough time one class … [Kelsey] … would do check ins at the start of our class and there was someone who … was making assumptions about our people.” Greta acknowledges that she can share her frustration and anger in these situations, and says, “I have a voice and I can use it but I can use it in a good way” to respond to others. Greta says, “I unmuted and I put my camera on and I said excuse me, can I say something Kelsey and she's like, ‘okay’, and I said ‘you need to stop talking. You are making assumptions about the North. Your perspective is one perspective. You can't say this about anybody’, and I said, ‘I'm very upset, right now, I need to, I need to tell you that what you're saying is wrong. I'm going to end the call’ … and then I ended it.” After Greta disconnected from the call Greta says, “my son came out … and he talked me through it because that's what we do ... he … grounded me.” Greta also says, “Kelsey was trying to call me because we took a class break and she was trying to do a check [in] to see if I was okay. Greta also shares that her classmates also reached out to support her, and says, “I [also] felt like supported [by] … a couple of my peers. They got back to me by email and they said, when you left, I left and she said … ‘I didn't feel that was right.’ Her peer also said ‘if it ever happened again, I'm gonna stand by someone or I'm going to stop it.’ and I felt supported. And it's like hard because that person's attitude, you can tell it was like, racist against Indigenous people and I was like, shocked that it was happening in a college course. So, I was glad that my peers … supported me that way by reaching out. And then Kelsey got a hold of me the next day after I calmed down, and we talked through it, but it was … really, it was hard. Like it's hard when you hear those kinds of things … [it’s] … what they believe is coming out and they put it out there. It's like words. That's heavy.”
Greta also shared about supportive relationships she experienced while completing her Master of Education at the University of Saskatchewan and how those relationships helped to shape her views on education. Greta says, “when we first … got into like that master's program and we traveled, me and a couple of my peers, from Chief Julius school (Erica and Sonya), we drove to Baker's Narrows, that's where we were going to start. And our university professor, she said, first assignment, we'll find a place we're in like a lodge, not connected to internet. Go find a place that speaks to you. Go into bushes, go at the water, wherever. So, I like I went and found a place and she said to stay there. Be quiet. And I'm like, what is this assignment about? And when we talked about it in the circle, because we're taking Indigenous education. It was about decolonization. And I thought we were gonna go to that program that I brought paper and pen and I was gonna write notes and they're gonna deposit information like my experience from [a previous university Greta attended]. And she/we did a roundtable talk. And she said in our program, we're not gonna do like this standard [education practice] we're doing it like action based, you're gonna feel things, you're gonna see things, you're going to experience things and she was decolonizing our western methodology of learning.” While participating in this type of education Greta says, “what was so amazing as they got us to bring in our Indigenous worldviews into the class experience. At the end when I was doing my final paper, I said, all these years we focus[ed] on the Western way of doing things that we personally thought that was higher than our ways … My dad had passed away when I was doing my papers. I wish I could have told my Dad that he already held, he was a professor like he was there, because he had all those teachings. Right? And now, Western researchers are precise, like they're asking us because we we've known, we’ve lived this for 1,000s of years.” Greta acknowledges that researchers “are seeking our input … they're actually validating what we know. So that was … a big thing. When … I'm with my students, those voices, those things, like they get to experience, that they bring it in … I don't let them leave their identity at the door … I recognize them for who they are; so that's really important.”
While talking about supportive relationships Greta asked, “have you ever read The Four Rs? It's by Verna Kirkness and Ray Barnhardt. It's First Nations and higher education, the four R's, respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility.” Greta says, “This resonates with me because it really reminded me of how my parents have taught me and my siblings. It's about respect. Like we have to have that in our relationships, right? When … we have respect … we could do things in a good way because if we don't do things in a good way, we're not gonna be able to do the work that we do. And it's about when we're in education or in any work, we have to make it relevant. So, we have to make sure that the students understand where we're coming from, like teach from what they know, and bringing their voice so that lived experience. Reciprocity, it's like, we give and take like as a teacher, we give information the student takes it. Example, the students who just did my one assignment that was due Wednesday, I said, one part of the assignment is you need to send a thank you to the person you interviewed and you need to give authentic feedback and you send it to them but BCC me, that's how I hold them accountable. And in class on Wednesday, I said ‘I asked you to do this I said because it's a form of reciprocity in Indigenous culture … they gave you something and like you need to give them back.’ Right? ‘You give, they give you words, they give you your time, and you need to give them back because they need to hear that.’ I said that ‘you're building that relationship. That person could be a contact for me for you one day,’ so I'm teaching them about that. And then it's about responsibility, like how do we engage them so that they take responsibility for their learning? And I say like for me when my students are struggling when they call me and they're, especially at the beginning of the term or in the midterms, when it's exams or finals, when they're pushing through … [the students say] ‘I have a lot of stuff that I don't know if I could do’, so I, we, we talk, they talk, I listened and I said ‘I want you to picture this’; I said ‘you're going to picture yourself walking across the stage to get your certificate or get your diploma’ and then they take responsibility. I said, ‘you are making an investment not only in yourself, but your family and your nation and your community. So, you can do this, you've gone through a lot this term if you give up now it's like all the work that you've done, it's going to be for nothing. So keep pushing through; you got this.’ So … I think that's why this article really resonated with me, The Four R’s of Education … when I was with, doing my Master of Education with Alex, Dr. Alex Wilson and her parents, Stan and Peggy [and] Dr. Karla Williamson and they really taught us about that. We got to visit different communities ... we went to Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba; we went to the Hawaiian communities and we learned how they're making a difference in education and … that's why … I think this four Rs really resonated with me … [because] … until I, we, went through the group project I didn't, I started to look at my practice … I didn't even know I was doing that, like doing it, the way my parents taught me, the way I was mentored by the Wilsons and by Dr. Karla, Dr. Karla Williamson.”
In Greta’s current doctoral program she talks about building trusting and supportive relationships and says, “we are texting and we do Zoom calls, [and] we email one another.” “I camped with … one cohort [member] in Whitehorse … and stayed with a former coworker.” Greta talks about building bonds with her colleagues through an art night together where Greta says, “she was doing her weaving and I was doing my beading and it was good because we got to know one another and… trust one another.”
Other supportive relationships that Greta identifies include those with her son and her Mom. Greta says, “my son, like I go away and he takes care of the house and the dog and I come home from studies. My Mom always says, I’ve got supper ready, I’ve got cooked fish or I got moose roast … she's feeding, feeding me, my spirit. My spirit, because it's a lot of work to pursue postsecondary. It's almost like the relationships I have, are keeping me together. It's like my community like I have a community here in the college and I have a community out in Inuvik, then I have my cohort community because we bonded over this semester, and they send me messages.”
Course Content and Resources.
Greta was asked about course content and resources and shared her thoughts about her Special Projects class with Dr. Mike McPherson, in the CAED program. Greta says, “we had Moodle, and he had a really clear syllabus.” [Mike] “would do brief little lectures and then we would do things in class and each of us would always… say this is where I am in my project and give like a little update on it.” Greta also says, “The end [of the course] was a final presentation of what we had done, how we applied that theory to into practice, and our reflections … We talked about assumptions and [about] find[ing] something that would interest us so that we could do … applied [research] in class … theory to practice.” Greta’s project was influenced by a book she found at the college and she says, “I found… a book, called “Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools, and Techniques, by Stephen Brookfield and Stephen Preskill … I said, ‘Mike, I think I'm going to change my … project to discussion because I want to look at my teaching practice and how can I engage it [with students] because we're using remote delivery’ and so he said that he was okay with it.” Greta appreciated Mike’s class pedagogy and instructional approach saying, “What was good… when we were in class, he would give us the lectures and he would talk about it… take ideas from it and apply it and then we had to report back on at the end of the class.” Greta says, “He really helped me with that because I said, this really aligns with how I learned as an Indigenous person because we tell, teach by stories, right? In a circle, we're around people. Someone's going to talk and they're like telling you a story about that's going to help you learn. So, I always like when I'm in class now with my HR Payroll, I’ll pose, ‘have you done this? Have you ever experienced [this]’… and then [students say] ‘oh, yeah, I know what you're talking about’. And then they teach one another and some of them [have an] … aha moment. So that book has been very helpful … him allowing us that flexibility … we [were able to] choose what we're interested in.” Greta adds, “[If] I had to do [a required] … book, [it would have been] very disengaging.” “[I would have been] ‘I just got to do this just because the instructor wants it; I didn't have no ownership of it.’ But Mike allowed us to have that ownership and we did something that interested us.”
Assignments and Assessments.
When asked about assignments and assessments, Greta reflects, “I really liked the evaluations where they got to do reflection because it really makes you think about the course throughout the term and making sense of what we learned and linking it to the course objectives. [I also liked] … the practical projects where we do things that we take ownership for like that discussion as a way of teaching, that I liked that. I liked [my course] … with Kelsey because I … pull[ed] everything from my notes and I put it on paper and then this was like my notes but I turned this … picture into a paper. Yeah. So we're reflecting pieces and then the presentations where I got to share my … learnings or my takeaways from that project. I like the practical based projects.”
“One of the first ones [CAED courses Greta enrolled in] was Teaching and Learning at a Distance, remotely and it was kind of boring because the instructor just [lectured].” Greta states, “I always got like, syllabi from my instructors when I'm starting CAED; [but] never got one for that class. Never knew how I got … that grade and I ended up with 100.” “I was like thinking about it. How did I get 100 but he [the instructor said] … just do the work.” Greta adds that the instructor would “talk at us and at that point, I was like just pushing through just to get this certificate to keep my job because it's a bonafide requirement. But yeah, I never got a syllabus from him. So, when my … transcript [came in Greta exclaims] … Whoa, I got 100 … How do I get 100 in my class? [Greta looks at her transcript], yeah, I got 100. That was the highest grade I got; 100.”
“So … I never got a syllabus [and I] didn't know how I got that 100 … I'm a type A person, I need to know … how am I getting graded? What do I have to do to get that grade? Give me some, like, guidelines, but it [the course] was like so laid back. And I just attended the classes and did whatever [and] … got my grade …. Greta says, “Now I know how important that syllabus is, because it gives you the outline like this is the course objectives. These are the deadlines like this is when we're going to start classes is when we're going to add classes [it includes] … what we're going to cover each class.” Greta reflects back on to her experience with her instructor Kelsey and says, “Kelsey had it all laid out, everything like the schedule was there; the assignments, this is how you'll be evaluated. It was very clear. And my takeaway was like when I'm doing my syllabus, I have to make sure that I do the same thing for my students because I don't want to feel [at] a loss … this is their ... I call like a contract of learning.”
With regards to leaning in her doctoral program, Greta says, “you know what's interesting … the professor who's going to teach us, she emailed us a survey … she emailed and said, ‘Hi, I'm getting ready to plan for next semester and I would like to know what things worked for you. This term what thing, what kind of assignments you enjoy, how can I keep you engaged.” Greta says, “I did the survey and I'm like, wow, that's the first time an instructor or professor has ever asked for my input, because we're gonna look at governance and diversity … I'm like, that's amazing to actually contact the cohort and say, I'm planning the course, I need to know your feedback, and that's our opportunity … that's amazing … We don't do that here. Like I don't do that here … This is my first time ever experiencing it.”
Challenges.
When asked about what kinds of things made it difficult to be successful, Greta says, “I think when instructors come from a place of power [it] makes it difficult, or like when … [the course or learning process is] not engaging.” Greta says, “For me when I was going to school, what made it difficult for me was money.” Greta adds, “I had four kids to take care of and I think what made it helpful was having scholarships … [and] opportunities to apply for scholarships. That made my difficulties less hard … I was able to focus on my studies and rather than worrying [about having enough money for] tuition or books because going down south to school is expensive right? The books are expensive, tuition is higher than our college…”
In Greta’s current doctoral study she is experiencing other challenges. Greta says, “what's difficult about that is having to go [fly] to Whitehorse on a Friday night for class … and then [class is also on] … Saturday and come home Sunday and then [I have to] be ready for work on Monday … that's a difficult thing. … I actually told my professor Michelle yesterday, that I appreciated her allowing me to join class remotely by Zoom. That really helped because I still was part of the class and I was still hearing the discussions and hearing what was being said. … I'm funded for my tuition, but the cost for travel is not covered and I'm taking annual leave [to attend classes]. That's a difficulty right there because I'm worried about if I run out of annual leave… I[’ll] have to take unpaid leave and I can’t pay for my travel. So that's like one thing right now it's been difficult for me is that leave requirements and requirements to be in class in Whitehorse. It makes me … feel like stressed out. I try not to be stressed out. I'm just gonna take it like one class at a time. Yeah, one class … one travel at a time.”
Greta speaks about other challenges she faced during her doctoral classes, she says, “we're talking about colonialism and white privilege and how Indigenous students feel in the class. So, there's like tension and you know what's so beautiful is like my peers made [it possible to talk through] those uncomfortable conversations … They [Greta’s peers] ‘said we're not here to make you feel uncomfortable. We want to like work through this because we all are here to try … to do our work to make our students succeed.’”
When Greta talks about how she is coping with her work, life, and school balance she says it’s, “hard to navigate … I was so tired at the start of the term. We give out a lot of energy when we work with people and I had … over 30 students … across three campuses.” Greta says, “I would get home at the end of the day I would just plop on my chair. So, I'm learning to try not to do that… I need to start getting back into walking. That's why I think I started doing the beading because it helps me … process [everything and it is] … downtime for me.”
One Word to Describe Why You are Successful.
When asked for one word to describe herself, Greta says, “I am resilient. Yeah, I I've been through a lot, Tammy, in my life. I buried her husband at 28 and I raised my kids on my own and it's my kids in my mind … I'm gonna work because I'm not gonna depend on someone else to take care of them. … I think I get my resilience from my parents because they always taught us that we got it keep doing the work until it's done and do things or else you're gonna have to redo it. So, I think that's where I get my resilience from and seeing my people like the Gwich’ in, Inuvialuit, how they persevere even under difficult circumstances. Yah so, I think that’s what makes me like, is my resiliency. I think it's like pockets of people there. Things they give me, that’s invested in me, that I carry with me, on my journey that sometimes I am having a tough time and then I just think of like my late Auntie Marjorie or my Dad. I'm like what would Dad do? Or my sister Ister … they have … put pockets of them[selves] in me, so that helps me be resilient.”
Most Important Thoughts from the Interview.
When asked what the three most important things were from our interview, Greta says, “I'm really glad that the college has been flexible in the last part of like transitioning CAED to remote delivery. Because I often had to wait to see when they're going to offer a class and then being able to deliver it remotely. I don't have to leave Inuvik to go do my Elements [of Instruction course] because often we'd have to go down to Smith or to Yellowknife. But now I like doing it remotely … it doesn't have that travel barrier and I'm still part of the class. So, I appreciate that the last part of my CAED program that the college is using technology to get things done.”
Greta says, “I think what I want is having a community, like a wraparound, like the support.” Greta also thinks it is important, “recognizing someone for who they are like as a person, and then remember that what you do in our community … like your research, it's reciprocity… You're taking stories from Northern students, and you're gonna give it back and how do you give it back? Give it back in a good way, so that it helps someone else who might be pursuing their own journeys, their own academic journeys, someone might reference like Tammy’s work and so you have to be very honest in it.”
Final Thoughts On the System and Access to Education for Indigenous Students.
Greta says, “I used to work at ECE [Education, Culture and Employment, Government of the Northwest Territories] and I oversaw like, income assistance. On the other side was training and development and people who are in need, they could hardly get over here to the training because of their education. And it was almost like the policy made them be in that place. And so they there was no way, no support for them to get to the site to pursue training. Unless they're very, very persistent … there’s barriers.” Greta decided, “I said I'm not going to work in places where it's oppressive, so I chose to leave and I went to the school board and I stayed there for a while but after my Dad and then my sister died, I said, ‘I've been investing so much time like working late till 10:30. I want to exit here and go to the college to work with adult learners because I really believe in investing, like supporting students so that they can seek employment and support themselves and their families and can give to their community.’ That's why I'm here.” Greta says, “It's different … when you're working with adults … I chose to work with adults because I, I've been through a lot in my career and I wanted to come back to the college and share the things that I learned along the way and to help students with their learning.” Greta is also aware that “there's not a lot of Indigenous faculty in the college.”
“I'm on … the SEMM [Strategic Enrollment Management and Marketing] committee, and we're talking about how do we recruit? How do you retain our students?” Greta reflects and says, “they're coming to us and we're going to indoctrinate them. We're going to like teach them how to be a student, like our student, but for us as students, and because I'm a student right now, I was a student like with CAED … For me going, it's like, I'm going to go learn something. University, I’m coming, they're coming to us. And we're gonna like fill them with this knowledge and they're coming with their dollars. It's like, they're in a seat, and that's tuition. That's gonna be it's like, how to keep the institution going. But for us [students], it's like we're investing in ourselves. And that was my like, when I was doing the readings. It's, we're not just looking at a dollar sign, we're looking at a student. We have to look at them holistically, like, what are they bringing, their lived experiences? … How do they learn? What supports do they have; what barriers are there? … How can I be a facilitator rather than … me being the instructor and saying you must do this. How can I help them achieve their goals because they're there for a reason. Right? So it's really interesting when you're looking at from those two perspectives, like they're coming to us, and I'm going to university that's been a big aha moment for me this last term as a student again.”
Final Thoughts - Greta’s Continuing Journey.
Greta is currently enrolled in her own cohort-based Doctorate in Education. Greta says, “there's a program at Yukon U I could do it from Inuvik, but … you have to go to Whitehorse. So, I'm in that program now.” When asked about this program Greta says, “at the beginning it was very overwhelming because there's a lot of readings and … very demanding because they want us to go to Whitehorse every two weeks for classes because it's at Yukon U … and I go [fly to the Yukon on] Friday [and] come home Sunday.” Greta says, “I learned that I need to chunk my readings” and “my professor Michelle Pigeon said… ‘just take it one course at a time’… and she said, ‘get through each course and don't try to get overwhelmed’ … I'm always trained to see the bigger picture like how things fit together and what things are missing. So [I] just think of the end like you're gonna get through this course and then the next course.” Greta considered withdrawing and explains, “I was … contemplating withdrawing from the program because it was pretty rigorous. But then I thought about … something … that I was reading.” Greta read that, “Not many Indigenous people get to pursue postsecondary programs like this.” Greta reflects on what she read saying, “the writer was saying, she told her family members … you're doing work, that's gonna make a difference for the people … then I thought of my Dad because he grounded me in my culture. Like, who I am as an Indigenous person, him and my Mom.” “When I was in the school system because of my ethnicity I always got… ‘Oh, you're gonna go the general [route]’ but my Mom … she stood up for me in high school.” Greta’s mom saw her course load and Greta says, “my schedule was … all dash 13 stream and she said, ‘you’re not going to do general you're going to go to college when you're done high school’. She had to argue with the principal and he said, ‘Well, we'll let her in but she's got to prove herself. She'll do two maths, math 13 and math 10-1.’ And when we were walking out of the high school, she said and ‘you better pass.’ Because she just wanted to demonstrate that you can't just put someone in a lower level because of who they are, their race.” Greta says, “She had high expectations and I'm her first child that finished high school. I'm her first child that did university. So, it's a big thing …” Greta is on track to complete her Doctorate in Education in five years.