Kayla King, Valedictorian for GPRC’s Fairview campus and ThinkBIG Service Technician Diploma graduate (Supplied by Grande Prairie Regional College)

By Shaun Penner

Virtual Convocation

GPRC grads honoured during virtual convocation ceremony

May 3, 2021 | 2:33 PM

Though they could not gather in person, Grande Prairie Regional College still celebrated its graduates in a virtual fashion on Saturday during its commencement ceremonies for both the Grande Prairie and Fairview campuses.

Despite not being able to celebrate the occasion at the Douglas J. Cardinal Performing Arts Centre or the Fred Speckeen Theatre as usual due to public health restrictions, interim President and CEO Dr. Glenn Feltham says convocation is a significant milestone for graduates and their family and friends and needs to be celebrated.

“It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work to succeed in one of our rigorous academic programs,” said Feltham. “Our students and staff have demonstrated remarkable creativity, adaptability and strength. These are skills that will serve them well in the future.

“Again, congratulations.”

The college says about 57 per cent of its course components were transitioned online this past academic year, making the virtual ceremony almost fitting to wrap up the year.

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“Not only did we just succeed in graduating from our chosen programs, we succeeded during a year when all the odds were stacked against us,” said Brooke Bjorklund, who earned the title of Valedictorian for GPRC’s Grande Prairie campus as an Office Administration grad.

“Deemed the COVID class, we managed to succeed in the face of what seemed to at first be impossible,” she added. “Today, we stand together, even when we’re apart, after having moved mountains. This is our moment. Congratulations to our COVID Class of 2021.”

The title of Valedictorian at the Fairview campus went to Kayla King, who graduated from the ThinkBIG Service Technician program. King says this year of much adaptation has taught graduates teamwork, self-management, problem-solving, creativity and leadership.

“We are graduates who came from diverse backgrounds with different career paths in mind, however, our end goal was the same; to enhance our lives through higher education and become distinguished professionals.”

Saturday’s virtual convocation ceremony can be viewed below.