Confederation College Greenstone Campus: Success Story
Lisa Tobin: Graduate of the Native Child and Family Services program
Lisa with her biggest fan, yesterday at her convocation ceremony at Confederation College's Greenstone Campus. Photo by
GERALDTON, ON – Even though Lisa Tobin graduated from the Native Child and Family program at the Greenstone campus yesterday, she isn’t looking for a full-time position quite yet. She was recently accepted into Confederation College’s Concurrent Disorders program, a one-year post-graduate program on mental health and addiction starting in September. Each program is another step towards her ultimate goal of a career in social work. Lisa, who is Micmac from Newfoundland, said that the program gave her a good background on challenges facing people living in the region.“How can you respectfully help a Native community if you don’t know their history or culture? That’s why I chose the Native Child and Family program – it’s about better understanding the area and what the issues are,” Lisa said. Lisa said she likely would have had to put education on hold if she couldn’t go to school in Geraldton. As a single mother of an eight-year old son, she said she wouldn’t uproot him from his hometown. Confederation College gives her options. The Greenstone campus is only a few blocks from her house, though if her son is sick and she has to stay home, she could log into her class using her own computer. “I guess I could have taken a different online course from anywhere, but I like the fact you could have the in-class. Plus, the staff is super friendly and super helpful,” she said.“It gave me confidence as well, completing the program from start to finish.”
