A first for Laurier, mom & son to graduate at same time
Posted Oct 31, 2014 06:56:41 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
History will be made today at Wilfrid Laurier University.
61-year-old Lila Bruyere and 37-year-old Shawn Johnston will both receive their master’s degrees during Laurier’s fall convocation ceremony.
What makes this so special is they are related and it’s the first time ever a mother and son have graduated at the same time from that school.
Their story is remarkable.
Johnston grew up on the Couchiching First Nation, dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and was addicted to drugs and alcohol.
His mother was also alcoholic, having endured years of physical abuse in the residential school system.
They eventually turned their lives around and here they are today, receiving their master’s degree in Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work Aboriginal Field of Study program.
