{"id":22865,"date":"2022-07-19T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T16:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=22865"},"modified":"2022-08-01T12:56:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T19:56:09","slug":"camosun-grad-takes-home-bc-lieutenant-governors-silver-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2022\/07\/19\/camosun-grad-takes-home-bc-lieutenant-governors-silver-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"Camosun grad takes home BC Lieutenant Governor\u2019s Silver Medal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Camosun Early Learning and Care graduate Gretta de Carvalho Kawahara is this year\u2019s recipient of the college\u2019s British Columbia Lieutenant Governor\u2019s Silver Medal.<\/p>\n

While de Carvalho Kawahara started her post-secondary journey in Brazil, multiple strikes at her school forced her to search for a new program. Specifically, she looked at programs in Canada where she knew immigrants were more welcomed and understood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was studying in Brazil for two years,\u201d she says. \u201cI was studying there in a program that was four years, but unfortunately, there was a lot of strikes and I couldn\u2019t finish my program. I decided to focus on saving money to come to Canada. The reason I chose Canada is I saw the huge number of immigrants that had come here, and this way I would feel… far away from my family, but not just different from everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

After finding Camosun, she was interested after just reading about the Early Learning and Care diploma program.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter choosing Canada, I started looking for colleges that would really give me that opportunity to practice, and when I saw Camosun, I read the [Early Learning and Care diploma] program description and fell in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Camosun Early Learning and Care graduate Gretta de Carvalho Kawahara (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While de Carvalho Kawahara\u2019s time at Camosun was full of great memories, a specific memory she experienced while working at a daycare for her practicum stands out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first day at the practicum… We were able to take [the children] into the forest,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cUnfortunately, in Brazil, we have beautiful nature there, but it\u2019s not so accessible for us educators to take children. So, I will never forget the picture of the children going into the forest with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Carvalho Kawahara\u2014who graduated this year\u2014received the call that she had won the BC Lieutenant Governor\u2019s Medal while walking down the street. She had spent the day struggling to buy plane tickets for her mother and grandmother to visit her; the call came as a complete surprise, and she was overwhelmed with happiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was walking in the middle of the street when I got the call. I remember that one hour before receiving the call, I was trying to get the tickets for my mom and grandma, and it was not easy to get those tickets… I remember that after getting the news, I just started crying. That was a sign, a sign that all the work that I\u2019m doing is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BC Lieutenant Governor\u2019s Medal is awarded to students who actively practice inclusion, democracy, and reconciliation in their school and community. De Carvalho Kawahara says that, for her, that means listening to silenced voices and accepting different perspectives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those words are so connected with practices and feelings… but I believe it\u2019s something we all need to keep working on. Every day,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd not just through our perspectives, but different perspectives as well. Because when we think about inclusion, it doesn\u2019t mean including ourselves only… And it\u2019s the same for democracy or reconciliation… I feel that all of this is a way that you are going to listen to the voices that are silenced, and you are going to work for those voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that she has completed her diploma at Camosun, de Carvalho Kawahara hopes to get a permanent visa. This will allow her to continue her studies and complete a bachelor\u2019s degree in Early Childhood and Care Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really need to get a permanent visa so I can pay for my studies in a way that\u2019s more affordable,\u201d she says. \u201cMy goal is that I want to keep studying… I want to keep working, keep learning, and keep sharing with people what I learn and all the things I still have to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camosun students Samreeta Kandola, Rylen Enger, and Garret Wright all received the Governor General Collegiate Bronze Medal, awarded to top academic graduates of a program that is two years or longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camosun Early Learning and Care graduate Gretta de Carvalho Kawahara is this year\u2019s recipient of the college\u2019s British Columbia Lieutenant Governor\u2019s Silver Medal. While de Carvalho Kawahara started her post-secondary journey in Brazil, multiple strikes at her school forced her to search for a new program. Specifically, she looked at programs in Canada where she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22865"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22923,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22865\/revisions\/22923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}