Greg J.D: If I can do it you can!
By Marie-Rose El-Khoury
On Wednesday, March 24, during Universal
Break, former Vanier student Greg Jackson-Davis came back to
pay a visit.
Born in Montreal, Jackson-Davis spent
his childhood summers in the beautiful Lake-of-the-Woods area
of northern Ontario.
He's a 1991 Vanier graduate. He has
a Bachelor in Rhetoric and Professional Writing from the University
of Waterloo and a B.E.D. from the University of Manitoba.
He currently teaches middle school English
and French at St. John's-Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg.
Those who needed to boost their confidence
needed to listen to his speech. He made the audience feel like
they could do anything they want if they put their mind to it,
and if they keep trying until they get it right. "Don't
despair" he said.
Some people would think that he just
came to talk about his book Digging for Philip or about
his life, but what he was really trying to do was to send a message
to the students.
He was trying to convince the students
that they can succeed. He encouraged them to have dreams and
to try to achieve them as well, " you have to decide what
success is and don't let anybody tell you what it is," he
emphasized.
He talked about how much time it took
him to get his book through the publishers. He sent it many times
for them to take a look at, but luck was against him. After sending
it a third time, after having sending him useless comments and
having lost it, he finally got his book published.
"I would've never thought being
here talking to you about my book," he says. He made sure
the audience understood how he struggled to accomplish his dream
and that he finally did it.
"Stick with it and have a little
bit of luck," he says. It took him a long time, but what
matters is that he persevered and succeeded.
"To me that was a huge success,"
says JD about what he accomplished (writing and publishing his
novel).
Greg Jackson-Davis' visit was a huge
encouragement for everyone who had the chance to see it. His
speech was very much needed, especially in this time of the semester
when everyone is going through a lot of midterm stress. A very
important message was sent: work hard enough and you will succeed.
Don't give up! |
