Ron Thiessen found out it's never too late to learn

 

Ron Thiessen will graduate with his first degree this June, with majors in both Psychology and Human Relations. This fall, he will enter the Master’s program at McGill in Counselling Psychology, for which more than 250 students competed for 27 places.

He pays for his studies by running a house-painting company on a full-time basis, employing at least two other painters, and he dabbles in other business interests. He’sthe liaison person for student placements in one of McGill’s counselling courses, and he’s active in his church.

Where does the 51-year-old find the energy for it all?

“You can really do anything that you set your mind to,” says Thiessen, who until 2001 had never seen the inside of a university. He decided to finally get a degree after 20 years of painting, at which time he was also handling logistics and leadership development for a non-profit organization in Africa.

“I really felt there was a lot lacking in my training. All I had to do was take my first two courses and I could see I was going to learn a ton.”

Thiessen gives a great deal of the credit for his academic success to passionate and innovative instructors who made coursework “come alive.” In addition to meeting some great people, his studies helped him develop a broader view of diversity.

Because of his work in Africa and his exposure to a great variety of people and cultures, Thiessen had been convinced that he was open-minded.

“I saw the world in compartments,” he says now. “I felt that I could categorize people, I felt like I could categorize relationships.”

Now that has changed. “Life is just a wonderful conglomeration of things that are happening. Every one is a treasure. I certainly wouldn’t have thought that four years ago.”

-Robert Carver