The doors to
the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology will open countless times today
just off Kingsway Avenue in Edmonton at the main campus. Students in pursuit of
careers will be going through those doors. They may not realize now, but,
later, they could very well reflect on their time at NAIT as some of the best
times of their lives.
I make these comments, celebrating 50 years ago today
since NAIT's doors first opened. Personally, NAIT was one of the best years of
my life.
I was a student of the Radio and Television Arts
program in 1977. My dream: to write for radio first perhaps, writing
commercials, and then, maybe, documentaries. Yet, NAIT gave me an education I
never thought of — how to build and maintain relationships with people. The
Glenrose School Hospital was my junior high and high school because I have
cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair. I found myself in a culture shock my first
few months of NAIT. Clearly, I was a minority. Yet, my fellow classmates slowly
helped me become one of the gang.
They showed me the value of humor to bridge gaps and
so many things not on the curriculum. NAIT gave me lifetime friendships with
people I still am in contact with today: Gary Chomyn, Lance Brown and Pat
Petersen, to name a few. I would not be the person I am without going through
the doors of NAIT.
May they swing mightily for the next 50 years.
Happy
Birthday!
Tait Text Twitter @camtait Email camtait@telus.net
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