96 senior students from W.C. Miller Collegiate will dress up in cap and gown today as they get set to celebrate their graduation.
Valedictorian Coen Gagne admits that COVID put a wrench in their high school experience.
"It was really just fun to talk to people again. The sense you got right after COVID and you were with all your classmates, you were like, yeah, this is really fun and I miss this a lot."
He believes that overcoming that experience made his class better than ever.
"And honestly, I think that's the way we should have done it. We're just way different than any other high school classes. It's kind of cool to see. It definitely built our grades stronger and made us realize what it is without the people that we care about."
During his high school years, Gagne was involved a mentorship program, student council, Aces hockey and intramural sports.
The Miller graduate grew up in a family that enjoys exploring nature. He now plans to pursue natural resource studies at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario with the aim of becoming a conservation biologist.
Many of his classmates will also move on to post-secondary studies.
"Most of them are pursuing either a gym teacher or like kinesiology or nursing. I know a lot of our sports program people - Mia Sawatzky, an athlete - is also pursuing in Thunder Bay on a ski team. A lot of our people are doing a lot of very different things. We have some tradespeople too, going out and [doing] blue collar jobs. We have electricians, painters, all that, plumbers. Yeah, it's a pretty diverse group of grads."
Admittedly not the most tight-knit group, Gagne says his classmates are all following their pathways while remaining cohesive and respectful.
With files from Candace Derksen