Convocation 1999

Dr. Supermom (aka Nancy Robson)

For Dr. Nancy Robson, life is a balancing act. She balances medical school and family life. She balances her attention between her twin girls. And she balances two cultures: her aboriginal ancestry with her non-traditional native upbringing.

"”I am kind of between both worlds. I have the basic North American up bringing and I have this cultural heritage as well. I guess it’s all about balance,” says Robson.

It hasn’t always been easy to keep up the balancing act. Robson had twin girls, Zoe and Kayla, just after completing her second year of medical school. “Having twins in medical school is a lot of work,” says Robson. She adds: “I think sometimes that being a parent is even harder than being in medical school.

"“The faculty at the U of A are just great. They were really, really supportive of me,"” she says. She took a year off to spend time with her newborns before returning to her third year and she never really doubted she would return.

During this time, her husband Jake Kreutzer started his own business. With both parents so busy and twin newborns, Robson says it was a challenge. "“I couldn’t have done it without his help, that’s for sure,"” says Robson of her husband.

When she started medical school at the U of A, Robson noted her advisers stressed a balanced life, especially when it came to studies. She took this to heart and played recreational hockey, basketball and soccer. This was no stretch for Robson who has been active in sports all of her life. She used to race in downhill skiing. She’s a lifeguard and competes in triathalons.

She took charge of organizing her fellow aboriginal students and was treasurer and president of the Native Medical Students Association of Canada, a group dedicated to sharing ideas and bringing together aboriginals who are in medical schools across the country.

Robson is looking ahead to her two years of residency here in Edmonton. She says the hard part will be continuing to find the proper balance between family life and work.

Seems like she has those skills down pat already.

Graduate grads: Thelma Inkson and daughter Tanya Moskal

Inkson earned her MBA part-time while working full-time, while daughter Moskal earned an M.Sc. in renewable resources. "It's kind of like graduating with a best friend," says Moskal who admires her mother's spirit and "just-get-it-done" attitude. It's one of the characteristics she inherited from her mother.

"When one of us had a little melt down, the other was there to pick you up and keep you going," says Inkson. Both students agree having someone who is experiencing the same pressures was a huge help. The two took a couple of undergraduate courses together and their support turned to friendly competition.

"I got the higher mark," Inkson points out with a smile.

Inkson is the patient care director for the Capital Health Authority, responsible for cardiac sciences and critical care at the university site. She spent several years as a nurse before moving into management. She says going to school not only gives her information and tools to deal with the ever-changing nursing field and the financial restraints, but it also helps keep her young. "It helps me to understand what students are going through and what some of my employees are going through," says Inkson.

Moskal is a soil-reclamation scientist for a consulting company, Can-Ag Enterprises. She conducts studies on the pre- and post-environmental effects of industry.

When they recently ran a marathon together, Moskal said she felt elated to finish but even more so when she watched her mother cross the finish line. Moskal is going on to participate in the Ironman, a gruelling running, biking and swimming competition this summer in Penticton, B.C. Her mother says she will be happy to be there, but only to cheer her daughter on. For her part, Inkson is considering a mini-triathalon to start.

While the two agree life-long learning is important, there are no immediate plans to start a double PhD.

Douglas Olekszyk receives his degree

"I often get singled out and didn't feel like getting noticed," he said. Olekszyk has had multiple sclerosis since 1992 and usually uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair to get around. The university provides ramps and sign language interpretation during convocation, but this year was different.

For the first time, convocation organizers added several supportive services for graduating students with disabilities and their families. Convocation Officer Lorna Arndt worked closely with staff from Specialized Support and Disability Services (SSDS) to ensure the traditional ceremonies were available to everyone.

This spring 52 students with disabilities will receive their degrees from almost every faculty and discipline offered at the U of A. A booth was set up to coordinate services such as large print and braille copies of the program, special seating, mobility assistance, assistive listening devices and adapted convocation gowns for students and guests. Staff was on hand throughout the program to make arrangements for preplanned or unexpected clients. Olekszyk is happy he took advantage of the opportunity.

"I found out a month before and still had reservations because things are often said to be accessible yet they're really not," he said. "But I'm very glad I went. My family was pretty proud."

That emotion is what organizers were aiming for.

"It was wonderful and it was exciting," said M‚lanie Lizotte, student adviser at SSDS. "We were thrilled to have 52 students convocating, with the good majority using our services."

There are still many students unaware of what is available to them at convocation and Lizotte is hoping to raise awareness about it.

"It creates an atmosphere of inclusion," she said. "These students have worked hard for these degrees and it's appropriate to have full access to all aspects of convocation."

Kevin Van Es with Corbett Hall's

On a cold autumn Monday morning at 3:00 a.m., with wet snow falling, rehabilitation medicine student Kevin Van Es and a fellow student approached Corbett Hall under the cover of darkness. They rolled up to the building in Van Es' Celica with an extension ladder hanging out the hatch, and quickly unloaded their supplies. Their mission: to install a gargoyle on either side of an entrance at Corbett Hall. They completed their task in 45 minutes and slipped back into the night unnoticed.

Gargoyles traditionally symbolize security and calmness and Van Es wanted to do something a little different to commemorate the four years he spent studying, growing and learning about rehabilitation medicine-and himself. He didn't want to do the "same ol' same ol'." So he installed two gargoyles up high on one of the entrances to act as protectors.

This may seem an unusual way to say thanks, but nobody can accuse Van Es of following the beaten path. Instead of a traditional toast to thank his professors at a celebration before the students started their placements, Van Es organized 20 of his fellow classmates to put on a 20-minute show about their four years of study. "I wanted to say 'thank you' to the faculty and professors in a memorable way for them," says Van Es.

Van Es likes what he does. He graduated with a B.Sc. in physical therapy and is currently working in Grande Prairie at the Columbia Rehabilitation Centre. "I get huge satisfaction out of using my abilities to help someone achieve something they couldn't have achieved or were having difficulty achieving," he says. For the past 10 years, he has volunteered with people with disabilities. He has worked for the Canadian Paraplegic Sports Association and the Cerebral Palsy Sports Association in addition to volunteering at the U of A on various committees.

Van Es took a year to travel in 1991 and says he learned a lot about himself and how fortunate Canadians are to live in this country. That is part of the reason he continues to work with people with disabilities. He enjoys helping people reach their potential.

As the Rehabilitation Medicine Students Association (RMSA) president in 1996, he tried to make student services more available. He was the driving force behind a fundraising casino that brought in $45,000 to the RMSA. He also made sure $10,000 of it went back to the faculty. His hope is this money will be "spent on something that will directly benefit the students."

Van Es stops at nothing to get his point across. When his class was having difficulty understanding how the shoulder joint works, he constructed an eight-foot replica of a shoulder and used it to demonstrate the mechanics of the shoulder. One of the co-instructors of the course was so impressed, she bought the model from him.

Turning to the future, Van Es isn't sure where his career path will lead him-perhaps teaching, or working in the industry on a national board.

Whatever it turns out to be, you can be sure Van Es won't settle for the "same ol', same ol'."