Fort Simpson (Oct 24/03) - With her eldest son in tow, Lisa Lafferty spent the better part of the last two years immersed in her studies in Fort Smith.

Not only did she attain her diploma, she garnered the Governor General's bronze collegiate medal for academic excellence. She was presented with the award at a Deh Cho Hall ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

Kathy Purchase, director of Aurora College's Thebacha campus, said there were close to 100 graduates across the NWT who were eligible for the academic medal. Lafferty was enroled in the two-year Management Studies program, which Purchase referred to as difficult and rigorous, making her 92 per cent average all the more remarkable.

Lafferty graduated high school in 1997 but her marks weren't so stellar back then.

"I was just being a cool teenager," she said, smiling.

After four years of office work with Metis Local 52 and the Liidlii Kue First Nation, she decided to go back to school.

"It was just time to get the ball rolling, to get my life started," she said.

She decided on Management Studies because it offered "a little bit of everything." The program taught her the basics of economics and economic development, accounting and computer and communications skills.

She devoted an hour and a half to her homework each night. Her son, Joshua, was in Grade 1 during the day and kept her company in the evening.

"That's why I got good grades, I had to spend all my time at home," Lafferty said.

While she missed her common-law husband, Michael Tsetso, and her youngest son, Nathaniel, she didn't suffer from too much homesickness because she had a good network of friends, she noted.

Lafferty is currently working part-time with Xah Ndah Resources in Fort Simpson, but she is planning to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce degree and become a certified general accountant.

"That's my major goal. This was just a start," she said.