"I cannot wait," said Rebecca Kaufman, who will be enrolling in the University of Calgary's environmental science program in the fall.

Soon to be Samuel Hearne Secondary School graduates, from left, Chelsey Jacobson, Cameron MacDonald, Rebecca Kaufman and Geo Pascal share a laugh in their caps and gowns on Monday, five days before the big event on June 4. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Joining her on Monday afternoon were three of her classmates.

Geo Pascal will most likely suit up for the Junior A Sioux Lookout Flyers hockey team in Ontario next fall. Cameron MacDonald will take engineering at St. Francis Xavier University, and Chelsey Jacobson is heading off to be student of Christ for the Nations in Dallas. There she'll be setting out on her life-long dream to become a pastor.

As Saturday's graduation steadily approaches, they're excited but also realize the relationships they'll have to leave behind.

"I've always wanted to become a pastor," said Jacobson. "All my teachers have encouraged me and us to follow our dreams. That sounds pretty cheesy, but they do. I'll miss that."

Though she realizes a school the size of Samuel Hearne doesn't have the same resources as a school in a bigger town or city, Jacobson said her school has other advantages.

"We have a different sense of community here, like smaller class sizes," she said. "Teachers tend to notice students a lot more and we appreciate that."

Similarly, MacDonald said he has experienced so many good things in his years at Samuel Hearne it's impossible to narrow his thoughts down to a single greatest memory. The theme for Grad 2009 is "like a white black and white movie," MacDonald said, because it encompasses clean and classy style.

It will also have a Beaufort Delta flavour as 39 students from Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson and Inuvik will take part in the ceremony, which starts as 2:30 p.m., followed by the banquet and grand march at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. respectively.

"I think seeing everyone in their gowns, seeing them do their walk with their diplomas, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry," said Kaufman.

The quartet might also shed a tear or two over the return of their former high school teacher Stacy Applejohn from Kenora, Ont., as the guest speaker.

"She was hilarious," said MacDonald.