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FREDERICTON, N.B.
For Naomi Erkloo, a future without a high school diploma was not looking promising.

Teacher Danielle Wylie joins student Naomi Erkloo, 25, of Pond Inlet after the ceremony where the adult learner earned a Learner Achievement Award on Aug. 15 from the Literacy Council of New Brunswick, where she has lived since 2010. - photo courtesy of Naomi Erkloo

"When I first came here two years ago (to New Brunswick), the only job that was good for me was as in office cleaning, since I don't have an education," Erkloo, 25 and originally from Pond Inlet, said of her motivation to finish her general educational development (GED) high school equivalency certificate. "One of the commercial offices I cleaned was a literacy program, and while I was cleaning, I knew in my heart I had to attend the GED program. I didn't want to make minimum wage the rest of my life and that got me going."

That drive to create a better future for herself earned her one of three Goguen Champlain Learner Achievement Awards for adult learners in New Brunswick, where she has lived since 2010. The awards, presented by the Literacy Council of New Brunswick, go to one aboriginal, one anglophone, and one francophone adult learner each year. Erkloo received her award and $100 cheque at a ceremony at Moncton city hall Aug. 15.

Seeing a chance to help Erkloo improve her writing, teacher Danielle Wylie directed her to write an essay as an entry for the contest.

"A few days later, I heard I won," Erkloo said, crediting her teacher and her boyfriend for their support. "All you need is a little push back, a little nudge to keep you going forward. There's always going to be a positive way of looking at things and seeing things instead of being negative and saying you can't pass or go back to school. There were a lot of times I've been told I'm just an Inuk, I can't be smart enough to be here. I just tell them, I'm a human being just like you. I just kept on going and pushed myself and believing in myself."

Once she earns her high school equivalency, she hopes to pursue business administration at college in the winter, with eyes on returning to Nunavut as soon as possible.

First, she has to pass her GED exams, which she will write Sept. 14 and 15. She did not pass when she wrote the tests in Pond Inlet. But this time, she expects it will be a breeze.

"I don't remember most of the geometry and algebra (from high school) but now I can close my eyes and tell what the answer is. My English had been really low, and I'm better at it than I was before. I'm more careful at what I say. I don't have to translate it anymore from Inuktitut.

"I have full confidence that I will pass because I have a great teacher who gives me enthusiasm," she said. "She makes learning fun."

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