Early 2011 when Celia Meikle read a Globe & Mail article called “The Myth of the Brainy Immigrant” she was floored by what it was saying about her own community. According to the statistics only 23 per cent of children of Latin American and Caribbean descent in Canada attend university.
Celia called up the reporter and asked, could this really be true? She was directed to a professor at U of T who confirmed the troubling statistic. The professor explained that part of the reason for this low statistic could be attributed to the lack of “cultural capital”. That refers to the system or network of influence that sets a student up for success. It also refers to the attitude and knowledge parents pass on to their children, which they need to get ahead in life.
Celia, who is a chartered accountant, decided she needed to do something to increase that cultural capital. She visualized a forum in which both students and parents are given an opportunity to explore educational and other leadership opportunities that will help build them into solid, contributing, influential citizens of Canada. With the support of her pastor Dr. Barrington Smith of Kingdom Life Ministries and a group of four other professional women, The 2011 Excellence Conference was born. The group is made up of school teacher Karen Grange, real estate agent Patricia Longmore, event planner Michelle Richards and computer programmer/admin manager Yasmin Wilson.
The Excellence Conference is aimed at students between ages 11 to 17 and their parents. It features successful members of the Caribbean community who will be on hand to give career advice and guidance, touching on things like career path, level of education required, scope for upward mobility, and critical success factors for owning and operating your own business. The conference is absolutely free. Students will get priceless information and access to doctors, vice principals, university professors, lawyers, business owners, journalists, engineers, banking and finance professionals, graphic designers and more.
The conference goes beyond helping students make the best educational choices; it will also show parents how to obtain a virtually free education for their children. “Bursary and scholarship opportunities are plentiful, but often our kids are just not guided in the right direction.” There will be seminars just for the parents on this topic.
The motivation for the conference was the low number of Caribbean students going to university, but, even those who are planning for higher education need guidance. “Too often I hear of a student not getting into the school or program of their choice simply because they didn’t take the right courses in high school. They just did not have the right information to make the best choices.”
Live tonight at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST, Celia Meikle and Yasmin Barrett will be talking about this year’s Excellence Conference.
The Excellence Conference will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2012, at Kingdom Life Ministries, 1166 Cardiff Boulevard, Mississauga, Ontario.
During our live discussion, you have the opportunity to call in and share with us and ask questions via Skype. If you would like to do this, please call us at: doctorvibe42. If you get through, please be patient and we will get to your call as soon as possible.
All you need to do listen to the show live is to go The Dr. Vibe and Show Homepage at http://thedrvibeshow.com/ tonight at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST. You can also provide your comments and questions during the event via Twitter (@drvibeshow#DrVibe) and at our Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vibe-and-Vegas-Show/155099174532923
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