“There are no words to describe that fulfillment” – Brigitte’s Story

Brigitte is one of our beloved Early Childcare Assistant instructors, and for a little while, she was also an Admission Advisor. In both roles, she helped many students succeed in their dream careers.

Brigitte was teaching the Early Childcare Assistant program for about 2 years when the program was temporarily discontinued. She was sad that she could not teach the program for a while, but she knew she wanted to continue working at Anderson College. As a teacher, she wasn’t sure what else she could do during that period until she spoke with our “Queen of Admissions”: Claudia.

“She is good at kind of honing in on skills that everyone has to offer and she said that I could apply these transferable skills and use them in admissions,” said Brigitte. She decided to give it a try. Even though it was a new experience for her, she was excited and found out that she could use the skills and knowledge she had as an instructor in her new role. “I found so many skills that could benefit admissions, by being a teacher. For example, I knew all of the programs, and especially the incredibly high quality of the teachers,” she explained.

Brigitte has always been able to connect well with her students, and there was no exception with the prospecting students she met. She could relate to their life situations and it became one of her strengths in this new role. “A lot of my notes were really specific to the prospective student and what they were going through at that point in their lives”, she added.

Brigitte helped many students enroll, but she especially remembers one student named Anderson (yes, his name is the same as the College ?). They first met in the lobby of the Downtown campus and were having a casual discussion where he explained that he met with different colleges for the Personal Support Worker program. She told him that we also offered the program and to meet with her to discuss more about it.

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The next day, he came to see her at her office. While she was telling him more about the program, she noticed how excited he looked. “I saw his face just lit up and his body posture changed. He would no longer look out the window but he looked at me,” she explained. When he decided to enroll, Brigitte was overjoyed and very proud as he was the first student she enrolled. “I thought it was kind of fun that the first person I enrolled was called Anderson,” she added.

When the ECA program was re-launched, even though Brigitte enjoyed her role in Admissions, she went back to be a teacher knowing her dream career was always teaching,

Her time in Admissions remains in her memory as it allowed her to see what happens behind the scenes. Brigitte continues to be an amazing mentor to her students and her passion for teaching shines through the whole campus, thanks to the beautiful crafts she makes with her students.

One of the highlights of her career was to see the students she enrolled graduate. As both an Admission Advisor and an Instructor, Brigitte was able to be a full part of the students’ journey, from the very start during the enrollment process to the end at their graduation. Brigitte said: “there are no words to describe that fulfillment and that full circle. When you see them up there on graduation day and you remember the first day that they sat in the admissions office as they were crying, scared or nervous. And now seeing them celebrating with their friends and their families, it was a really good feeling.”