SPRINGHILL, N.S. – Success is a noun, succeeding is a verb.
“Success implies you made it, you hit the pinnacle. I hate to suggest there is no pinnacle but there isn’t in my mind,” Adel Gilbert said. “My philosophy about succeeding can be summed up nicely by this well-worn cliché – Life is a journey it is not a destination.”
Gilbert was the guest speaker 2019 Springhill High School graduation on June 27 at the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre in Springhill.
Gilbert graduated from SHS in 1983.
“I’m very honoured to be here. It’s been 36 years, three days, and three hours since I graduated from SHS.”
Gilbert lives in Parrsboro, but her journey after graduating from SHS took her to Mount Saint Vincent and Dalhousie Universities in Halifax, and to McGill University in Montreal where she graduated with a master’s degree in genetic counselling.
She began her career in Boston, moved to Detroit, and then to Baltimore where she worked in genetic education at John Hopkins University.
In 2010 she moved back to Nova Scotia and continued her work remotely public sector and, currently, in the private sector.
“I now often joke that I spent the first 18 years of my life trying to get out of the Maritimes, and the rest of my life trying to get back,” Gilbert said.
In Boston, she worked with seasoned genetic counsellors who showed her the ropes, and where she learned people skills and learned about the stresses associated with the long hours involved in patient care.
She then moved to Detroit where she took on more responsibility.
“I learned about management, and herding cats, that was my analogy for keeping doctors on task.”
As her responsibilities grew, her social life shrank.
“I felt lonesome a lot of the time, land-locked, and wondered why we left Boston where we had a great network of friends, and where we were much closer to Nova Scotia.”
She then moved to Baltimore, and then back to Nova Scotia.
She finished her speech by telling the graduates that they will be disappointed if they think that once they 'make it' there will be an 'aha' moment.
“My aha moment was when I started to recognize my happiness and my fulfilment was in smaller events in life, be it the daily warm and fuzzy’s or a special occasion celebrated. Not the salary, not the titles associated with big decisions,” Gilbert said. “The people that you love and the people you surround yourself with, those are the people that are important.”
Knowing yourself is also important.
“Your family and friends won’t love you more if you have a great job and great success. You have to like yourself for others to like you,” Gilbert said. “You have to believe in yourself for others to believe in you and be not afraid to put yourself out there. That is what my ‘making it’ is, my happiness, my contentment.”
Chloe Lewis echoed those sentiments when she concluded her valedictory address with a quote from Ellen Degeneres.
“The most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity and to not give in to peer pressure to try to be something that you’re not,” Lewis said. “This is the beginning of a new chapter, and I hope you all follow your dreams, do what you love, and live happily.”
The Class of 2019 graduates are as follows:
Governor General Medal – Joe Choi
Queen Elizabeth II Medal – Chloe Lewis
Anne Murray Scholarship – Chloe Lewis
Honours with distinction
Lindsey Brown
Joe Choi
Garrett Cotton
Chloe Lewis
Connor McCormick
Honours
Riley Alick
Rayne Fisher
Benjamin McLellan
Cameron Miller
Lara-Jean Mills
Aedan Scheffar
Corrine Spicer
Erin St. Peter
Megan Thomas
Mary Ward
Graduates
Antonio Arcidiacono
Jade Armour
Jordan Benjamin
Hanna Chapman
Jared Davis
Issac Ford
Madison Gautreau
Brianna Legere
Shelby MacKinnon
Jaeden MacPhee
Jayme McMillan
Taylor Gabriel
Richard MacNeil
Braydon McNeil
John Pettigrew
Zoey Porter-Cole
Brian Smith
Cormac Smith
Spencer Smith
Cayla Spence
Mats Stone
Nathan Stone
Amber Strickland
Bryanne Varner