Inspiring stories from RRC’s Indigenous Alumni

How do successful people get to where they are? What did that journey look like? What did they learn and how did they stay the course? What does it mean to be an Indigenous student in post-secondary?

The Stay the Course speaker series is a hand from one generation to the next, hosted by Carla Kematch, Manager, Truth and Reconciliation and Community & Engagement. Every month, incredible RRC Indigenous Alumni share their experiences on their journey to success. Advancing Indigenous achievement at RRC means listening to Indigenous stories. This is just one of the many ways we can embed the efforts of Truth and Reconciliation in our daily lives.

Kevin Monkman

Kevin Monkman is from the small community of Vogar Manitoba and is currently a Research Analyst with Manitoba Hydro.  He has been with Hydro for 14 years in various roles. He started out as a summer student and was lucky enough to continue working throughout the school year.

Kevin attended Red River College and graduated in 2008 with a diploma in Business Administration. Attending college was a challenge, being a mature student with a young family of three children. Kevin says the staff in the Indigenous department assisted him in making the adjustment easier with balancing school and work. He changed my mindset to treat his studies as though he was going to work. He says he would get to college at 8 am, whether he had class or not, and would stay till 4 pm.  Continuously reviewing his school work and trying to get ahead helped him become an honour roll student. He says this method helped so in the evenings he could concentrate on his children.