Carmen Nicholson, Avalon Heemskerk, and Kalista Heemskerk: Linked by Learning

If you could somehow stack up all the learning that Carmen Nicholson and her daughters, Kalista and Avalon Heemskerk, have completed so far, you’d be looking at a small mountain of education – and one that’s still growing.

Carmen, now ten years into a teaching career, attended NWP as a mature student. She was working towards an education degree in BC when her young family moved to High Level. Carmen then pivoted to completing an English literature degree by distance learning. That led to some years as an educational assistant, but that itch to lead her own classroom didn’t fade. Finally, she packed up the family, relocated to Grande Prairie, and enrolled to finish her education degree at NWP.

Years later, when Avalon was ready to chart her own post-secondary path, she turned to NWP as well. “I enjoyed being able to explore a lot of different options,” she says, before finally focusing on anthropology. “I took every single class offered by Shawn Morton,” says Avalon, who then moved to Edmonton to complete an honours anthropology degree at MacEwan University. She has now finished her first year of law school at the University of Alberta and notes that Dr. Morton wrote her a reference letter to support her applications.

Avalon was also parenting a toddler during her time at NWP. Her daughter, now six, attended the on-campus daycare. “I could still see her throughout the day, which made being a parent and a student so much easier,” she remembers. Avalon jokes that the option to join her daughter for naptime was her secret extra privilege during those years.

Younger daughter Kalista is just beginning her journey at NWP, having completed the first semester of an education degree. She’s loving the discussion and connection that flourishes in NWP’s classrooms. Kalista has her sights set on teaching high school math and physics, feeling that her enthusiasm for those subjects could help future students. “It makes quite a big difference to have people who have a passion for the material,” she observes.

Since completing her teaching credentials, Carmen has taught classes from kindergarten to grade 12 in and around Grande Prairie and Alberta. “You’re never too old to go to university,” she says. For anyone hesitating to get further education as an adult, Carmen would tell them what she tells her own kids: the years pass anyway. “You’ll be older in four years time no matter what. Why not be older with a degree?”

Though the family moved away from Grande Prairie in recent years, Carmen was quick to suggest NWP for Kalista and suggests her students consider it as well. “It’s a better experience – smaller classes, you save money. There’s no downside,” she reasons.

“NWP offers a unique experience,” adds Avalon. “You get the same level of education as a bigger institution, but it’s far more personalized. You develop relationships with both your classmates and your professors more easily and on a deeper level… If I could have finished my degree there, I would have.”

Kalista is happy to agree. She appreciates how friendly the school is, and was surprised at how quickly instructors knew her name. Avalon remembers that supportive atmosphere as well. A highlight of her time there was starting a peer support club and seeing how eager professors are to support student initiatives. 

Carmen notes that her own father got his doctoral degree in his 50s, and two of her siblings also went back to school for PhDs. The tradition of continuing education after marriage or parenthood is strongly established in their family. “Avalon would never have thought that having a child would mean she shouldn’t go to school,” says Carmen.

While this mom and her daughters are now spread across Alberta, they’re strongly linked by the bonds of family -- and their ties to Northwestern Polytechnic. Wherever their lives and education take them, these women will always be connected by their love of learning.