Therapeutic Recreation - Gerontology student Stephanie Leafloor has been named valedictorian of the last class to graduate from Lethbridge College. Leafloor will lead the procession of graduates and speak at the Fall 2024 Convocation ceremony planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 in the Val Matteotti Gymnasium.
(L to R) Debra Bardock, dean, Centre for Health and Wellness; Stephanie Leafloor, Fall 2024 valedictorian; Deanna Gonnelly, associate dean, Centre for Health and Wellness
The post-secondary institution transitioned from college to polytechnic over the summer, so Fall 2024 convocates will be the last students to receive a parchment from Lethbridge College.
"I was in complete shock," says Leafloor of being named valedictorian. "I knew I had done well, but I never imagined this. It was a pretty proud moment for me."
Leafloor earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average throughout her two-year diploma program, which she completed online. As a wife and mother of three, she says there were times when juggling school and family responsibilities proved difficult, but Leafloor credits her instructors, like Rena Walker, for providing support and guidance along the way.
"Stephanie proved to be a motivated and dedicated student, and she demonstrated a deep passion for therapeutic recreation," says Walker. "She excelled academically and in work-integrated learning experiences, impressing her instructors and practicum preceptors with her ability to translate knowledge into tangible skills used to improve the well-being and quality of life of clients."
A Therapeutic Recreation - Gerontology diploma will be Leafloor's second credential from the institution, as she is also 2009 graduate of the Practical Nurse program. After spending several years working as a nurse in hospitals and other health-care facilities in Alberta - mostly with patients needing kidney dialysis - Leafloor chose to become a stay-at-home mom in 2017. Once her children were older, she decided to once again pursue a career outside of the home. She says she researched programs at various institutions, but attending then-Lethbridge College "was the easy choice" as she was happy with the nursing education she had received previously.
"I really loved working in the health-care field," she says. "I like helping people, I'm compassionate and caring, and one of the aspects of nursing that I found most rewarding was when I had the opportunity to sit down and communicate with my patients or play a game of cards with them while they were on dialysis or to just be there for them in different ways, so I thought therapeutic recreation would be a good route to go."
Leafloor is now working toward her therapeutic recreation degree - a lifelong goal of hers - at the University of Lethbridge.
"Because of my diploma, I actually enter the U of L as a third year, so I only have two more years left," Leafloor says. "And I've chosen to do it online because it worked out so well at the college."
Walker is also confident of Leafloor's continued success. "Her future in therapeutic recreation is undoubtedly bright," she says.
For more information on Fall 2024 Convocation, go to lethpolytech.ca/convocation.
