A 68-year-old Shuswap woman has fulfilled her lifelong dream to graduate with a high school diploma.

Lorna Thomas took classes through the Neskonlith Education Centre and is set to graduate later this month.

“I always wanted to graduate so when NEC started classes in Salmon Arm in 2017, I just had to go,” Lorna, the daughter of the late Dr. Mary Thomas, a Neskonlith elder and ethnobotanist, who worked to promote the Secwepemc language and culture.

Lorna quit school at age 14 after she finished grade 8, and started working for a living. She worked until she was 64, and raised two boys and a foster child in that time, witnessing the birth of 11 grandchildren and four great grandchildren – with two more on the way.

“I’m proud of you for graduating,” Thomas said to her fellow graduates. “I hope you continue with your studies, get a career, be happy and then think about starting a family.”