By Brandon Gillet
With technology transforming the way we live and work, we should all expect to continue learning throughout our lives. The Gazette caught up with three people whose lifelong urge to learn brought them to uOttawa as mature students. What advice do they have for others who might want to follow in their footsteps?
Marc Lamarre, 63
After earning a bachelor’s in biology from uOttawa and a doctorate in dental surgery from the University of Toronto, Marc Lamarre (BSc ’77, MBA ’11) served in Germany as a dental officer with the Canadian Armed Forces from 1981 to 1984. He went on to practise dentistry in Ottawa for two decades before moving to Grand Cayman in 2003 and retiring as a dentist in 2009.
At age 55, he embarked on an executive MBA at uOttawa’s Telfer School of Management. He wanted to explore his ideas for solving what he calls “pain points” in dentistry. (He had also quickly become bored with retirement and jokes that it is the only thing in life he has failed at.)
In 2013, he co-founded Cumulus Dental, which has created a 3D voice-activated dental charting system for greater speed and accuracy. The company is now developing periodontal probing techniques that include temperature measurements to permit earlier diagnosis of gum disease. Lamarre recently won a WISE 50 Over 50 Award for Cumulus Dental.
- If you’ve been out of school for a long time, you may have to work a bit at getting back into the right frame of mind.
- It’s a lot more fun than the first time around! You’re now at school explicitly for the knowledge, and it can be very stimulating.
- If you’re starting a business, be prepared to work harder than ever before. (Having said that, I’m having the time of my life!)
- Be prepared for the school application process that might feel almost like a job interview. (The difference is, if you’re accepted, you have to pay them!)
- I’m a strong proponent of lifelong learning and its mental health benefits. The day I stop learning is the day I die.
Patricia Larkin, 55
Patricia Larkin (PhD ’17) earned a bachelor’s in geography and environmental science at Trent University in 1983 and a master’s in geography at Carleton in 1996. She worked in the federal public service and raised three daughters (one of whom is now at uOttawa). During that time, she created and led environmental education special programming at local schools.
Larkin later branched out into population health and completed uOttawa’s graduate diploma in population health risk assessment and management in 2012. She found that she so enjoyed being a student again that near the end of that program, she applied to do a PhD in population health. Now a senior policy analyst at Health Canada (with a PhD), she's a big fan of lifelong learning.
- Don’t worry too much about being one of the oldest in the cohort. Join in the social scene, including the pub outings the younger set may arrange!
- As a mature student who may have to travel a fair distance to campus, maintain your sanity with a doable schedule of classes.
- Sunday mornings are a great time to work — perfect for quiet reading and thinking.
- If you’re thinking of changing your thesis topic, don’t spend months worrying about it. Your program director and supervisor will be supportive.
- You’re a lucky person. Be thankful and enjoy your academic pursuits!
Clifford Lincoln, 89
Before immigrating to Canada in 1958, Clifford Lincoln studied insurance and law in Mauritius, where he was born, and South Africa. He became an insurance company executive, first in Vancouver and then Montreal, before entering politics. He sat in the Quebec National Assembly from 1981 to 1989, where he served as environment minister under then-premier Robert Bourassa.
Lincoln moved to federal politics in 1993 and represented the riding of Lac-Saint-Louis as a Liberal MP for more than a decade. He was also parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment (1993-1996) and chair of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (1997-2004).
He came to uOttawa in September 2017 to pursue a master’s in environmental law, picking up the law studies he had started in his youth.
- Education is the key to everything we do, making us better people and our lives more fulfilled. It gives us a sense of belonging and having reached as far as our brain can take us.
- The technical aspects can be challenging, as well as the mechanics of structuring an academic paper. You might feel lost for a while, but after a couple of weeks, it all comes together.
- My only reservation when I started was about going to school with people 50 or 60 years younger than me. But, amazingly, nobody cares — everybody just goes about their business. I’ve found people very welcoming and extremely nice.
- In one of my classes, on legal methodology, most of the students were from Asia, Africa and Europe. The mix of nationalities and ethnic groups was just unbelievable — and really inspiring.
- Above all, don’t get discouraged. Keep at it — it’s well worth it. I recommend going back to school very highly to anybody who has the opportunity.