Desireé Martin & Dave Martin
Hometown: Moose Jaw, SK
Program: Welding certificate
As a child, Desireé remembers being at her father's Sask Polytech convocation ceremony and thinking to herself, "I'm going to be up there one day." She realized that goal in 2020, graduating with her own Welding certificate.
The journey hasn't always been easy for the Métis woman. "I struggled with personal issues, but the impetus for me to overcome them was so I could be well, and do well in my program. I used allthe Sask Polytech services I needed to succeed. I've grown so much as a person in my time here," Desireé says.
Desireé has a good role model in her dad, Dave Martin, who enrolled in welding apprenticeship training at Sask Polytech when he was 38 years old.
"I wanted to show my children that you just never give up," Dave says today. It's not easy to focus on schoolwork when you're raising a family. But Dave was determined to set an example for his kids. He went on to get his Interprovincial Red Seal ticket and has worked in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. He's currently working as a pressure welder in Fort McMurray.
"If I could go back in time, I would have started at Sask Polytech sooner rather than wait until my late thirties. But I also tell people that you never stop learning—I learn something new every day," Dave says.
"Nobody can stop you from following your dreams," Desireé adds. "Hard work pays off; the harder you work, the better the results.