Alexander Mattias, Special Care Counselling, 2017: Now at the McGill School of Social Work and on the road to the work he loves

When students of the 2017 graduating class of Vanier College gathered at Place des Arts to receive their graduation certificates, Alexander Mattias, a graduate of Special Care Counselling, addressed them as the 2017 Valedictorian and bid farewell to the College and to Cegep studies on behalf of all graduates.

There is no question but that Special Care Counselling and Vanier had a big impact on Alexander. At one time in his life, Alexander, who started writing songs when he was ten and had travelled and performed around Europe, thought he would pursue his passion for music. Two people changed his mind and his goals. Both people were coworkers Alexander befriended: one had special needs and the other was autistic. In them, he saw interesting people and not disabilities, and he discovered he had a gift for communicating with them. When Alexander wondered what he might study in Cegep, one of these co-workers suggested Alexander might help people like him. It set Alexander to thinking and led him to apply to the Special Care Counselling program at Vanier College.

At Vanier, Alexander developed a positive view of himself and his abilities. "I was always the class clown; I made people laugh and I didn't take myself or my studies seriously. In fact, I was depressed a lot during my teens and early 20s. But travelling in Europe, seeing the world, meeting people with different perspectives and getting out of my own bubble changed me. The fact that strangers were kind to me gave me a more positive outlook. Then in Special Care Counselling at Vanier, I realized that contrary to what I'd always thought, I was not dumb. I contributed to classes. People appreciated me. And several of my teachers found the fire inside me and brought it out."

"I believe my generation has a great potential to make the world a better place and it all begins with kindness and empathy, which I saw regularly at Vanier College," says Alexander.

"Being a Vanier College student was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The SCC program is awesome. You learn about yourself. You discover how you are vulnerable and being vulnerable makes you more honest. It's a great program for people who want to do good. I am such a fan of Special Care Counselling. I had such a positive experience at Vanier it's almost hard to beat but I'm at McGill now in the School of Social Work and I love it. I'm in the best place I've ever been in my life! I'm now doing an eight-month internship which I am super excited about."

"Vanier prepared me very well for McGill. Because many of the Vanier teachers are social workers, we actually learned a lot about what social work is. At McGill, the Social Work program is very diverse. There are different nationalities, ages, and groups - trans, LGBT etc. What excites me most is what I'm learning about people in the classroom from the blend of students. I like analyzing how people act. Our discussions can get quite heated because of the variety of perspectives, and it's interesting how often people don't listen to each other."

Alexander was very involved in his program at Vanier - runner-up for the Barbara Keitz award, two years on the "Activities Intensive Dream Team", where he mentored and helped first-year students in his program, and the winner of the Tom McGrath Award. In his final semester, he and other SCC students looked at the impacts of long-term care on responsive behaviours in older adults with dementia and developed a training program to help staff use appropriate intervention techniques with such people.

He has not slowed down at university. "I would take a full load of five courses every semester and I got several jobs with the Alzheimer's Society of Montreal where I did my final internship while at Vanier. I've been an activity leader in a day centre. I have worked as their Interim Coordinator of Education Services a couple of days a week and as a trainer for Education Services where I train health care professionals dealing with patients who have dementia. On top of that, I do private work with clients who have dementia. It's a lot but I am learning so much."

Alexander's advice to high school students

"Ask yourself what you want out of life. People think they have to have their whole life planned. But some don't know, and that's O.K. It's O.K. to wonder and to wander. Do what you want. Learn about yourself. Do it for yourself. Then learn to help and do for others. As long as you do something."

"Keep a balance in life if you can. Music is my self-care tool. No matter what, I try to play 10 to 15 minutes a day on the piano or guitar. Music is another way of expressing myself."

Currently, Alexander is attending McGill University in the very prestigious School of Social Work. As for the future: he plans on getting a Master's degree and possibly train as a psychotherapist or a Master's in the Education of Psychology and come back to teach Special Care Counselling at Vanier College.