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Lorrie Wolf
Mother-of-four Lorrie Wolf got the confidence and practical supports she needed from Contact North | Contact Nord to go back to high school and on to college.
“You have to get over your own self-doubt and just try. Once you get there, there’s no limit to where you can go.”
Territory
Grand River
Area of Study
Social Service
Let Contact North | Contact Nord be your frontline support
Contact North | Contact Nord increases the number of underserved Ontario residents who take online programs and courses from Ontario’s colleges, universities, Indigenous institutes, and other providers while remaining in their community. We recruit and provide free support services to students in 1,500+ communities, in person at locations across the province, or by phone, email, live chat or virtually.
For support navigating online study options please contact us:
When a bad knee forced Lorrie Wolf out of her job as a home care provider, the self-doubt descended in devastatingly swift fashion.
“I thought, ‘What am I going to do now? What am I going to do with my life’? I really loved my job. I was good at it, and I thought it was going to be my forever fit.”
Lorrie needed help navigating the possibilities. But first, she needed to get her high school diploma — and once Ontario Works put her in touch with Contact North | Contact Nord, she was able to get the ball rolling.
“I went in doubting myself, but Contact North just boosted my ego and my confidence. They’ve changed my life in so many ways. They supported me in more than just my schooling. Now I have a plan where I didn’t have one before.”
“I knew I wanted to go back to school, get my Grade 12 and go to college,” Lorrie says. “I had to think about what I’m good at. I knew I wanted to be helping people. I really enjoyed working with the elderly, and ultimately my end goal was to get into social work.
“Contact North really helped me get everything figured out: what courses I could take, what I needed to actually get my high school. They got my transcript for me, put me in touch with GELA, got me set up with classes.
“And when I wanted to apply to Mohawk College to take the social service worker course, they helped me get set up with my application and set up a meeting with a recruiter while I was there. That was so awesome.”
Lorrie, now 47, has since been accepted to her Mohawk program of choice. Once she has her diploma, she’d like to start working and ultimately study for a bachelor’s degree.
Her advice for anyone afraid of taking that first step?
“Don’t underestimate yourself,” Lorrie says. “I was really nervous about going back to high school, thinking ‘Am I going to do OK? Am I smart enough?’ I was never good in high school, but the teachers now are phenomenal. My marks are all in the 90s. You have to get over your own self-doubt and just try. Once you get there, there’s no limit to where you can go.
“I went in doubting myself, but Contact North just boosted my ego and my confidence. They’ve changed my life in so many ways. They supported me in more than just my schooling. Now I have a plan where I didn’t have one before.”
