Graduate uses occasion as opportunity to remember late cousin
- NC Raine | July 19, 2018
While many high school graduates use their big day to focus on celebration, summer holidays, and making future plans, Shauntel Lemaigre took the opportunity to share an important message with her peers about gratitude and the fragility of human life.
Lemaigre, a 17-year-old high school graduate from La Loche, has turned tragedy into motivation. Lemaigre lost her cousin and best friend Madison Janvier to cancer when the girls were only eight years old.
“We did everything together,” said Lemaigre. “And so when she wasn’t here anymore, I had to find a way to grieve and to cope.”
Lemaigre decided to dedicate herself to her studies in school - an opportunity sadly taken from her cousin, Janvier. As she approached graduation at the end of high school, Lemaigre wanted to do something to tribute her cousin and add perspective to appreciating life and those around you.
“I wanted (my fellow classmates) to learn not to take life for granted. She was supposed to be there, graduating with us. Because she wasn’t, I believed I should honour her,” she said.
During graduation, Lemaigre shared a speech in which she shared the story of Janvier, her spirit and character, and how, if not for her tragic death, she would have been sitting there, in celebration, with the rest of the graduates.
“When she passed away, it gave me more motivation for graduating. I did it for her,” said Lemaigre. “It felt great to have the support from the people around me that I love. Graduating was one of the biggest achievements in my life.”
But graduation is only the beginning of the road for Lemaigre. She hopes to see her hometown of La Loche implement a more activities for kids in order to create a healthier community. And this fall, she plans to attend Saskatchewan Polytechnic to become a paramedic - a testament to the value she continues to put into every human life.