Charles Gascon
École secondaire Arthur-Pigeon

If it were possible, Charles Gascon, a Secondary 5 student at Arthur-Pigeon high school in Huntingdon, would probably spend his whole life travelling, discovering different cultures and learning from these experiences. But when you’re only 16 years old and have to go to school every day, you have to be imaginative to achieve your aims. But Charles knows how to make the most of his imagination. A three-month student exchange with a boy in Prince Edward Island, his involvement with the 4-H Club that enabled him to visit British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, a family trip to Europe, Charles never passes up the chance to quench his thirst for discovery.

Charles Gascon admits that he is naturally very curious and has an innate sense of commitment – something, he quickly points out, that he inherited from his family. He learned at an early age that to get what you want, you must work hard and seize every opportunity you are given in life to learn. A member of his school’s council of leaders, a student representative on the governing board and this year the elected president of the school graduation party committee, Charles in a way has taken up where his brother and sisters also made their mark. “I am the youngest of five children and each and every one of us has been involved at one point or another. In fact my parents are very involved in our community. They are role models for us,” he proudly asserts.

His family’s example also led Charles to take an interest in the 4-H Club in Huntingdon, of which he is currently the vice-president after having spent two years as its treasurer. And because Huntingdon is primarily an agricultural area, the 4-H Club enables young people to carry out projects relating to this type of economic activity. For his part, Charles has exhibited dairy heifers and participated in agricultural judgement and expertise competitions.

His commitment has enabled him to take part in two 10-day exchanges in each of the two Canadian provinces farthest west. He also represented Québec at the National 4-H Conference that was held recently in Toronto. He then went to Ottawa to participate in an event focussing on Canadian citizenship. And as he was the only perfectly bilingual participant, Charles hosted the event for seven days and even made a speech at a citizenship ceremony for new Canadian residents. For him, it was an unforgettable experience! “It was truly touching to see them weep tears of joy. It’s so easy to forget just how comfortable we are here,” he recounts.

These experiences, combined with his three-month stay in Prince Edward Island, have greatly helped Charles Gascon become a much more self-assured young man, who shows sound leadership skills and above all speaks fluent English. He is so convinced that these three cultural exchanges have been beneficial to him that he decided to promote them at his school. Equipped with his presentation, he went around the Secondary 3 and 4 classrooms sharing his experience, talking about the people he met, the different lifestyles he discovered and the friends he made.

“Charles is a motivated and committed young man who continuously strives to improve the world around him. He is determined, independent and an outstanding worker at school. This is in fact what he tries to pass on to the younger students by tutoring mathematics during lunch hour,” explains Lori Belair, one of Charles’ teachers.

Charles himself admits that the tutoring that he has now been doing for three years was, at the outset, an opportunity for him to see if he would like to one day be a teacher. For the time being, he hasn’t ruled out this option, but at the moment he seems more tempted by a career in politics. “Over the past few years, I have become much more open to the world and I have an ever-increasing desire to discover the world that is opening up to me. In opting for politics, I could help bring about change. And to be able to solve problems, you must be able to understand them and go out in the field to see for yourself. This is therefore something I try to do as often as possible,” he concludes with a sparkle in his eye.

Charles Gascon
École secondaire Arthur-Pigeon