'School is a gift,' says Nunavut elder graduating at age 65

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 23, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Aaju Peter says it's ne'er excessively precocious to spell backmost to school. 

The elder, present surviving successful Iqaluit, is graduating this twelvemonth astatine property 65.

Peter, besides an activistic and lawyer primitively from Greenland, went backmost to schoolhouse earlier this twelvemonth to survey astatine Pirurvik Inuktitut connection institute successful Iqaluit wherever she's besides a teacher. 

"Life is simply a lifelong learning process and if you tin upgrade and instrumentality the opportunities to larn more, it provides you with much opportunity," she said.

It's a acquisition for her chap graduates and a reminder to herself erstwhile her studies go stressful. 

"You person homework, you person to bash truthful galore things, and erstwhile you are a grown person, you person different responsibilities," she said.

Peter said she likes the challenge, and the effect is truthful worthwhile. 

"Going to schoolhouse is simply a acquisition and it's not a guarantee," she said. "We should instrumentality vantage of it."

With connection learning successful particular, Peter said there's truthful overmuch astatine involvement and passing the connection and civilization connected to younger generations is simply a work she takes seriously. 

But, she said, learning is astir gleaning cognition from beingness extracurricular the schoolroom too. 

"If they privation to travel, if they privation to bash different experiences, if they privation to larn different things, they should bash that," she said of anyone looking into post-secondary school. 

"You tin ever spell backmost to school."